New To Chickens! Help!!

[krissy2h2t]

Hi! We are new to backyard chickens, and new to being "country folk!" We are loving it so far!! We have 5 girls who are fairly young (about 13 weeks old) who haven't started laying yet. I've searched this site for so many things so far! I figured it was finally time to join. We've made it through discerning whether or not we had roosters in the bunch, dealing with pooping in the nest boxes, wanting to roost on top of the coop instead of IN the coop and one lady having a very hurt leg. Everyone is back to normal and doing well, but today as I was cleaning the coop I noticed a flea. Upon closer inspection, there were a few more but none on the girls. I have been using DE, and they've had a few dust baths with an ash, sand and DE combo. Upon finding the flea(s), I gave them all another dust bath after thoroughly cleaning the cage with a vinegar water mixture, coating the wood with barn lime and DE and then lining the bottom with hay. We live in Minnesota so planning on doing the layering deal (DLM) this winter. The coop floor is grass (we have one of those coops that has the fenced in run and on top there's the roosting bars/nesting boxes.) The coop is fairly small but every morning they are allowed out to free range so they're basically just in there to sleep. So we move the coop around when it gets dirty and start fresh. I'm just paranoid that I'm doing something wrong. After putting the hay in, I read here that that's a stupid idea because mites and fleas live in it, and come to see a few of these on me and in the coop after spending the day cleaning. They seem much smaller than the fleas I saw earlier but they can jump. HELP

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome! Chickens are fun to have, and the fresh eggs are wonderful. Bugs happen, and I can't tell what that one is from the picture either. DE is bad to breath, and has limited effect on parasites, in spite of what you may read here. In the face of an actual problem with lice or mites, permethrin is the best, and is approved for use in poultry. Carbaryl is also effective, but not approved for poultry here. I dust the floor of my coop under the shavings when we clean it out. After one BAD episode dusting my chickens without a N95 dust mask, I use Ivermectin (also not approved) on the birds, because it's safer for me and the bird's lungs. I would strongly recommend that you also wear at least a N95 dust mask whenever you are cleaning the coop or using any dust. They are available in the paint department anywhere. About coop size; in winter your birds won't want to play in the snow, so your coop and maybe covered run need to be BIG. Also safe from digging predators at all times. You have some more projects before winter comes. Mary

 

[beginnergirl]

I've used DE for fleas and it has worked in the house with my dog and cat. You might need to use more? It also has taken care of ants in the coop.

 

[generaldsherman]

You could also try spraying the non-chicken areas with a 3 month bug suppressor (the home defense kind). Between that and the DE, I haven't (knock on wood) seen any nasties yet.

 

[krissy2h2t]

Thanks to all of you for your replies! I look forward to trying some new things out. I'm sure it takes a while to find ones niche! I have created a drop tray to empty daily which I'm sure will be a HUGE game changer, and upon incredibly close inspection, I couldn't find a buy anywhere today! I'm guessing whatever I did yesterday worked! Now just to maintain....

Luckily, the area that they have in the backyard is very secure, fenced in just for them, and covered by large pine trees to help with maintaining a place to wander that isn't covered in snow. These gals are very spoiled. My husband will also be clearing snow for them as well if it gets deep. I have lots of friends here that have chickens... and they all learn how to be a "Minnesota chicken!" you have to like snow to live here