Michigan

[keyt1969]

Quote:
Me too! She just died about 15 minutes ago. She was such a good little girl too! She was always on the breeding pen ledge to greet me at feeding time, then she'd fly down and sit on my shoulder. No idea what happened, she was fine this morning.

 

[ChicwannaB]

Quote:
SEVIN = CARBARYL = CARCINIGEN
http://www.healthyworld.org/sevin.html
Personally I don't use it, not around my chickens, my other animals, my garden, myself.
Hope this helps.

 

[NovaAman]

They aren't maggots.. they are little black bugs. I don't know what they are. I just worry that its gonna be something bad... this is IN the coop. NOT IN THE YARD. I don't care about yard bugs. I care about BUGS INSIDE THE COOP. I use the sevin in the yard where my dogs go to keep flee population down. I do not use it where the chickens free range. They are the pest control there. I don't even use pest control on my vegetable plants. I just do not want some bug that I wasn't prepared for. I know about mites and lice, but I didn't know if there was some other bug or two that I need to worry about with my chickens. And these suckers are tiny, black and fast! At first, I thought maybe ants, and heck... the chickens would take care of that, but then I noticed that they were only under the roosting areas where there is droppings. I clean the poop out every 2 days. And today was the first time I noticed these little buggers. I have not dusted the coop for mites, or the chickens for them either. I don't want to use anything UNLESS I need to.

 

[Opa]

I've always been fascinated by history and in fact I am reading an excellent novel about a mountain/scout/buffalo hunter that is historically accurate so it helps to make it a very enjoyable read. Back in 1988, Hope, my two younger sons and I took a 6 week camping trip out to Glacier and Yellowstone. The first day we pushed hard and drove a little over 600 miles. From that day on we stopped at every historical marker we can to and if it made reference to something in the area that interested us we went and found it. I don't think we drove over 150 miles per day for the rest of the trip.

When we left Yellowstone heading for Cody we stopped at a small private roadside attraction that was a waste of time and money. When we came upon Old Trail Town no one wanted to stop figuring it was another rip off and continued on to Cody. Toured the Cody museum and could decide which part of it was the most interesting. The next night we were at a campground and David was reading a brochure about the area and exclaimed, "I guess we should have stopped at Old Trail Town, Jeremiah Johnson is buried there. So the next morning we got up, back tracked, and went to see it.

It sure make for an enjoyable trip when you have no set itinerary and no time constraints.

 

[NovaAman]

Sorry to hear about the chicky deaths...

 

[Olive Hill]

Quote:
Me too! She just died about 15 minutes ago. She was such a good little girl too! She was always on the breeding pen ledge to greet me at feeding time, then she'd fly down and sit on my shoulder. No idea what happened, she was fine this morning.

Sorry she didn't make it. Have you had any of your birds tested/autopsied? Seems like you've had more than your fair share of death, maybe there is something underlying.

 

[chicken grandma]

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This is beautiful! A dream come true for a chicken!

 

[chicken grandma]

Quote:
Me too! She just died about 15 minutes ago. She was such a good little girl too! She was always on the breeding pen ledge to greet me at feeding time, then she'd fly down and sit on my shoulder. No idea what happened, she was fine this morning.

Sorry she didn't make it. Have you had any of your birds tested/autopsied? Seems like you've had more than your fair share of death, maybe there is something underlying.

I agree. Find out what happened so you can care for your other chickens.

 

[chicken grandma]

Quote:
You could try scooping out the poop every day in the a.m. I would not worry. These bugs are just attracted to the poop. They are not on your hens. As the weather cools, I would guess they will not be with you. I would just clean each a.m. and maybe sprinkle some D.E. on the area where you have seen them. Not every bug is a problem. Mites and lice can be, but the rest are just attracted to the warmth of the coop/poop/food/pineshavings. I even had a little mole who spent the winter in our coop buried in the pine shavings. We just ignored him until spring. Right now, I have some black beetles under the straw bale and some little moth type things on the walls. That is normal for us.

 

[NovaAman]

Ok thanks. Thats all I was really wondering/worried over. I just put in some tote lids under the roosts so I can just take them out the coop doors and dump the poop off easier, so doing it on the daily will make it easier.