I have a very dynamic flock of chickens, the number of birds I have at any given moment changes from week to week, from about 20 to as many as several hundred, depending on how many I sell that month. I breed baby chicks all year long and raise as many as 100 chicks per month. I usually combine several hatches within probably a week and a half max, so every couple weeks I have a new mixed batch of chicks.
I have developed a new problem with about 25 of my free range chicks that are probably 8-9 weeks old: FEATHER PICKING! My chicks started to look really bad, lots of feathers missing, and then one day I watched them closely and they were really picking at each other pulling feathers off and eating them. So far it hasn't gone to cannibalism, just the feathers and bare backs.
I started spraying them with 'Hot Pick'. It works good but that doesn't spray very far because of the bottle, and it's very expensive, about $14 for 4 oz. OUCH! I also started spraying 'Scalex Mite and Lice Spray'. That's more reasonably priced, about $17 for 32 oz. and it's easy to spray on a flock of birds from a distance. So I decided to mix the two, I poured 4 oz of Hot Pick into the 32 oz Scalex. I watched closely and it doesn't look like the two had any kind of reaction. I'm hoping it will make it easier to spray on the Hot Pick and will also kill lice and mites. Not sure if the Hot Pick is going to be as effective diluted down, but you have to also consider that I am applying more spray to the birds because of the better spray pattern (stream setting).
Has anyone tried to mix Hot Pick and Scalex (or anything else)? Has anyone tried to dilute the Hot Pick and have success? That stuff is crazy expensive.
I have developed a new problem with about 25 of my free range chicks that are probably 8-9 weeks old: FEATHER PICKING! My chicks started to look really bad, lots of feathers missing, and then one day I watched them closely and they were really picking at each other pulling feathers off and eating them. So far it hasn't gone to cannibalism, just the feathers and bare backs.
I started spraying them with 'Hot Pick'. It works good but that doesn't spray very far because of the bottle, and it's very expensive, about $14 for 4 oz. OUCH! I also started spraying 'Scalex Mite and Lice Spray'. That's more reasonably priced, about $17 for 32 oz. and it's easy to spray on a flock of birds from a distance. So I decided to mix the two, I poured 4 oz of Hot Pick into the 32 oz Scalex. I watched closely and it doesn't look like the two had any kind of reaction. I'm hoping it will make it easier to spray on the Hot Pick and will also kill lice and mites. Not sure if the Hot Pick is going to be as effective diluted down, but you have to also consider that I am applying more spray to the birds because of the better spray pattern (stream setting).
Has anyone tried to mix Hot Pick and Scalex (or anything else)? Has anyone tried to dilute the Hot Pick and have success? That stuff is crazy expensive.
