NY chicken lover!!!!

[rancher hicks]

Well I do look at it as there is a risk involved and I worked for the PO so I know the score. My first shipment of eggs was packed nicely and I still had a bad hatch but that was due to my inexperience more than anything else. I could kick myself after all that I've learned.

 

[Pyxis]

Well I do look at it as there is a risk involved and I worked for the PO so I know the score.  My first shipment of eggs was packed nicely and I still had a bad hatch but that was due to my inexperience more than anything else. I could kick myself after all that I've learned. 

Is there any truth to the rumor that packages marked fragile actually get handled more roughly? I remember reading once that someone did a test and the packages they marked fragile actually had a rougher time in shipping than others did. They chalked it up to postal workers getting annoyed that the package was marked fragile, like it was accusing them of not being careful with packages, and as such they handled it worse.

I will say I've bought hatching eggs from the BST section on here and it went great. All the eggs got here fine and they were all fertile except one. Only one other one didn't hatch. Ten out of twelve on shipped eggs wasn't bad at all.

 

[Tough Old Bird]

They still use their regular dusting site ..Under our back deck .
Little did my husband know when he had it built ...that someone else would have it as a favorite spot .
We put black plastic under there so it is just dirt .& It always stays dry under there ...In Rain , Snow or Sun .
Im think of enclosing it plastic next year to keep the heat in some for them
In all weather they go under there & roost & or Dust Bathe (there is a I___I hanging Board under There)( It supposed to be for storing extra boards , etc) They think its for them ! & we dont use it ) Sometimes I put some wood ashes in there as well . I have been useing cardboard ash as we always have boxes for my business that we dont use anymore .

Hiya Gramma Chick....

So funny how your girls found your hubby's R&R place to be theirs, too. Double duty for the deck!

A question on the WOOD ASH, as I was just discussing this with my own dear hubby, after having read that wood ashes are a good choice for dust baths:

Our wood stove has been in over drive this winter. We collect ashes in a metal garbage can, so they are always at the ready.
MY CONCERN: we use fire-starter bricks, as well as burn cardboard, colored/inked paper (i.e. mail), etc.
Is it OK to use all this combined type of ash for chickens to dust in? My husband says that all the questionable residues burn off, and he may be right. But I, being the over-cautious whack job that I am, want to make sure I'm not providing a toxic or irritant beriddled dust bath for my ladies!
Does anyone else use ashes that include more than just "wood" -- particularly fire starter type products -- in their dust bath mixtures?

Thanks from me, and on behalf of my future flock.

TOB

 

[Tough Old Bird]

Please don't be misled into think mites area common problem. With proper care they won't be. There are preventative measures you can take to avoid them becomeing a problem. Not the least of which is using lots of DE. Diatomaceous Earth.

This is used as a dusting powder of sorts. I personally like to spread it everywhere inside the coop when I clean. Over the floors, walls and in the next boxes. Especially get the corners cracks and crevices.

I also like to rub vaseline or mineral oil on all wooden roosts. Mites can hide and from what I read like to come out at night.

I also use Exprinex and also dust the birds. I try to do this at night, wearing a headlight so I can pick them up off the roost and do the job.

I also spread it in their dusting holes on dry days. Oh and I also toss it around on top of the wood shavings after cleaning.

You can also rub their feet and legs with vaseline too. I do my own feet and legs and I've never been bothered with cooties either.

Take care and I wish you well,

Rancher

Hello Rancher,

As always, I gobble up your shared tips and info like a starved mutt.

haha!

I had already planned on putting some DE down under the shavings in my coop, so I'm really happy to see you recommend this -- it reaffirms my thinking, which eases the newbie doubts (of which I have many)!

On the Eprinex, though: because I occasionally plan to throw some scratch down directly on to the (deep) shavings within the coop, is it safe to dust the floor with Eprinex? Thanks for confirming. I don't want to poison my girls, even if it means a miteless carcass, LOL!

Thanks, sir!


TOB

PS: where do you buy Eprinex? The feed store?

 

[Nambroth]

Oops! Posted to the wrong thread. Sorry!

 

[Pyxis]

Hey all, does anybody have some chicks hatching soon? My broody's been on two eggs for a while now and sadly I think they froze before she started sitting I'd love to give her some chicks if anybody has any hatching soon.

 

[marquisella]

Quote: eprinex is a dewormer liquid you put on the chickens, not on the floor. I'm pretty casual with my chickens, if you think about it, they even eat their own poop, or horse poop, or whatever they think looks good.!

