I am in West Central FL and wondered how bad of a lice/mite problem there is and if anyone uses diatomaceous earth. I hear it is good for chickens and a good pest control agent. What has your experience been?
DE is a good preventative, but will not keep away everything. You may have to de-lice or dust your birds regularly--depending on your area. I keep a rubbermaid container in the coop. It is filled with a $5 bag of play sand, 2 gallon scoops of DE, and 1/4 can of poultry dust. The chickens can bathe in it when they need too, and it keeps the mites away.
used to live alittle soulth of there I'd say all those critters will be a problems, and fleas too (ug). Up north I use sevin dust in the bowls where the chickens bathe, and amped it up after I brought home 3 flea infested pups, after dipping every dog, I dusted the chicken house too, liberally...so far, it seems to have halted it, going repeat the whole thing in 3 weeks...seems like everybody complaining about the fleas this year, must be the heat...unfort in florida you don't get a freeze to kill things off, and all it takes is one stray animal to walk through and your back to infestation. You may have to bring out the big guns though, ask your local farm store what's good, they usually know
Thanks! I don't even have the hens yet but am trying to be prepared. I have a completely fenced in yard so I hope to keep uninvited animals to a minimum but I have see a cat, possum, squirrels and, of course, birds. I appreciate the advice! Thanks!!!
Tinkymoe, I live in Arcadia - been a Floridian my whole life but new to chickens. Just found out those #[email protected]*(#&@(* oppossums will eat your precious chicken eggs and soon move onto your chickens! I have been down on my egg count past few days and when I saw the oppossum in the barn last night - now I know why. Anyhow, noticed you mentioned that oppossum and wanted you to prepare yourself against it. What county do you live in?
We also live in Central Florida and yes, you can expect to encounter a variety of bug issues but all of them can be controlled. First, make sure that the chickens you get are free of all mites and lice. Second, wild birds are the major carriers of mice and lice so try and keep birds out of your coop and run. I use pine chips in my coop. In addition I mix DE with Seven dust and mix it in with the pine chips. I use sand for my run and I occasionally spread Seven dust in the sand. So far that has been very effectyive in deterring lice and mites. If your chickens do get an infestation using DE will do no good,
