Kristen’s Chickens and Farming Ventures

[Kris5902]

Yep, 90% sure if he can find a cheap trimmer I’m shaving this! If I have to do it with my leg razors I will be annoyed, but it grows back pretty quickly

 

[aart]

Yep, 90% sure if he can find a cheap trimmer I’m shaving this! If I have to do it with my leg razors I will be annoyed, but it grows back pretty quickly

I buzzed all my hair off a couple years ago and have continued every 3 months or so.
Love it!
People look at me weird tho, need a tshirt, or hat,
that says 'no chemo, no head lice'

 

[Kris5902]

I buzzed all my hair off a couple years ago and have continued every 3 months or so.
Love it!
People look at me weird tho, need a tshirt, or hat,
that says 'no chemo, no head lice'

I love that idea! I keep threatening to have one made up for my mom: “no Covid, smokers cough” Myself: “no Covid, mold cough” and Andrew: “heart condition, low tolerance for exercise”. Maybe I need a “head lice free, preventative measures only” ( hopefully ) addendum to mine if I do go ahead with it.

Clippers aren’t looking promising right now, there was a lineup to get into the London Drugs (our Walgreens, I don’t know what the AUS version is) and DH “just couldn’t do it”. Shaving my head was great, it was super low maintenance, and until it grew out about 4” it looked fine. 4-8” is my goofy looking zone, and very little helps it as cuts go, it just looks awkward. I was growing it back out for another donation, then my workplace finally loosened their “no hair color” policy and I went deep purple in celebration (we also had 2 lavender, one hot pink, a fire engine red, one lime green and three blues, all in the same week, we were a colorful department for a while!) so I needed to grow that fully out before it would be ok to donate.

 

[Ribh]

I am crossing my fingers, and praying I don’t have head lice, that the itching is all in my head and not actually on it... but this is the THIRD time this year that the small human here has gotten them! All “separate“ incidents, granted this last round is being blamed on re-infestation while visiting with her father on the weekends from the previous episode. Apparently he can’t afford the proper treatment shampoo, and living on a boat with no laundry access makes it much harder for him to eradicate them. It is a yearly school-borne issue here. But the child’s mother didn’t bother to inform any of the other users (us and my mom, Also the kids frequent de-facto babysitter) of the shared facilities here that she was just crawling with them (she had an extremely bad infestation on the second go-around of 2020) I noticed the lice combs in the bathroom and then another parent posted an add for their friends lice treatment salon on the island forum. Either way a cheap hair trimmer, 4 bags of chickstarter, and a liter of my non dairy coffee creamer is on DH’s shopping list now!

heres some pics from 2012, when I shaved my head for our Children’s Hospital charity. I forget exactly how much the three of us raised, but it was over $5,000 (more people offered to donate if I didn’t do it, but it was something I really wanted to do)
View attachment 2089461View attachment 2089465

Kris, you don't need the *proper* stuff. I used to work in a school & lice was a constant problem & with hair down to my bum ...well, it could get super expensive. All you need is some cheap conditioner. Rub it well into your hair & let it dry. It suffocates the lice & makes combing the eggs out super easy. Wash out. I found it works better than the *treatments*, is way cheaper & much easier on the hair.

 

[Kris5902]

Kris, you don't need the *proper* stuff. I used to work in a school & lice was a constant problem & with hair down to my bum ...well, it could get super expensive. All you need is some cheap conditioner. Rub it well into your hair & let it dry. It suffocates the lice & makes combing the eggs out super easy. Wash out. I found it works better than the *treatments*, is way cheaper & much easier on the hair.

I may try that in the interim... I’m also thinking of easy maintenance with limited access to showers and water this summer... the only public shower here is in our rec center, which is closed for the foreseeable future with the Pandemic.

 

[Ribh]

I may try that in the interim... I’m also thinking of easy maintenance with limited access to showers and water this summer... the only public shower here is in our rec center, which is closed for the foreseeable future with the Pandemic.

Yes, of course. I was thinking money as much as anything else. With 5 kids doing all of us could really eat into our weekly allowance. Oil works too ~ anything greasy basically. If it's recurring you want something cheap & easy, even if your hair is short. The kiddo may prefer the smell too.

 

[Kris5902]

There are exactly three things I do not like about chickens. It’s not my Roosters getting hormonal and taking a bite or flog at me, the girls chasing me around the yard looking for treats and getting underfoot, or even dealing with “Oh NO! The tarp blew off overnight and everyone is soaked to the bone and it’s going to drop below freezing, quick relocate everyone somewhere drier and warmer!” Or frozen up waterers in the dead of winter type situations. One is losing birds, as even the meat birds destined for the freezer are hard for me to part with (I just remember that they had a far better life than any factory farmed bird, a quick clean death, and that they are appreciated and respected by the consumers who are developing a more personal relationship with their food). Two is having to treat significant illnesses and parasites, because I know that there’s a high likelihood, if not a certainty, of going back to the number one thing I don’t like. Today was two out of three, as I have a couple sick birds (the rescues) and the Third thing I really don’t like about chickens. Coop cleaning