I usually worm with Ivermectin, which Eprinex is a more diluted form of, twice a year. That takes care of anything like mites or lice, plus worms them. In fact, I have never found any on my birds.

I wouldn't worry too much about the chickens. Like I said, they will probably gross you out at times...to see what they eat, etc. It drives me crazy when I give them nice clean water, and I see them outside drinking out of puddles with horse poop in it, or their own run if it rains a lot....ugh

 

[Cass]

Annie has blue orps, but I haven't seen her on in ages. Cass do you know anything? Her birds would be better than hatchery.

Just talked to Annie on the phone. She is going to load BYC on her cell phone so she can participate while she waits at schools for children to board the bus. (How's that for good use of spare time?)

As far as Blue Orps, she has none. She got rid of some breeds and kept the ones she really liked...plus one cage of mixed pea fowl, pheasant and ducks. Of course I have forgotten what she kept, cuz we talked for over half an hour after we got business done. Annie is one busy lady. It seems that if we want to see her we will either have to attend the chicken school at the Cooperative extention office (she'll be there either teaching or organizing, I forgot which she said) OR go to the Altamont fair that she is also involved with. (and that's the short list of what she said she has been up to....notice nothing listed about children's activities that she has to drive them to, etc.)

I hope she does load BYC to her phone....I know I miss her antics...and she has a lot of good ideas for the newbies to gleen info from.

 

[Cass]

Ok, somehow the impression of my posting about the hatching in school was misunderstood.I am in favor of it, when I worked for the Cooperative Extension, I was the poultry educator, so I know how it works in schools. I was just pointing out the 2 things, that sometimes the teachers don't think about in the beginning....

Nope. I didn't think anything but you were putting up some good things to be considered when hatching in a school setting. I hope that the experienced teachers bring those things to the attention of the less experienced teachers. Personally I could care less (or is that "couldn't care less") about how many hatch, cuz I am just going to eat them when they get big enough. (insert evil laugher here) (also, I do tend to come off as defensive in print, cuz you can't hear my laughter as I relate my own experiences....well, sometimes that's cuz my experiences aren't laughing matters, but you know what I mean)

I talked to my neighbor, that is a substitute teacher at that school, and asked her to pass the word about my offer. It seems that they got their eggs from Trish last year and this year Trish has only 5 hens remaining after repeated hawk attacks, so she won' t be overly able to supply 3 first grade classrooms with hatching eggs. For once, it seems that I may have had the right thought at the right time. Last year, between the 3 classrooms they had 19 birds hatch. (About 50% hatch rate from 2 rooms and 1 lone bird from one teacher's second attempt) With 50% of those being roosters, a few dieing before reaching peak freezer camp age and my growing attatched to a couple, I figure to put 10 - 12 birds in the freezer for my generosity. Not bad, in my estimation. I may select a few really really annoying birds I already own for Camp Crock Pot and keep a few of the new birds....depending on what hatches, of course.

 

[Cass]

Is there any truth to the rumor that packages marked fragile actually get handled more roughly? I remember reading once that someone did a test and the packages they marked fragile actually had a rougher time in shipping than others did. They chalked it up to postal workers getting annoyed that the package was marked fragile, like it was accusing them of not being careful with packages, and as such they handled it worse.

I will say I've bought hatching eggs from the BST section on here and it went great. All the eggs got here fine and they were all fertile except one. Only one other one didn't hatch. Ten out of twelve on shipped eggs wasn't bad at all.

Several of my family members worked for a company that transported mail from Central Sorting Office to local Post Offices (and back) and YES, they used to play football with packages marked FRAGILE. (my own family members...shame on them)

You can curse the Post Office workers all you want, but independant contractors move the majority of our mail. There is little to no standardization of hiring criteria for drivers of the trucks that move the mail from Post Office to Post Office. (You must have the proper certification on your license for the size truck you drive and that's about it.) So you are apt to get people who are drawn to the solitude of driving a truck and all the social ineptitude that that might involve. (Some of them are normal, but they tend to be more toward the anti-social side of society) Now you label a package "Fragile" and put it out by the mail bags. "Ooops....I didn't know that would break" can be heard on the docks as the box hits the back of the truck's box. Since they are independant contractors and hire people to drive their trucks there is little to no way to figure out who broke the fragile item, so there is no accountablity for the driver's actions. So they play foot ball with packages.

If I were ever to ship eggs I would mail it overnight, and mark it "LIVE ANIMALS. THIS END UP". It would stand a better chance of being handled by Federally employed workers who are held accountable for their actions with regards to the mail they handle.

Then I would say a prayer. Buy lots of insurance on the package. And kiss it goodbye.