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[Mother2Hens]

So my babies have little gold colored bugs crawling on them. What can I do for little guys?I don't want to do anything that will harm the chicks.I was going to use DE, but with the respiratory issues we just had, I don't think its a good idea. Any suggestions?

A possibility: Poultry Lice
This info is from "Chicken Health for Dummies" and the following is shown online at http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/poultry-external-parasites-lice-and-mites.html
Note: The treatments listed are for chickens. Not sure about tiny chicks.
Click on screenshots for larger view.

 

[danand]

Ccccc- wow! That's quite a wide range of additions!! Choose luck with all of them. Love to see pics.. When the time comes , I'll probably have to put call ducks with my mixed Bantys. Maybe next year!!!

M2h- the pics are great!! I would say that Adaline is not ready yet. I have 3 regular orps and only 1 is laying so far, her comb and waddles re noticeably redder. But I might guess BonBon is closer.IMO. They are all so pretty. I have an EE with a floppy comb like your red!!

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

Ccccc- wow! That's quite a wide range of additions!! Choose luck with all of them. Love to see pics.. When the time comes , I'll probably have to put call ducks with my mixed Bantys. Maybe next year!!!

M2h- the pics are great!! I would say that Adaline is not ready yet. I have 3 regular orps and only 1 is laying so far, her comb and waddles re noticeably redder. But I might guess BonBon is closer.IMO. They are all so pretty. I have an EE with a floppy comb like your red!!

thanks i will try to get pics soon. I will try and get a picture if the rooster standing beside me to show how big he is. and u would also say bonbon is closer to laying

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

M2H, your birds are beautiful! Love the chocolate bantam!

Honestly, I wouldn't expect eggs from either of these gals for a while longer. Neither look particularly close to laying, judging by comb and wattle size. Have either of them squatted yet? They usually start squatting a week or two before laying, although I've had a pullet hold out on me for a little more than a month after her first squat. Adeline is far from laying--if you hadn't posted her age I would have assumed she was much younger than she is! Bonbon will most likely begin laying long before Adeline does, as her wattles have begun to grow out. As I recall, these guys don't get very large combs, so their wattle growth is going to be more telling in regards to how soon they lay.

At this point, if there is no squatting, my best guess would be eggs from Bonbon no sooner than Thanksgiving, but probably before Christmas. If there is squatting, she'll probably lay within a month from now. Adeline is not even close, and unless she develops quickly, I wouldn't be looking for eggs from her until the beginning of next year. My experience is limited to hatchery quality birds and I know your girls are breeder quality, so I could be way off. Perhaps if anyone else has English Orpingtons, they can chime in and tell me how wrong I am.

Anyway, hope that helps.

 

[Mother2Hens]

Pipd, danad, and CCCHICKENS ~ Thanks for the evaluations of my Orps!!!

I am such a goofy newbie that I made sure to include photos of their back ends in case they held the clues for laying! Hahahaha!
No, neither one has squatted. To make a long story short, I was off a month, and they both are approx. 6 months old.

Long story: I bought Adeline and Violet the Lavender on June 5th from chickenscratchfarms. I just looked up the emails and I am a month off, so they are approx. 6 months old. I was thinking that they told me that Violet was 12 weeks and that Adeline was 11 weeks, but my email said that Adeline was around 8 weeks and Violet was 7 weeks. After I had to have Violet put to sleep, I bought Bonbon from the same place on Aug. 9th. They said she was four months old, so now she's 6 months. (I had asked them for specific "birthdays," but I was surprised that they didn't keep records of hatching dates).

Pipd~ We are crazy about little Bonbon, too! She is very outgoing and thinks she a LF. She has a funny squeaky sound she makes through her nose, I guess. I will have to video her "talking." Adeline is a big, fluffy scaredy cat. She and Bonbon make an odd, but lovable pair of close girlfriends.

 

[Mother2Hens]

^^^last night, some of the girls were discussing how to get to the new fruit hanging in their run. They do enjoy jumping for it!


Going to make a delicous omelette right now, and oh yeah, GO COLTS tonight!

TooFast~ You're a great Dad! ~ a Scout Leader and one who plays "Dress Up" in Renaissance costumes-- haha just kidding you!

