NY chicken lover!!!!

[Breella]

Morning Everyone,
Went out to the shed this morning to find my newest splash hen dead.

I'm not sure what was going on her, but this is the same one I had a removed a week or two ago because she was looking lifeless and didn't put her back until she perked up again. Well she had been fine from what I saw, walking around with the others, eating drinking, she even came out of the run the other day and walked around the shed while I fed and watered the others. Then yesterday I noticed she was in the dustbath box I had put in their run weeks ago, not moving around too much, just resting there. I thought oh boy here we go again! But as soon as I fed them she went over to the bowl with the others so I thought Ok maybe she was just resting and is fine. So I left her because I saw her eating and drinking. But again, when I picked her up yesterday she felt really light compared to others. I don't know what what her issue was but I didn't separate her and I probably should and of course I'm kicking myself now. Think I'm pretty much done with these silkies, I wont be adding anymore, just keeping the 4 I have in that coop/run and that'll be it. I'm just so upset, that was the nicest quality hen I had.

I'm Sorry Lynzi! That sucks!

Last night while doing my post work feeding and checks (9PM thanks to a much needed post work grocery shopping trip) I noticed that one of my BR girls has mites by her vent! The kind that pile their eggs onto the feather and feel like cement when you touch them. I've been treating the coop with Neem oil spray one day a week for the last two weeks because I spotted some early morning white spots crawling around on the wood. I'm trying to break the life cycle and lower the mite load for the winter. I totally changed out the bedding with last weeks cleaning and may do it again with next weeks for good measure. Any other tips for controlling the Mite population? I didn't see any other large clusters of egg sacs on the few other hens who would let me bother them last night.

Edit note: I feel like an idiot, those are lice. Will Neem Oil help or should I use something else? I should probably get Sevin 5% shouldn't I?

 

[armorfirelady]

Hey ya'll I got a quick question. I live in the City and I dont get good day light hours, but I was wondering which automatic coop door to go with. I've read here on the boards about several and am stuck between the pullet and the ador. Maybe i just do t know any better but are there other ones out there that come with a timer? I dont think solar is the way to go for me.

Mine only needs 2 hours of daylight to function with the solar. You could always buy a model that has either the option of solar or electric.
I prefer solar as I hate to have electricity in the coop.

 

[Lynzi777]

I'm Sorry Lynzi! That sucks!

Last night while doing my post work feeding and checks (9PM thanks to a much needed post work grocery shopping trip) I noticed that one of my BR girls has mites by her vent! The kind that pile their eggs onto the feather and feel like cement when you touch them. I've been treating the coop with Neem oil spray one day a week for the last two weeks because I spotted some early morning white spots crawling around on the wood. I'm trying to break the life cycle and lower the mite load for the winter. I totally changed out the bedding with last weeks cleaning and may do it again with next weeks for good measure. Any other tips for controlling the Mite population? I didn't see any other large clusters of egg sacs on the few other hens who would let me bother them last night.

Edit note: I feel like an idiot, those are lice. Will Neem Oil help or should I use something else? I should probably get Sevin 5% shouldn't I?

Breella, if it's Lice I'm not sure about Neem cuz I have yet to try that with those bugs. But this summer when I had lice on the two chicks I kept, they had some of those hard egg clusters and I washed them with the dawn dish. The dawn killed everything, the egg clusters never "hatched", they eventually fell off when new feathers came in. Luckily they were on their "baby" feathers so it didn't take long for them to fall off. But with the BR, I'm think once you sprayed with dawn and killed the lice/eggs, are they far enough away from skin where you could trim those egg clusters off?

 

[handsomecock]

Mine only needs 2 hours of daylight to function with the solar. You could always buy a model that has either the option of solar or electric.  
I prefer solar as I hate to have electricity in the coop. 

Yea i dont want electric either. Here in Brooklyn I dont think its legal to have it in the coop either. I've heard of doors running off batteries. I guess I just need a solar powered door with a timer.

 

[County Boy]

Hi everybody!

