Idaho?

[Mo5C]

You can use Killz but it won't help with the bugs. If it was my coop, I'd dust all of the birds for lice and then remove them from the coop and put them in a temporary pen for a few days. Remove all of the litter and clean every square inch. Spray all of the perches and crevices with bird mite/lice spray. Put in new shavings dusted with a good amount of DE in it. Make sure the DE gets into the crevices/corners. Let the coop sit empty for a couple days. Dust your chickens before you add them back to the coop. You might have to repeat this process in two weeks. Oh, and DE their run as well. The lice come from wild birds so make sure you don't have any wild bird feeders near your coop.

The lice problem started with Lou my banty cross rooster (who I am looking to rehome by the way). I have scrubbed the coop from top to bottom and the roosting stick and nesting boxes with soapy lysol water and haven't seen any bugs since. I am so mad at the guy who gave Lou to me it's not even funny

for not telling me firstoff about the lice, I greased him up with vaseline everywhere I saw live bugs or eggs (poor guy looked like a greased pig), I checked him today when I took the bandage off his stump where I had to cut his middle toe off (now I call him hop along cassidy because he half hops and half walks). There are no wild bird feeders anywhere around there coop/run but there are always wild geese and other birds around since it has started to warm up. I am going to go get some DE, Poultry dust and Lice/mite spray the next time I am at D&B and tackle the lot of them and the coop and I have finally talked my dad into helping me put together a "dusting" area for them to dust themselves, I am going to to make a mixture of wood ash and DE for them. This is unrelated but I am also hopefully going to get them some grit to keep out for them to have access to.
What else do they need ready access to besides food, water, dust area and grit?

 

[BeccaSmith]

The lice problem started with Lou my banty cross rooster (who I am looking to rehome by the way). I have scrubbed the coop from top to bottom and the roosting stick and nesting boxes with soapy lysol water and haven't seen any bugs since. I am so mad at the guy who gave Lou to me it's not even funny

for not telling me firstoff about the lice, I greased him up with vaseline everywhere I saw live bugs or eggs (poor guy looked like a greased pig), I checked him today when I took the bandage off his stump where I had to cut his middle toe off (now I call him hop along cassidy because he half hops and half walks). There are no wild bird feeders anywhere around there coop/run but there are always wild geese and other birds around since it has started to warm up. I am going to go get some DE, Poultry dust and Lice/mite spray the next time I am at D&B and tackle the lot of them and the coop and I have finally talked my dad into helping me put together a "dusting" area for them to dust themselves, I am going to to make a mixture of wood ash and DE for them. This is unrelated but I am also hopefully going to get them some grit to keep out for them to have access to.
What else do they need ready access to besides food, water, dust area and grit?

They need access to oyster shell for calcium, in a separate container, not mixed in with the food. You would think they would get all they need from their feed but mine still eat a lot of it as I offer it free choice. Also if you get DE, make sure it is food grade. D&B should have a 50lb bag for around $25.00, they don't sell it in smaller sizes last I checked, only the non food grade.

 

[Squeaky McMurdo]

Quote:
Lou, Lou, skip to me Lou

Sorry, but a skipping rooster named Lou is just pure comic gold!

 

[Mo5C]

Lou, Lou, skip to me Lou

Sorry, but a skipping rooster named Lou is just pure comic gold!

I didn't think about it that way, but yeah that is pretty funny.

 

[Mo5C]

They need access to oyster shell for calcium, in a separate container, not mixed in with the food. You would think they would get all they need from their feed but mine still eat a lot of it as I offer it free choice. Also if you get DE, make sure it is food grade. D&B should have a 50lb bag for around $25.00, they don't sell it in smaller sizes last I checked, only the non food grade.

yeah they have it there in 50lb bags although I wish they had it in smaller quantities. Do you know about how much the oyster shell is? I keep forgetting to check. What kind of container would I put them in, would empty ice cream or coolwhip containers work?

 

[BackYardChknLvr]

actually the 50LB oyster shells isnt that much its around like 13 bucks i just bought a new bag and they do actually sell oyster shells in smaller bags but there like 1lb bags but the 50lb is better cause a 50lb bag last me a year and i actually mix the oystershells in with my feed and they will eat it or kick it out on the ground but they know were to find it if they want it so they get the shells every day no matter what and its there choise to eat or kick out.

but i was wondering if anybody can tell me how i can look and see if i got fertal duck eggs i just found a huge nest of duck eggs behind one of the homes some of the eggs turned black so i'm guessing probly those ones are not fertal but just trying to see if i can figure it out

 

[BeccaSmith]

yeah they have it there in 50lb bags although I wish they had it in smaller quantities. Do you know about how much the oyster shell is? I keep forgetting to check. What kind of container would I put them in, would empty ice cream or coolwhip containers work?

