Maine

[CoopChick719]

I went to with the family to visit my inlaws in Ohio, and had a friend take care of my flock for me while I was gone. About half of my flock died in the week i was gone. Needles to say, I won't be leaving my flock again anytime soon.

Kinsey228, You must have been devastated. I know I would have been. Do you know why?

 

[kinsey228]

Kinsey228, You must have been devastated. I know I would have been. Do you know why?

I was and still am. We don't know why, but some people just don't understand the time and care I give my birds, and I think the bare minimum food and water was put in the coop. I know chickens aren't supposed to be pets, but darn it, mine are. Even my 2 Roos run up to me when they hear me and eat out of my hand. Still trying to get the hubby to see my point of view....

 

[kinsey228]

Ashandvn, So Sorry to hear about your Orloff!!

It really bothers me when people say, "It's only a fill in the blank". Well, it wasn't just a....it was an animal that you've/I've cared for. Please don't belittle my feelings for that animal. I felt terrible when I found mites on my roo. I used Frontline on him & the girls. I've been checking but having seen any more. I'm so paranoid about it now.

My hubby says that all of the time. "It was just a chicken. You have how many more out there?" He's starting to be more interested in MY flock. My kids love getting the eggs.

 

[wife2abirdman]

Ashandvn, So Sorry to hear about your Orloff!!

It really bothers me when people say, "It's only a fill in the blank". Well, it wasn't just a....it was an animal that you've/I've cared for. Please don't belittle my feelings for that animal. I felt terrible when I found mites on my roo. I used Frontline on him & the girls. I've been checking but having seen any more. I'm so paranoid about it now.

My husband teases me all the time about putting in a stereo system for the coop. So it made me laugh when hoppy suggested a little Barry White for your hens!


Hi W2ABM,
Did you just powder your birds with DE or Sevin Dust?

I've heard this about headlice. Two of my friends told me that if I ever needed them to help clean up after headlice to call them because they were exhausted when their kids had them. I also used to work in a school so I do know how long it takes to get rid of them sometimes.

It was just a run of the mill garden poultry dust it's main ingredient is Perethrin?! My husband got it at TSC I think. It was only $7(no garuntee my husband does not do well on relaying info and never keeps receipts). I thought I had read somewhere to put it in the nest box so I did. But my husband later said I shouldn't have done that. I don't know but it worked, although just to be safe I threw out the eggs for that time being. I don't know why it wouldn't be safe for in the nest box if it's safe to use on tomatoes??!! But I powdered everywhere the walls the floor the nest boxes the roosts. I was not about to have two battles going with lice. One was quite enough. Actually where I had powdered the walls and nest boxes it stayed for quite awhile, not sure if that helped or not. I think just to be on the safe side when everything melts I will put another round in their outdoor pen just in case any of those little buggers survived! I

Yeah lice is soooo horrible. I tried everything. Finally I got so upset because my daughter started to get teased at school that I kinda went over board. I know all the warnings trust me I heard from the principal of the school AFTER she told me the girls couldn't come back till they were gone. But I left the shampoo on for twice as long as I was supposed to and I did it within 4-5 days instead of the 7. I was just fed up with staying up til 3am washing everything. Oh now I'm itching I think I'm done talking about this!

My hubby says that all of the time. "It was just a chicken. You have how many more out there?" He's starting to be more interested in MY flock. My kids love getting the eggs.

I was and still am. We don't know why, but some people just don't understand the time and care I give my birds, and I think the bare minimum food and water was put in the coop. I know chickens aren't supposed to be pets, but darn it, mine are. Even my 2 Roos run up to me when they hear me and eat out of my hand. Still trying to get the hubby to see my point of view....

I am so so sorry you lost so many, it's hard enough to lose just one. If this isn't your go to person there is a lady in Lubec I think who raises Orloffs, she's on craigslist Muddyhoof farm I think it's called. She looks like she has some nice stock. I wanted to get some Orloffs but I heard they are difficult to breed . Plus I tried to get some from a hatchery and at the last minute they couldn't send them. I thought that was a bad sign from a hatchery so I just stuck with my Speckled Sussex and figured I could pretend they had a beard.

Fortuneately my husband really understands about when a special chicken dies and tries his best to not belittle it. UNfortuneately it was my husband who was supposed to be taking care of my birds when I was sick.

