NY chicken lover!!!!

[Lynzi777]

You guys have been talking about the heat and humidity(with 60 posts, I skimmed most, not read thoroughly so I may have missed this). What is really making me crazy is the bugs!! I can not remember a time when the bugs have been this bad. Mosquitoes, horseflies, deer flies,no-see-ums, biting stable flies,and those horrible, horrible, black and orange monsters! My horse hears them coming and he gets nervous. I get to ride for 20 minutes before there are too many, unless i want to spend the whole ride cantering to out run them, which I do sometimes because I can not keep him fit on 20 minutes of walking and trotting a day. Sheesh! I wish the bugs would go away!!

Stay cool everybody!

I agree, the bugs are bad this year. Even though I do think the ducks are helping with the flies (I remember not being able to sit out side last summer without at least 10 flying around my head) the horseflies are horrible! I cleaned out coops the other day and I had this one that would not leave me the heck alone! I finally went inside for a min and came back out. And those no-see-ums! UGH! That one of the reasons why I cleaned out my coops. I had a bunch of them crawling all over the side of the silkie coops, like there was a nest there or something and they had just hatched out. They were flying around everywhere up there! So nasty! I moved the coops so they're finally in a part of the yard again where I can actually spend time up there and enjoy myself rather than swatting at bugs the whole time.

 

[Lapeerian]

Update on my little Americauna girl: Didn't look much better this morning, but as I was checking her over I noticed little tiny white things crawling around her vent. EW! She got a quick bath in water & palmolive and trimmed a few of her feathers. Dumped some DE on her rear and sprinkled all over the shavings (and a little in her food) in the dog crate. So now the question: In her poor health state, should I try worming her? She is banty sized right now, so it was the .25 dose? I think my dad has a bottle of Eprinex around, so could get just the dose from him without buying the whole gallon.
And then I threw all my clothes in the washing machine. Now I got Lynzi's heebie jeebies and feel creepy crawly all over just thinking about it.
Bad chicken mommy

 

[Lynzi777]

Update on my little Americauna girl: Didn't look much better this morning, but as I was checking her over I noticed little tiny white things crawling around her vent. EW! She got a quick bath in water & palmolive and trimmed a few of her feathers. Dumped some DE on her rear and sprinkled all over the shavings (and a little in her food) in the dog crate. So now the question: In her poor health state, should I try worming her? She is banty sized right now, so it was the .25 dose? I think my dad has a bottle of Eprinex around, so could get just the dose from him without buying the whole gallon.
And then I threw all my clothes in the washing machine. Now I got Lynzi's heebie jeebies and feel creepy crawly all over just thinking about it.
Bad chicken mommy

Oh No! I hope the bath did the trick and will help get her feeling better. I still haven't gotten out to get some of that Eprinex...what is it exactly, a spray? Drops? Does the worming help with keeping bugs like mites and lice off the chickens?? They are just so nasty, the thought of them gives me the chills

 

[ke5hde]

Hope she gets better. We had a broody Brahma go through the same thing after raising guinea keets.

I went out this morning to pick blackberries and got eaten alive. I had mosquitoes on top of mosquitoes. I even made sure to soak myself down with repellent but they didn't care.
On the way back up the sidewalk I just about had a heart attack when I walked up on a 3ft snake. The big dog was with me and spotted it. It was game on then. He's not a fan of snakes either. After living in Texas for 8 years, the only good snake is a dead one and he did his job.




Chris

 

[Lynzi777]

Hope she gets better. We had a broody Brahma go through the same thing after raising guinea keets.

I went out this morning to pick blackberries and got eaten alive. I had mosquitoes on top of mosquitoes. I even made sure to soak myself down with repellent but they didn't care.
On the way back up the sidewalk I just about had a heart attack when I walked up on a 3ft snake. The big dog was with me and spotted it. It was game on then. He's not a fan of snakes either. After living in Texas for 8 years, the only good snake is a dead one and he did his job.

YUCK!!! I hate snakes and we have a lot of them around here! We have a family of 3 of them living in the foundation here in the front yard. Every once in while I catch one of them slithering thru my flower bed in the front when I go out to water and I just want to scream! Beautiful dogs you have there!

 

[SunnysideupstateNY]

Hope she gets better. We had a broody Brahma go through the same thing after raising guinea keets.

I went out this morning to pick blackberries and got eaten alive. I had mosquitoes on top of mosquitoes. I even made sure to soak myself down with repellent but they didn't care.
On the way back up the sidewalk I just about had a heart attack when I walked up on a 3ft snake. The big dog was with me and spotted it. It was game on then. He's not a fan of snakes either. After living in Texas for 8 years, the only good snake is a dead one and he did his job.




Chris

Good dog! I have had a lot of garter snakes this year, they give me the creeps.

 

[ke5hde]

YUCK!!! I hate snakes and we have a lot of them around here! We have a family of 3 of them living in the foundation here in the front yard. Every once in while I catch one of them slithering thru my flower bed in the front when I go out to water and I just want to scream! Beautiful dogs you have there!

Living on Butternut Creek we have tons of snakes. We're also wooded on 3 sides if you count the woods across the street.
Thanks.The big boy will be 13 this year and the crazy Sheltie will be 2.

Chris

 

[Lapeerian]

Oh No! I hope the bath did the trick and will help get her feeling better. I still haven't gotten out to get some of that Eprinex...what is it exactly, a spray? Drops? Does the worming help with keeping bugs like mites and lice off the chickens?? They are just so nasty, the thought of them gives me the chills

I checked her before dumping the DE on and looked like there was still some creepy crawlies but couldn't spend any more time with her due to the need to getting ready for work.
The Eprinex is a Pour-On Dewormer, so it is a liquid. I remember helping my dad worm the cows with it once long ago - measure it out in a long-handled cup and pour it down the backline. Comes in a one gallon jug (or at least that is the size Im used to).

 

[miquwid]

The bugs are rough this year I want to get frogs and toads to help but what if the chickens eat them all? And what if my dogs try? I feel it's worth a try as long as I keep a few good hiding places for them and put a barrier around the pond. the chickens did get a hold of a road recently it was like a scene from the walking dead lol

So I finished my hoop coop and we were moving the girls in to find 4 buried silkie eggs in the old coop/run and we thought the barred rock was winning our little egg laying contest, nope not at all lol! I did the water test and the eggs were good. I think one of the tots kept knocking over the make-shift nest box that the girls were like to heck with this. Our to two silkies are laying like champs 4-5 a week each! Now if my production layers will lay soon.

 

[Metella]

Miquwid - please post pictures of the Hoop coop I am still on the fence and wanting to - but not quite ready to bit


Snakes - I actually like them because they eat mice and voles .... and mice and voles ruin my foundation and the mice get into the house in the fall and just really ruin so much in a short time and force me to use poison. So while I don't catch them .... I stop my mower and let them move and otherwise tread lightly around them to keep them near the house. I do admit they are creepy.