I'm not sure how much it is at D&B, we buy the crushed oyster shell from the Meridian Feed Mill since we are usually there buying feed, however I have since switched to Zamzow's feed, the ingredients look exactly the same however the fiber content is much higher in the Zamzow's feed and it is much cleaner also, which was my main reason for switching. Anyways we use a galvanized metal dish that hangs on the side of the wall for the oyster shell, anything should work really if they don't tip it over, that is my reason for having it attached to the wall.

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

Cal Ranch has oyster shell in 50 lb bags or small bags, a little bigger than the 5 lb. chick starter comes in. I think the 50 lbs is 13 bucks ish. I just get the big bag and split with my neighbor, it fits in two of those 5 gallon food storage buckets. Although, the next bag I might keep myself, my girls went through a 25 lb bag in the last couple months no problem!

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

Also Sevin gardening dust kills bugs and can be used on chickens. Of course it is a chemical alternative, that some shy away from, but I like to sprinkle it around the perimeter of my run and coop, sprinkle just a little mixed in with my DE in the bottom of the nests and around the cracks, and I use about half and half mixture on any incoming birds (not chicks, just big girls). I use a cloth work glove, and get a handful and pat the new girl down under the wings, around the vent, and all over as well as I can without getting in her eyes or mouth, and keep those dusted newbies in a kennel overnight after the pat down before I take them out to my flock. I have never had any health side effects from it in my flock, and I feel like it is worth it to make sure critters don't come riding in on my new hens....but DE is definitely more the organic way to go. Just letting you know that is an option if the DE is not working.

Also there is a Poultry dip you can buy at Cal Ranch or IFA....you mix it with water and dip the entire bird in it for a few seconds, (when it is warm out) and it kills all the bugs and eggs on your girls. I routinely do this once in the spring and in the fall just as a preventative. The bonus to it, is the chicken does not flap and get all the dust in your face and all over, like with DE. (No white eyelashes!) Just be sure it is warm and they can get completely dry, or dry them if you have to. You can also mix it and mist them with it.

Last of all, there is a mite and lice spray available for parakeets at Petsmart. It is a spray bottle for 5 bucks or so, and you can mist your birds with it. It is cheaper to buy it per ounce like that than the poultry lice and mite spray (that I have found so far).

 

[Mo5C]

Also Sevin gardening dust kills bugs and can be used on chickens. Of course it is a chemical alternative, that some shy away from, but I like to sprinkle it around the perimeter of my run and coop, sprinkle just a little mixed in with my DE in the bottom of the nests and around the cracks, and I use about half and half mixture on any incoming birds (not chicks, just big girls). I use a cloth work glove, and get a handful and pat the new girl down under the wings, around the vent, and all over as well as I can without getting in her eyes or mouth, and keep those dusted newbies in a kennel overnight after the pat down before I take them out to my flock. I have never had any health side effects from it in my flock, and I feel like it is worth it to make sure critters don't come riding in on my new hens....but DE is definitely more the organic way to go. Just letting you know that is an option if the DE is not working.

Also there is a Poultry dip you can buy at Cal Ranch or IFA....you mix it with water and dip the entire bird in it for a few seconds, (when it is warm out) and it kills all the bugs and eggs on your girls. I routinely do this once in the spring and in the fall just as a preventative. The bonus to it, is the chicken does not flap and get all the dust in your face and all over, like with DE. (No white eyelashes!) Just be sure it is warm and they can get completely dry, or dry them if you have to. You can also mix it and mist them with it.

Last of all, there is a mite and lice spray available for parakeets at Petsmart. It is a spray bottle for 5 bucks or so, and you can mist your birds with it. It is cheaper to buy it per ounce like that than the poultry lice and mite spray (that I have found so far).

I don't have a Cal Ranch near me, the closest one is in Rexburg or Pocatello. Sevin dust and me do not have a good history, the last time I used it on my garden I ended up with bacterial pneumonia (I used it without a mask which was a bad idea on my part). I am going to check at D&B and see if they carry anything like the chicken dip, it sounds way less stressful than trying to dust them all but I am still making them a dusting area.

I also need an alternative to their current straw bedding(the dust it creates aggravates my allergies), only restrictions are cost and I am allergic to the sap and the oil in pine, I read that some people use river sand mixed with DE, and some just use straight river sand.