blutenstaub
Chirping
Two questions:
How much grooming is normal? They seem to do a lot of scratching and nibbling around the bases of their feathers, but it's mostly after meals so maybe it's normal? (I've noticed cats like to clean themselves up after meals, is that a chicken thing, too?)
I've still never treated my chickens for mites and stuff, had them a couple months so far. One thing holding me back is, besides diatomaceous earth and stuff like herbs, I see everyone recommending pyrethrins, which are very toxic to cats. My two cockerels have also taken to roosting in a tree at night, so I don't know if it'd be pointless to treat the coop the two hens sleep and lay in since they'd probably get reinfested running around the yard (they all free range). And, cats aside, I wouldn't want to spray my whole yard with some pesticide and kill off all the beneficial insects. Is it possible to use a very very tiny, precisely measured amount of a cat's spot on flea/etc control on a chicken? (Fipronil, imidacloprid, etc)
While I was writing this, my chickens almost gave me a heart attack! They were all making a racket like someone was being attacked.... I ran out there and one of the cockerels was running around with a yellow sticky trap stuck to his back and his brother was running after him yelling HELP!! HELP!! My little dude loves to eat the flies off the sticky traps, and today he went and plucked his beautiful tail and part of a wing on one of them. Good thing he's still got some molting to do before all his adult feathers come in. So I guess I should be asking for chicken safe fly control methods, too......
How much grooming is normal? They seem to do a lot of scratching and nibbling around the bases of their feathers, but it's mostly after meals so maybe it's normal? (I've noticed cats like to clean themselves up after meals, is that a chicken thing, too?)
I've still never treated my chickens for mites and stuff, had them a couple months so far. One thing holding me back is, besides diatomaceous earth and stuff like herbs, I see everyone recommending pyrethrins, which are very toxic to cats. My two cockerels have also taken to roosting in a tree at night, so I don't know if it'd be pointless to treat the coop the two hens sleep and lay in since they'd probably get reinfested running around the yard (they all free range). And, cats aside, I wouldn't want to spray my whole yard with some pesticide and kill off all the beneficial insects. Is it possible to use a very very tiny, precisely measured amount of a cat's spot on flea/etc control on a chicken? (Fipronil, imidacloprid, etc)
While I was writing this, my chickens almost gave me a heart attack! They were all making a racket like someone was being attacked.... I ran out there and one of the cockerels was running around with a yellow sticky trap stuck to his back and his brother was running after him yelling HELP!! HELP!! My little dude loves to eat the flies off the sticky traps, and today he went and plucked his beautiful tail and part of a wing on one of them. Good thing he's still got some molting to do before all his adult feathers come in. So I guess I should be asking for chicken safe fly control methods, too......
