Hi from New Hampshire!

[NH Chicken Mama]

Sorry to hear about the mites. Older birds are more susceptible to parasites and can pick them up easily from wild birds. Unfortunately, DE is not nearly as effective as some people claim. Usually the "success" stories are from people who have never had an infestation, so it may work as a deterrent at best. But if you actually want to get rid of the mites you'll have to at least use permethrin, which is available at most feed stores as "poultry dust" to use directly on the bird and under the wings. It also comes in spray to use in the coop to reach in all the corners and crevices where mites hide. There are other options available but I can't remember them.

All I know for sure is DE is very harmful to breathe in and I used it often a few years ago... but I wore a dust mask and had to make sure my birds were no where around when I sprinkled it, so I would never put it directly on them. Chickens have very delicate respiratory systems, and I have no idea how DE became so popular. When I learned more I quit using it. There are natural remedies out there. You can try searching in the Predators/Pests forum to see what others do, or even make a new thread there.


Haha! I used to have horses for years and the clicking noise just sort of accidentally happened. Living in the suburbs now, I get my country fix caring for my little feathered ponies.
Glad you're enjoying the site so far. If you haven't already seen this, here's a really good thread:
What were your worst mistakes when you first started?

Thank you for the link - it's a good resource and I wish I had read it first (chicken-specific shoes would have been a smart starting point). I was also reassured that my decision to wait until NEXT YEAR to get chicks because of winter is a good plan. Now to restrain myself!

Yeah, I do know that DE is bad to breathe in. I sprayed the inside of the coop down after sprinkling it with water and oil (and vegetable-based dish soap to mix the oil) to reduce the dust factor. It's what I had on hand, and after reading mites can lay 100,000 eggs in a week, I figured an ounce of prevention until I could make my way to TSC (today) would be better than nothing.

I read that the oil spray would also help?

The girls ignored the dust bath bin (1tbsp of DE in a mix of sand, clay sand (I have lovely soil quality) and garden dirt. So that worked out. I don't think they liked the aluminum cooking tin that I used.

I'm wary of permethrin, from what I read (during my tick prevention research) is that you shouldn't put it on your skin. I guess I'm getting it anyways as it seems to be the recommendation on here from experienced owners, but it makes me super nervous. I suppose a multi-faceted approach is best.

It also seems vinegar works on mites, I'll have to read up on its use with chickens.

So time consuming and overwhelming!

We can't wait to have some horses. Seriously! But I need to clear some land first and build a barn, of course ha! And deal with the chickens I have!

 

[NH Chicken Mama]

My daughter loves

My daughter loves taking things that we "just get" from the store and cutting a bunch of stuff for the girls. When it was hot she was freezing fruit smoothies she concocted for them lol. I know ALL about the lazy part trust me lol.

Oh that sounds like a lovely thing on a cool day. I saw a set up in the 'beginner mistakes' thread where someone took two liter bottles and created cooling stations - I assumed they were filled with water, but now I figure they probably had been frozen, too! Remind me next summer

It looks like rain here, just brought the girls in to their run. I sat outside with them for 3 hours while they ranged yesterday. Today I left them out while I cleaned with a window open, peeking out repeatedly. Like a mother hen, even ha. Seem to have no problem going back in to their run with a little enticement!

 

[drumstick diva]

I have never found DE to be worth the money spent on it.

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

I only supervise free range too, but mine like to wander to the neighbors back yard. I love watching them forage around.

 

[feathermaid]

The girls ignored the dust bath bin (1tbsp of DE in a mix of sand, clay sand (I have lovely soil quality) and garden dirt. So that worked out. I don't think they liked the aluminum cooking tin that I used.

Ha, seems like chickens always like to dust bathe in other non-designated areas. But my birds are scared of all aluminum or metal containers. Once I fed them treats in a pie pan and they would just peck and run, peck and run! You can make an easy deep dust bath out of one of those black cement mixing tubs available at home improvement stores... they're like $10-12.

I'm wary of permethrin, from what I read (during my tick prevention research) is that you shouldn't put it on your skin.