We got back from Indiana early. My uncle and I both got bucks on the first 2 days so we had a good time. I got a 7pt. and he got an 8pt. I guess the deer population was down from some disease and the bucks that were there weren't as big as they usually were. We were just both fortunate enough that the first buck we saw were good sized. It was fun getting the deer back though as we had the car fully packed on the way out and didn't bring a cooler with us. It was a sight to see how we all fit. Well, I'll have to start catching up on the pages I missed.

 

[AQHAchick22]

Morning Everyone,
Went out to the shed this morning to find my newest splash hen dead.

I'm not sure what was going on her, but this is the same one I had a removed a week or two ago because she was looking lifeless and didn't put her back until she perked up again. Well she had been fine from what I saw, walking around with the others, eating drinking, she even came out of the run the other day and walked around the shed while I fed and watered the others. Then yesterday I noticed she was in the dustbath box I had put in their run weeks ago, not moving around too much, just resting there. I thought oh boy here we go again! But as soon as I fed them she went over to the bowl with the others so I thought Ok maybe she was just resting and is fine. So I left her because I saw her eating and drinking. But again, when I picked her up yesterday she felt really light compared to others. I don't know what what her issue was but I didn't separate her and I probably should and of course I'm kicking myself now. Think I'm pretty much done with these silkies, I wont be adding anymore, just keeping the 4 I have in that coop/run and that'll be it. I'm just so upset, that was the nicest quality hen I had.

So sorry Lynzi...that's terrible. I hate mysterious deaths. I had that happen to a hen as well she seemed a lot better and then one afternoon I found her dead in the run. Like somebody mentioned sometimes they have underlying genetic issues.

With all this talk of automatic doors I kind of want one...I usually let the girls out around 7 when I go to work but it would be nice to not have to worry about it, especially at night when I can get home anywhere between 4 and 8. I would just be worried about one getting locked out.

CountryBoy--Congrats! I really wish someone in my family hunted, I have a few friends that do but it would be nice to have a supply of venison.

 

[rancher hicks]

Morning Everyone,
Went out to the shed this morning to find my newest splash hen dead.

I'm not sure what was going on her, but this is the same one I had a removed a week or two ago because she was looking lifeless and didn't put her back until she perked up again. Well she had been fine from what I saw, walking around with the others, eating drinking, she even came out of the run the other day and walked around the shed while I fed and watered the others. Then yesterday I noticed she was in the dustbath box I had put in their run weeks ago, not moving around too much, just resting there. I thought oh boy here we go again! But as soon as I fed them she went over to the bowl with the others so I thought Ok maybe she was just resting and is fine. So I left her because I saw her eating and drinking. But again, when I picked her up yesterday she felt really light compared to others. I don't know what what her issue was but I didn't separate her and I probably should and of course I'm kicking myself now. Think I'm pretty much done with these silkies, I wont be adding anymore, just keeping the 4 I have in that coop/run and that'll be it. I'm just so upset, that was the nicest quality hen I had.

This is why I asked how common are tape worms. Same thing happened with my BR roo. Don't know what it was. No one else seemed affected. I do know they get cancer so perhaps this is a problem. Without a autopsy how can we know?


So yesterday I got an e-mail from Pet chicken and decided to have a look. I saw Lav orps for $37 each. Is that right?

There was another breed that was expensive too, but I forget which is was.


Nutty, it's good to hear from you again. Hope all goes well with the doc and stuff.

 

[marquisella]

Quote: Ivermectin works on mites & lice. Seven is not good for the bees. Nor your lungs. Plus it worms them so it is a mulit-use product.

 

[Sally8]

Ivermectin works on mites & lice. Seven is not good for the bees. Nor your lungs. Plus it worms them so it is a mulit-use product.

Just in case someone uses Ivermectin for their dogs. It says it will kill Australian Shepherds and Border Collies (plus a couple other breeds). At one time I thought about using it until I read that.

 

[marquisella]

Quote: Its safe for chickens. Some type of dogs, collies, shelties, etc. have a gene that isn't compatible with it, but chickens don't.