Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[armorfirelady]

What do you use to " treat for mites"?

Wood ash to bathe them in and nustock on their legs. I also sprayed neem oil on their roost (It needs to be removed before spraying IMO-8 hours after spraying it still had a strong smell) & anything else that was wood. I have very little wood in my coop (thank goodness) the roost, perch in front of nest boxes and the 2x4's that make the bottom frame of the coop plus a few odd pieces. I have the roost outside and sprayed again yesterday. It will get sprained again before I put it back i n their coop. They will be DEAD and not hiding in this roost when I put it back in. They will also be mite free themselves before I put the roost back in.

I am feeding garlic, basil, oregano in eggs or yogurt a couple times a week.. They are natural insect repellents. I don't want my hens to taste good to these mites. I also upped their meat protein for a couple weeks to make sure the hens stay healthy and don't become anemic.

I removed and bagged all their litter and threw it away. There wasn't much. I haven't added shavings since June just some grass clippings. It was mostly dirt. It was more as a precaution for me. I also wont use straw (harbors mites) or hay (stays to wet). So some pine shavings and the rest is what nature gave me for free is what I use for DL.

The red mites were just on the roost that I could see. That's how I realized I had mites. I check my hens weekly and never saw them in their vent area or any other area. I then found white mites on one of my black birds in her feathers under her wing. Just one but they do tend to scratch when roosting so I am sure there are more. I burned a lot of brush yesterday to fill 2 litter boxes with ash for the girls to dust bathe themselves in. My opinion is they do a much better job at getting it down to their skin then I can.

This is just my opinion- I was lax on giving them wood ash this summer. I have never had mites till now and their old coop/run was made from wood. I believe because they didn't have access to wood ash regularly that they got the mites. They had a dust hole & dusted in the dirt floor in the coop. I will not make this mistake again. They will have fresh ashes all the time if I have to buy a garbage ca to hold it all summer (I heat with wood so I have ash all the time-well not in the summer

)

I rather treat naturally then use chemicals. Just my preference. It doesn't make it better than people who chose to use chemicals. Everyone has a right to their own choice.

Ha.....seems I wrote a chapter for a reply.....but I like when people give a detailed explanation so I do it also

 

[waltandlori]

Wood ash to bathe them in and nustock on their legs. I also sprayed neem oil on their roost (It needs to be removed before spraying IMO-8 hours after spraying it still had a strong smell) & anything else that was wood. I have very little wood in my coop (thank goodness) the roost, perch in front of nest boxes and the 2x4's that make the bottom frame of the coop plus a few odd pieces. I have the roost outside and sprayed again yesterday. It will get sprained again before I put it back i n their coop. They will be DEAD and not hiding in this roost when I put it back in. They will also be mite free themselves before I put the roost back in.

I am feeding garlic, basil, oregano in eggs or yogurt a couple times a week.. They are natural insect repellents. I don't want my hens to taste good to these mites. I also upped their meat protein for a couple weeks to make sure the hens stay healthy and don't become anemic.

I removed and bagged all their litter and threw it away. There wasn't much. I haven't added shavings since June just some grass clippings. It was mostly dirt. It was more as a precaution for me. I also wont use straw (harbors mites) or hay (stays to wet). So some pine shavings and the rest is what nature gave me for free is what I use for DL.

The red mites were just on the roost that I could see. That's how I realized I had mites. I check my hens weekly and never saw them in their vent area or any other area. I then found white mites on one of my black birds in her feathers under her wing. Just one but they do tend to scratch when roosting so I am sure there are more. I burned a lot of brush yesterday to fill 2 litter boxes with ash for the girls to dust bathe themselves in. My opinion is they do a much better job at getting it down to their skin then I can.

This is just my opinion- I was lax on giving them wood ash this summer. I have never had mites till now and their old coop/run was made from wood. I believe because they didn't have access to wood ash regularly that they got the mites. They had a dust hole & dusted in the dirt floor in the coop. I will not make this mistake again. They will have fresh ashes all the time if I have to buy a garbage ca to hold it all summer (I heat with wood so I have ash all the time-well not in the summer

)

I rather treat naturally then use chemicals. Just my preference. It doesn't make it better than people who chose to use chemicals. Everyone has a right to their own choice.

Ha.....seems I wrote a chapter for a reply.....but I like when people give a detailed explanation so I do it also

I have never seen any mites on them, however I may have missed them. They dustbathe every day in our reddish clay type soil, so my white hens are stained reddish orange. I heat with wood but have no ash at present. I had bought a dust called viper, you can use it on gardens, dogs, cats, fowl most anything, but i'd rather not use chemicals.