Seriously, it's great that you are involved with so many different types of groups. You are a good role model for your kids.

However, you did fail to label your chicken photo for the feeble-minded like me. I know the middle bird is a Silver Laced Wyandotte, but what are the white ones? Their tails are extremely vertical, which is intriguing.
P.S. The Colts are ahead!

Looooong Game!
CCCHICKENS~ Wow! You had a Shopping Spree at the Show! That sounds like something bradselig would do. Haha. Can't wait to see the photos.

 

[Mother2Hens]

I use poop trays as well. Oh my mercy!!!! It makes clean up so much easier. After I put on my rubber gloves, I lift out each of the trays and take them to the compost pile. I then fill them back with shavings and voila! My roost is about 2 feet off the group, and the poop trays are about 4-6" below the roost bar. There is another support bar that is a bit lower that some of them use as a step up, others just hop directly to the ledge of the poop tray or the roost itself. One thing I learned though. The roost bar isn't centered over the tray, thinking that the chickens would face forward and poop would be more towards the wall. Not so much. So once in a while, there is poop that goes to the floor, bypassing the poop tray. The picture below is when the coop was being built, but you can see that the bar isn't centered. I also sprinkle some DE on the new shavings. And depending on the weather, I am cleaning the trays about every 3-4 weeks. Hope this helps.

toodlesmom~ I have a poop tray similar to zippy's. Mine slides out of the side of the coop, but I've found it to be heavy and cumbersome to slide out and clean. Instead, I put two cat litter boxes in the tray, which keeps the boxes from sliding around. I put pine shavings in the cat litter boxes and they're easy for me to pick up and toss the contents into my compost container. It's also easy to hose/clean the plastic cat boxes. Although I clean the boxes every day (and scrape the steps/ramp since that seems to be a popular place to poop!), I also sprinkle a little Sweet PDZ around in the coop, litter boxes, and ramp area. (The chickens aren't interested in eating it). I use pdz since I live in a subdivision. Just an observation-- I've noticed that damp weather makes the coop smell more than hot weather.

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

[COLOR=0000CD]TooFast~[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]You're a great Dad! ~ a Scout Leader and one who plays "Dress Up" in Renaissance costumes-- haha just kidding you!   Seriously, it's great that you are involved with so many different types of groups. You are a good role model for your kids.  [/COLOR]
[COLOR=8B4513]However, you did fail to label your chicken photo for the feeble-minded like me. I know the middle bird is a Silver Laced Wyandotte, but what are the white ones? Their tails are extremely vertical, which is intriguing.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=8B4513]P.S. The Colts are ahead! [/COLOR]   [COLOR=8B4513]Looooong Game![/COLOR]
[rule][COLOR=008080]CCCHICKENS~[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Wow! You had a Shopping Spree at the Show! That sounds like something bradselig would do. Haha. Can't wait to see the photos.[/COLOR]

ya i have a shopping spree at least once a month. i am up to 67 chickens now

 

[FarkerFarms]

I came home with two Black Cochins (pullet and cockerel) and a Blue Laced Wyandotte pullet We didn't stay super long due to the weather. We also didn't bring cages because I was hoping it would keep us from shopping. Nope, sure didn't. The new kids ended up riding home in the back of my hatchback, plenty of space and air but not fun getting chicken poop off the trunk fabric!

 

[pginsber]

Originally Posted by toodlesmom
Anyone here use poop boards? Do you find them worthwhile? Do they make cleaning easier or more difficult?
Several people using poop boards recommend using Sweet PDZ on the boards to make cleaning easier and odor less noticeable. Anyone here tried that?


We have a poop board/roost similiar to zippy's, too. It's a 3" deep tray filled with PDZ and we call it the litter box. The girls have a roost board that sits on top of the PDZ-filled tray and they poo right into the PDZ. The liquid is absorbed and we use a cat litter scoop/sifter to scoop the poop from the PDZ. No smell, no mess. We love it.
Occassionally, they walk and scratch in the PDZ, but it's not very often.

Either my browser or the website is mis-behaving now and I'm unable to upload a picture. I'll try again in a few minutes.