I’ll start with my sick birds... Mrs B has her prolapse again, and I am not being as aggressive as I have the last two times in treating it I’m focusing on keeping her comfortable and happy. Her eggs are just too big, and keeping it in seems to be hurting her more than the last few times I’ve had to put it back and hold it in. The ancient Barred rock has some sort of respiratory problem, she stopped eating, and was frothing A bit at the mouth. I am treating her with antibiotics, and it is improving greatly. She is eating agin but is still awfully underweight. She doesn’t really lay anymore, so I am not worried about treating her with the antibiotics, they seem to have helped, and she is almost through the course. I know @Shadrach will disapprove, but I don’t have access to an avian/poultry vet at the best of times, never mind with the pandemic. Chickie Hawk has one under the weather lady, and although she has perked up, I am worried about internal laying or Sapinglitis (as I have found, although not recently, the occasional lash egg).

so that brings us to thing I don’t like #3 coop cleaning. I thought I had it licked with the chicken tractors, as the poop falls through the hardware cloth floor under the roosts. Until they molt. The feathers don’t fall through and I am poking the accumulation of poop, moss (they eat it and it comes out looking much the same as it went in!) and feathers through the mesh. It has been an all day chore next time I see any evidence of molting a solid poop board is going in! Live and learn I suppose. As I break up clumps with my fingers I and yet again thankful for the habit of not touching my face! The girls will be so happy when it’s done though, and I’m sure the coop will be about 50lbs lighter!

 

[BlueBaby]

@Kris5902 Couldn't you use one of those wire brushes to help you clean that out? I used to raise rabbit's, and made the hardware cloth cages. The wire brush made it easier to clean the bottom of those out.

 

[BY Bob]

I love that idea! I keep threatening to have one made up for my mom: “no Covid, smokers cough” Myself: “no Covid, mold cough” and Andrew: “heart condition, low tolerance for exercise”. Maybe I need a “head lice free, preventative measures only” ( hopefully ) addendum to mine if I do go ahead with it.

Clippers aren’t looking promising right now, there was a lineup to get into the London Drugs (our Walgreens, I don’t know what the AUS version is) and DH “just couldn’t do it”. Shaving my head was great, it was super low maintenance, and until it grew out about 4” it looked fine. 4-8” is my goofy looking zone, and very little helps it as cuts go, it just looks awkward. I was growing it back out for another donation, then my workplace finally loosened their “no hair color” policy and I went deep purple in celebration (we also had 2 lavender, one hot pink, a fire engine red, one lime green and three blues, all in the same week, we were a colorful department for a while!) so I needed to grow that fully out before it would be ok to donate.

That's awesome. I love people with the courage to dye their hair wild colors.

 

[BY Bob]

There are exactly three things I do not like about chickens. It’s not my Roosters getting hormonal and taking a bite or flog at me, the girls chasing me around the yard looking for treats and getting underfoot, or even dealing with “Oh NO! The tarp blew off overnight and everyone is soaked to the bone and it’s going to drop below freezing, quick relocate everyone somewhere drier and warmer!” Or frozen up waterers in the dead of winter type situations. One is losing birds, as even the meat birds destined for the freezer are hard for me to part with (I just remember that they had a far better life than any factory farmed bird, a quick clean death, and that they are appreciated and respected by the consumers who are developing a more personal relationship with their food). Two is having to treat significant illnesses and parasites, because I know that there’s a high likelihood, if not a certainty, of going back to the number one thing I don’t like. Today was two out of three, as I have a couple sick birds (the rescues) and the Third thing I really don’t like about chickens. Coop cleaning

I’ll start with my sick birds... Mrs B has her prolapse again, and I am not being as aggressive as I have the last two times in treating it I’m focusing on keeping her comfortable and happy. Her eggs are just too big, and keeping it in seems to be hurting her more than the last few times I’ve had to put it back and hold it in. The ancient Barred rock has some sort of respiratory problem, she stopped eating, and was frothing A bit at the mouth. I am treating her with antibiotics, and it is improving greatly. She is eating agin but is still awfully underweight. She doesn’t really lay anymore, so I am not worried about treating her with the antibiotics, they seem to have helped, and she is almost through the course. I know @Shadrach will disapprove, but I don’t have access to an avian/poultry vet at the best of times, never mind with the pandemic. Chickie Hawk has one under the weather lady, and although she has perked up, I am worried about internal laying or Sapinglitis (as I have found, although not recently, the occasional lash egg).

so that brings us to thing I don’t like #3 coop cleaning. I thought I had it licked with the chicken tractors, as the poop falls through the hardware cloth floor under the roosts. Until they molt. The feathers don’t fall through and I am poking the accumulation of poop, moss (they eat it and it comes out looking much the same as it went in!) and feathers through the mesh. It has been an all day chore next time I see any evidence of molting a solid poop board is going in! Live and learn I suppose. As I break up clumps with my fingers I and yet again thankful for the habit of not touching my face! The girls will be so happy when it’s done though, and I’m sure the coop will be about 50lbs lighter!

Wow. All the bad at once. I'm sorry that has happened to you.