Our animals are a HUGE reason why we don't go away in the winter that and fear of bursting water pipes! The last time I went away in the winter, we got held up just 2 days and my entire 60 gal tank of beautiful (and expensive) fish died! That's when I decided no more traveling in the winter, not in Maine anyway. There are too many things that can go wrong just with a minor failure in a furnace or even a slight blackout!

 

[joanie_maine]

Hence the reason to NOT use hay in coops.

Shavings, poultry dust- forget DE- poultry dust floors before putting in new shavings and mix poultry dust in the nest box shavings

Adams Flea & Tick Spray if you think a bird is starting to look peaked and you need a quick fix.

Bathe with Adams Flea & tick Shampoo if you have the time to use a hairdryer. It will kill all the mites on the birds at ONCE., but remeber there are still mite eggs waiting to hatch somewhere in your coop.

Ivermectin works but you have to be careful not to overdose.

This is the time of year when mites make a comeback.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I went to with the family to visit my inlaws in Ohio, and had a friend take care of my flock for me while I was gone. About half of my flock died in the week i was gone. Needles to say, I won't be leaving my flock again anytime soon.

I was and still am. We don't know why, but some people just don't understand the time and care I give my birds, and I think the bare minimum food and water was put in the coop. I know chickens aren't supposed to be pets, but darn it, mine are. Even my 2 Roos run up to me when they hear me and eat out of my hand. Still trying to get the hubby to see my point of view....

So sorry to hear this.

 

[buckabucka]

All this mite and lice talk tells me it is time to get out there and check mine again. I had them badly at the beginning of last summer. I would find tiny mites on the eggs, which tipped me off, and then after handling a hen for a while, I got chicken lice in my hair! That sent me running and screaming to the drugstore, thinking I had human head lice. As it turns out, chicken lice just wash out. Lesson learned.

ivermectin worked for me, even though I hear it only works on mites (not lice). Maybe dusting and spraying the coop sent the lice packing, I don't know, but they were gone.

 

[MustardTiger]

Ugh. So sorry about the Orloff! It is so frustrating when you do all you can. I am lucky and have not had any mites. I dread them! I had a lice issue with my flock in July. I just used permetherin dust and it worked well but would be labor intensive for a large flock.

 

[VioletBlueIvy]

Ash, I am sorry for your loss, that's quite a blow.
I haven't lost any, and they dont seem to be having any side effects. I treat them and check and think I got them and the next thing I know the kids or myself pick somebody up and theres the bugs! It's very frustrating! Just to be clear, these are not Lice, and the feather mites went with one dusting and havent been back, it is the Northern Fowl Mites I cant get rid of. I even looked at them under a microscope to ID them.
RE the headlice... we did that dance a couple years ago. The lice have become resistant to the medications. After 2 rounds of the over the counter stuff, we went to the doctor and got a prescription, whick still did not work. It wasnt from reinfestation, there were living lice after the treatments while I was still combing them out. Then I went to the health foos store and found Neem Oil. It is AWESOME. It kills them fast! It is safe, non toxic, you can eat it in fact! It is very thick you have to warm it up a little to be able to use the dropper with it or pour it. I used it directly on our heads for the first treatment, mixed with a little olive oil. You have to get the nits with a comb or your fingers, but combing is much easier with the oil than after the chemical shampoo's. After that you just add a few drops to your shampoo and use it like normal. You will never see lice again because it kills and no bugs will get near you with that stuff on. It even kept the blackflies at bay. Usually they are in my hair and biting my scalp and the back if my neck even after I have come inside, but not that spring! And I do it in the spring now just to keep away the blackflies. It is awesome stuff! It does have a strong odor, like musky garlic, but it is not real noticeable in the shampoo. Totally worth it. Try it, trust me!
I used hay in the solarium this year, and it is the first time I have ever had the mites...back to the bark mulch for sure!
Edited b/c of mobile issues, as usual...

 

[kinsey228]

I am so so sorry you lost so many, it's hard enough to lose just one. If this isn't your go to person there is a lady in Lubec I think who raises Orloffs, she's on craigslist Muddyhoof farm I think it's called. She looks like she has some nice stock. I wanted to get some Orloffs but  I heard they are difficult to breed . Plus I tried to get some from a hatchery and at the last minute they couldn't send them. I thought that was a bad sign from a hatchery so I just stuck with my Speckled Sussex and figured I could pretend they had a beard.

Ashandvine