The chickens will be pretty easy to care for once they settle in. You will find your own pattern with them. It seems overwhelming at first, but most new things do! In a few months it will be second nature. Homeschool and chores well that is about the same. The first year was very hard for us, we pulled the girls out of school during Christmas break. I had no idea what I was getting into! Now it is much better! It took lots of doing schoolwork clear into the evening and many groundings before they settled into a flow. I think at first they thought it would be easy because I am JUST Mom. We get up, they handle some small chores, feeding and watering (cats, dogs, bunny, chickens) while I get breakfast ready. I handle small chores, taking care of the chicks box, anything as far as medications or cleaning for the pets, putting in laundry etc while they get dressed and ready for class. I do not use prepackaged curriculum, I plan out what I think they should be learning, and gather the resources during the summer. We go at whatever pace they need, if we have to stay in school a bit later in the year, or we are done earlier it is no big deal. Some things they master very quickly, other things may take much longer. I have seen some homeschool moms get so upset about being behind schedule (public school schedule). To me we homeschool for lots of reasons, but one is to ensure that they have all the time and help they need to really learn things, not just spit out memorized facts. There are endless sources on the internet for worksheets, educational videos and unit studies! It saves lots of time just printing out a worksheet, rather than making your own. (for math I use Math Aids) We try to take breaks between subjects, I really think it helps everyone keep their focus. During those short beaks we have a snack, and usually handle tasks like gathering the eggs, or things from the garden, hanging out the laundry whatever needs doing. I also do not go by normal school hours, they stay with their work until it is done. Trying to force every thing into a tidy little time frame just did not work for us. They are almost always done with schoolwork by dinner time. That is when my husband gets home from work. We eat and just spend time as a family for a little while, In the evening my husband and I take care of any major things that need doing, fixing broken things, cleaning the coop, garden work, lawn work etc. The girls are each given two rooms to take care of for a month plus their own room, they have a checklist for each room and it has to be done before bedtime. I clean up the rest of the house before I go to bed. When the girls are doing schoolwork, I also have time to get things done or relax a bit. I do not go far from them, in case they may need help or have a question. The weekends are when we do major cleaning and large tasks. It really is not so bad, of course we do not have a large farm to take care of. LOL Wow! I talk a whole bunch! I suppose my best advice is to just take things at the pace that works best for your family, if you get rid of deadlines and trying to keep up with public schools, things just sort of fit into place.
New to BYC. New to chickens. Overwhelmed!
- Thread starter Ncantrell
- Start date
The chickens will be pretty easy to care for once they settle in. You will find your own pattern with them. It seems overwhelming at first, but most new things do! In a few months it will be second nature. Homeschool and chores well that is about the same. The first year was very hard for us, we pulled the girls out of school during Christmas break. I had no idea what I was getting into! Now it is much better! It took lots of doing schoolwork clear into the evening and many groundings before they settled into a flow. I think at first they thought it would be easy because I am JUST Mom. We get up, they handle some small chores, feeding and watering (cats, dogs, bunny, chickens) while I get breakfast ready. I handle small chores, taking care of the chicks box, anything as far as medications or cleaning for the pets, putting in laundry etc while they get dressed and ready for class. I do not use prepackaged curriculum, I plan out what I think they should be learning, and gather the resources during the summer. We go at whatever pace they need, if we have to stay in school a bit later in the year, or we are done earlier it is no big deal. Some things they master very quickly, other things may take much longer. I have seen some homeschool moms get so upset about being behind schedule (public school schedule). To me we homeschool for lots of reasons, but one is to ensure that they have all the time and help they need to really learn things, not just spit out memorized facts. There are endless sources on the internet for worksheets, educational videos and unit studies! It saves lots of time just printing out a worksheet, rather than making your own. (for math I use Math Aids) We try to take breaks between subjects, I really think it helps everyone keep their focus. During those short beaks we have a snack, and usually handle tasks like gathering the eggs, or things from the garden, hanging out the laundry whatever needs doing. I also do not go by normal school hours, they stay with their work until it is done. Trying to force every thing into a tidy little time frame just did not work for us. They are almost always done with schoolwork by dinner time. That is when my husband gets home from work. We eat and just spend time as a family for a little while, In the evening my husband and I take care of any major things that need doing, fixing broken things, cleaning the coop, garden work, lawn work etc. The girls are each given two rooms to take care of for a month plus their own room, they have a checklist for each room and it has to be done before bedtime. I clean up the rest of the house before I go to bed. When the girls are doing schoolwork, I also have time to get things done or relax a bit. I do not go far from them, in case they may need help or have a question. The weekends are when we do major cleaning and large tasks. It really is not so bad, of course we do not have a large farm to take care of. LOL Wow! I talk a whole bunch! I suppose my best advice is to just take things at the pace that works best for your family, if you get rid of deadlines and trying to keep up with public schools, things just sort of fit into place.
- Sep 27, 2012
- 33,764
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Welcome to BYC.
Hello 
and Welcome To BYC! Sorry about the problems you are having with the new flock, hope they recover and do well. btw, if you think one has mites/lice, you need to treat all of them and the coop etc also, considering the conditions they came out of it might not be a bad idea to do it anyhow since you will be worming them.
and Welcome To BYC! Sorry about the problems you are having with the new flock, hope they recover and do well. btw, if you think one has mites/lice, you need to treat all of them and the coop etc also, considering the conditions they came out of it might not be a bad idea to do it anyhow since you will be worming them.- Thread starter
- #16
Thanks everyone. Gave them all a dose of Safeguard on Tuesday afternoon. Sadly, another chicken died this afternoon. Another ISA Brown. Now we're down to 8. The newly dead hen has a very messy vent, but no apparent worms. Should I assume she also died from worm overload?
My daughter is pretty sad and discouraged.
We will give them a second dose on the 23rd.
We cleaned out the bedding and roosts yesterday. I will probably go in an dust them all with food grade DE. I did notice our rooster has scaly leg mites, but he is not long for this world anyway. Only picked him up for his hackles. My dad is a fly fisherman and likes the fancy feathers.
My daughter is pretty sad and discouraged.
We will give them a second dose on the 23rd.
We cleaned out the bedding and roosts yesterday. I will probably go in an dust them all with food grade DE. I did notice our rooster has scaly leg mites, but he is not long for this world anyway. Only picked him up for his hackles. My dad is a fly fisherman and likes the fancy feathers.
One Chick Two
Songster
- Jun 13, 2013
- 1,067
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If your rooster has Scaly leg mites, once one has this, you have to assume they all have or will have it.
We dipped our affected bantam in mineral oil, touched up the worst areas with vaseline, then floured his legs with DE. He walked so much easier when he was dusted in DE afterward. He quit slipping off the roost. (Stopped getting grease all over his feathers too.)
Some people recommend cleaning the legs first with water and a soft toothbrush. We didn't, and the mites were dead in a week, and his damaged skin was sloughed away by 4 months. It may or may not be slightly faster washing the shanks and feet first. Good luck!
We dipped our affected bantam in mineral oil, touched up the worst areas with vaseline, then floured his legs with DE. He walked so much easier when he was dusted in DE afterward. He quit slipping off the roost. (Stopped getting grease all over his feathers too.)
Some people recommend cleaning the legs first with water and a soft toothbrush. We didn't, and the mites were dead in a week, and his damaged skin was sloughed away by 4 months. It may or may not be slightly faster washing the shanks and feet first. Good luck!
Welcome to BYC, and good luck in resolving the problems with your flock.
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