My plan of attack

[melalthia]

Ok so posted this thread a week ago, and now ALL my chickens are starting to lose feathers. So whatever it is, i need to do something fast.

I wanted to run this by you all, but I also have some questions.

First, MY PLAN: *maniacal laughter*

1) Dust the girls in Prozap poultry Dust away from run and coop.
2) "paint" a coat of hartz flea and tick solution on perches, ladders and all wood surfaces.
3) sprinkle DE on coop floor and through out run
4) sprinkle new bedding
5) put a DE in flat bucket that already has sand and wood ash in.

My questions:

- How's my plan looking? For a complete organic girl.. i'm feeling this is really drastic and it's freaking me out. Even the guy at the feed store tried to discourage me from using prozap. His words? "That stuff is really toxic. I discourage it from using it..."

-I am really worried about using the Prozap as i have small children who spend a lot of time during the day picking up chickens and playing in the run. How long do i have to make them avoid the coop after i dust? At what point are the birds "safe" again.

-I have one brown leghorn that is completely bald except for her wings, tail and neck. Is the poutry dust safe to dust on bare skin like that? Or will it be an irritant? Will it be effective on a bald chicken?

- How do i encourage the feather growth?

Thanks so much for the info and the support.

 

[b.hromada]

I'm sorry, I don't have the answer for you, so lets just bump this for you.

 

[Imp]

I think your plan is sound. The only change I would suggest is to dust the chickens in the coop, that way you will not be wasting any if it spills. I sprinkle it under the bedding. Lots of people use Poultry dust or Sevin with out problems, just be careful to not get it in your eyes or lungs. Wash hands well afterwards.
I think once the dust settles and the coop is cleaned and dry you don't need to worry about your kids, but if it makes you feel better have them avoid the coop for a couple weeks, and you all should be washing your hands after handling the chickens anyways.
When you dust try to get it down to the skin, that is where it is supposed to go. Pay attention to the vent area and under the wings.
Sometimes the feathers don't grow back till the next molt. I think someone already mentioned protein. Good luck

http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/lvstk2/mf2308.pdf

Imp