Permethrin is pretty safe, there's no egg withdrawal period. It's the synthetic version of Pyrethrin, which is completely natural made from chrysanthemums, but I don't believe the shelf life is very long. Ok, I'm leaving another link (because I am the queen of links!) to a thread that tells how to treat for mites:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mites-mites-everywhere.1324486/page-3
As far as I know, oil is used to treat scaly leg mites, you have to rub it on the legs upwards to get under the scales so the oil suffocates the mites, but I wouldn't put it on their feathers. Lice and some mites live on the chicken, and red mites live in the coop and only come out at night to feed. Luckily, I haven't had the pleasure of dealing with those parasites yet, but I'm prepared!

 

[NH Chicken Mama]

Hello and welcome to BYC! So happy you have decided to join our community. You will soon learn that chickens are food centric. I taught mine the word "treat" and they respond better than dogs. They actually run into the coop and watch as I reach into the container and grab a handful of scratch. Then they scramble for the bits. I only let my wee ones out for an hour in the afternoon and I sit with them. I'm almost in New Hampshire and we have an abundance of predators, hawks, owls, Fishers, raccoons, bears and eagles. And everyone loves a free chicken dinner. Wishing you all the best in your new home.

I'm food centric, too Say chocolate or coffee and I'll come running!

We have found coyote scat and I have seen a groundhog (not necessarily a predator but definitely eating our wild strawberries and wild blueberries!) The neighbors have seen deer but I have only heard them. I'm sure we have some more predators around here, we're getting two dogs total, one at a time so hopefully that deters some. Oddly enough we've seen no signs of squirrels - but we have 500 oak trees dropping acorns. Same with mice. So hopefully that's why we haven't seen any predators yet - nothing to sustain them? I'm sure we'll figure it all out.

Thank you for the well-wishes! We're loving it so far, it's beyond perfect.

 

[NH Chicken Mama]

I only supervise free range too, but mine like to wander to the neighbors back yard. I love watching them forage around.

My neighbors have already expressed their love for animals and want to see our chickens in their yard! And are also super excited about our goat plans! Exact words: bring on ALL the animals!

 

[DobieLover]

My neighbors have already expressed their love for animals and want to see our chickens in their yard! And are also super excited about our goat plans! Exact words: bring on ALL the animals!

I wonder how they will feel about the chickens when they start pooping ALL OVER their property.

 

[NH Chicken Mama]

I have never found DE to be worth the money spent on it.

It worked quite well when my old dog had fleas. And a line of it in front of my threshhold at my old apartment stopped the ants from marching in through the gaping hold in the door frame!

It also prevented the ants from getting in to the garbage under the sink - the whole shelf had a dusting of DE and I never saw a single ant under there!

 

[NH Chicken Mama]

Ha, seems like chickens always like to dust bathe in other non-designated areas. But my birds are scared of all aluminum or metal containers. Once I fed them treats in a pie pan and they would just peck and run, peck and run! You can make an easy deep dust bath out of one of those black cement mixing tubs available at home improvement stores... they're like $10-12.

I thought that might be it, the tin. It is one of those disposable brownie ones. I probably have something I could rig in to a dustbath. Or I could just dig a hole in my cement-like clay and rock ground and border it with the massive rocks I pull out of the ground everywhere. Installing garden beds has been HARD WORK, let me tell you!

Permethrin is pretty safe, there's no egg withdrawal period. It's the synthetic version of Pyrethrin, which is completely natural made from chrysanthemums, but I don't believe the shelf life is very long. Ok, I'm leaving another link (because I am the queen of links!) to a thread that tells how to treat for mites:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mites-mites-everywhere.1324486/page-3
As far as I know, oil is used to treat scaly leg mites, you have to rub it on the legs upwards to get under the scales so the oil suffocates the mites, but I wouldn't put it on their feathers. Lice and some mites live on the chicken, and red mites live in the coop and only come out at night to feed. Luckily, I haven't had the pleasure of dealing with those parasites yet, but I'm prepared!

I have a bottle of Neem and I bought an extra sprayer at TSC today in case I came up with a use for it. That was a helpful link - I wish I had had service in the TSC parking lot before I went in!

I do have one hen who seems to have an issue with the scales on her leg, the others aren't showing any symptoms and I read that their legs may not ever return to normal... I'm going to be watching carefully I guess and looking in to it more. Hopefully she is already recovered from a past encounter.

Gosh this is intense. So much for established hens being an easier option than buying chicks.