Judys chooks
In the Brooder
- Nov 27, 2020
- 11
- 22
- 49
Hi there everyone,
I have a dual problem with lice on my chooks. I only have 2 now and one recently was found dead in her nest. It was quite sad as she was the loner out of the 3 and had a period of being broody. I'd just brought her out of that and all seemed to be going well. Then I found her dead. However, there was a board standing against the wire that was blown down by exceptionally strong winds. It had tipped the water bowl over and I'm not sure whether it could have hit poor Henny whilst she was drinking. However, when I picked her up to remove her from the coup, she was covered in mites.
I cleaned out all the hay from the chook house and burnt it. I then put Pestene Powder on every part of the house, put fresh straw in and then doused the remaining two ladies - holding them upside down, covering under their wings and on their bodies. I'm due to do another bird dust (its been 2 weeks - delayed by covid lockdown. I was away and couldn't get back home) today or tomorrow.
The associated problem is that the remaining two birds won't even go back and roost in the chook house - they roost outside on a barrel or the house window sill. Whilst not a problem in the warm weather, this will not be good in the cold. How do I get them to go back in the house? Should I lock them in so they can't get out? Or do they know something that I don't about the house? Should I trust their intuition or not? They are now laying in the bushes instead of in their nests and sometimes their eggs are hard to find. I discovered 20 eggs hidden and some even partly buried. I tested them and they were all fresh (I was only away for 10 days).
Any suggestions about how to get my chookies back into their nice safe house please?
Also, is DE ok as long as it is human grade? I could put some out in their dust spots.
I have a dual problem with lice on my chooks. I only have 2 now and one recently was found dead in her nest. It was quite sad as she was the loner out of the 3 and had a period of being broody. I'd just brought her out of that and all seemed to be going well. Then I found her dead. However, there was a board standing against the wire that was blown down by exceptionally strong winds. It had tipped the water bowl over and I'm not sure whether it could have hit poor Henny whilst she was drinking. However, when I picked her up to remove her from the coup, she was covered in mites.
I cleaned out all the hay from the chook house and burnt it. I then put Pestene Powder on every part of the house, put fresh straw in and then doused the remaining two ladies - holding them upside down, covering under their wings and on their bodies. I'm due to do another bird dust (its been 2 weeks - delayed by covid lockdown. I was away and couldn't get back home) today or tomorrow.
The associated problem is that the remaining two birds won't even go back and roost in the chook house - they roost outside on a barrel or the house window sill. Whilst not a problem in the warm weather, this will not be good in the cold. How do I get them to go back in the house? Should I lock them in so they can't get out? Or do they know something that I don't about the house? Should I trust their intuition or not? They are now laying in the bushes instead of in their nests and sometimes their eggs are hard to find. I discovered 20 eggs hidden and some even partly buried. I tested them and they were all fresh (I was only away for 10 days).
Any suggestions about how to get my chookies back into their nice safe house please?
Also, is DE ok as long as it is human grade? I could put some out in their dust spots.