Walt

 

[TexasLisa]

Won't be long now before all those nests have a bird in them and you will get such a glow in your heart when you see all nests occupied when you go in there...it's such a sweet picture and the epitome of FARM to see all those red combs peaking out of yellow bedding.

Bee, I feel like I am raising children again!!! Yesterday I heard a ruckus in the coop so I went out to see what was going on. Two of the poults were being chased out of the coop by Prissy (4 yr). Prissy loves to dig trenches all along the walls of the coop (I have dirt floor). I didn't think anything about it until the lightbulb (it works slow sometimes) went on. I went back out and looked under the honeysuckle bushes by the coop. My two poults are now hens!! Do I need to remove Prissy or will the new girls get bolder and lay in the nest boxes? Thinking back on the episode, these two poults/hens had gone into the coop together, and then laid their eggs together side by side. Reminds me of doing things with my girlfriends!!

Lisa

 

[KelsiNS]

Im concerned im not feeding enough. With dry ferd, they (41 chickens-ages 10, 9, and 22 weeks) they got 10 cups at 6:30am, 5 cups at 1pm, and 10 cups at 5:30pm. They ate, and still attacked treats with a fury-but with the FF, its the same volume (2 full coffee cans, 1 half can), but they inhale it like starving dogs. I have to set a decoy coffee can on the opposite side of the run or i cant get in the gate. Their crops are FULL.

this particular chicken, Leia (shes a girl until she isnt. If she crows, she is Luka) looked like she swallowed an orange her crop was so full. All of them look absolutely "unbutton the pants" full after each meal. Chewi is the only slim bird, and i feel like she was having a harder time with the crumbles than i realized. Shes munching out now (sidenote: hubby thinks its strange that i scrape the container and let them eat off a spoon.) So far they seem to lovei (essentially im dumping slop on their heads because i cant get to their bowls). Im just wondering if this is like cantelope to them. Act like ravenous wolves the first week....then it quits being so special and i dont wind up bleeding wgen i feed.


Also-FF soothes the savage beast. Boot-meanest little bugger i own.

went from biting the living daylights out of me or avoiding me....to crowing at my feet so i pick him up. He likes being carried like a football now. Likely because whoever is being carried gets bites of food without the competition. He is no longer a tamale risk.

 

[Beekissed]

How long have you been feeding the FF? The amount you are feeding is staggering, so I'm doubting you are not feeding enough but I'm wondering how long they've been on the FF now and if it's had time to flesh them out with a better type of nutrients.

And on a side note...chickens will always act like their throats have been cut when it comes to food and I've noticed that has increased exponentially with the FF, but I doubt very seriously if it's due to hunger, as my own flock are waddling like geese on only 1.5 c. of FF per day for 13 full grown, standard chickens.

 

[LOVEIGEE]

Armorfirelady.....and anyone else.....what do you use in your nest boxes? Thanks...................................

 

[wlhtx]

Mine absolutely MOB me too. I have dumped it out on their heads at times since they won't get out of the way. They've jumped IN the bucket, on me, literally flown across the yard to get to the food, etc. like they are starving, but I think they just REALLY like this stuff.

I swear they are like a little herd of velociraptors following me around the yard.

 

[Beekissed]

Armorfirelady.....and anyone else.....what do you use in your nest boxes? Thanks...................................

I use sweet, timothy hay and a layer of cedar wood shavings at the very bottom. Good morning, BF!!!

Today has already been a praiseworthy day~as is every day~ but this one is particularly so, if you know what I mean!!!

Love you!!!

Mine absolutely MOB me too. I have dumped it out on their heads at times since they won't get out of the way. They've jumped IN the bucket, on me, literally flown across the yard to get to the food, etc. like they are starving, but I think they just REALLY like this stuff.

I swear they are like a little herd of velociraptors following me around the yard.

I've been training mine on this and it doesn't take much, as they aren't near as obsessed as the meaties. I just poke them with the scoop or my fingers in the side or the chest and they back away and wait. Then, if one climbs in the feeder in her frenzy, I poke her the same way and that seems to work. Sort of like invoking the pecking order and I'm the biggest, baddest chicken in the coop. The rooster knows better and doesn't even come to my end of the coop at feeding time...he's already been trained on etiquette.

I tried the same thing with the cheap meats roosters and got the same response...immediate respect and patiently waiting until I dish it out, then MOB!

 

[wlhtx]

My roos are more patient than the girls. I have literally swatted several of the girls with the spoon, trying to make them back off to give me a second - but I think they need some extra training... Being swatted by the ladle didn't really seem to faze them. :/

 

[armorfirelady]

Armorfirelady.....and anyone else.....what do you use in your nest boxes? Thanks...................................

My nest boxes are full of dried grass with some fresh herbs in there. Sage, lavender, basil......makes it smell nice & they are natural insect repellents.