NY chicken lover!!!!

[AQHAchick22]

Seems we are getting a game cam today, but for a different kind of game. Trying to catch a thief. Our landscape business is next door to a house we own and rent to an employee. We have had a few things missing recently, and this morning we are missing a $200 set of aluminum ramps.
We WILL catch him, with pictures to show the police. Scumbag.

At least we will have a game cam we've been talking about getting!

The game cam is a great idea! We set ours up at the house we're fixing up when it was broken into. We're convinced people are dumpster diving as well...we haven't caught anything yet but it's great. I'm sorry you have to deal with that though

 

[Lynzi777]

Lord have mercy! I would not use anything dangerous around my chickens. While chickens may not be as good as Guinea hens for ticks they do offer some prevention. I would not think of going out to the coop or back yard without long pants at least.

Keep weeds cut down take other measures, but don't use anything you yourself would want to ingest.

While I would love to grab those bags of leaves on the side of the road, I am to afraid to bring something bad home. Not worth the risk to my health.

Trust me I don't want to! I'm just looking for options on how to get rid of them, they freak me out. We've been wearing pants, jackets, that one I found on my sleeve yesterday was found when I took OFF my jacket! I couldn't believe it.

I'd be afraid to treat the lawn with anything (pesticide) if you free range your birds. Not sure, but it would sure concern me.

If you have cats, avoid treating dogs with Advantix. Check with your vet, but I recall hearing that this could harm felines. I use Frontline and tried one of the store-bought brands that are supposedly comparable, but hated the way it was thick and greasy when applied. There are other, cheaper, products you could try, though...

I had a deer tick stuck in to my shoulder blade last year and needed an antibiotic preventative. They seem to start earlier, or as my vet says, continue right on through much or most of winter, which is just crazy.

Good luck. Sounds like you've got them very heavy.


TOB

Well thats the problem, my chickens DO free range, so I'm thinking there isn't anything out there that is safe enough to put down AND my chickens out free ranging. There isn't a spot on my yard I could put it where they don't go. They definitely travel all over the place! There are just so many out there and it's not even like we're in the woods. The kids know to stay away from the edge of the property, they have plenty of space to place AWAY from the woods! I have a good acre of land that doesnt have anything on it but grass. Ticks freak me out to the point where I'm ready to tell the kids to stay inside! LOL There will be lots of investigating for ticks each time they come into the house I guess.

I believe Frontline is the one for fleas AND ticks.
Look into Neem for tick control, but I'm not sure how it can be used with poultry. Neem does not kill ticks (or other insects) but it wrecks havoc with them hormonally. They "forget" how to feed, how to breed, how to morph into the next stage of life, etc. It is used for parasitic insect control. I have seen Neem insecticide at Lowe's, but have not read the bottle on it's use.

I'll look for the Neem today and see what the bottle says.

 

[mderby48]

Today is day 24 for my hatch. I still see some rocking so I haven't given up yet. One is halfway unzipped but I think it quit. Other than that there isn't even any pips I don't know what went wrong.

 

[stonykill]

I use 1/2 inch hardware cloth on my hoop coops. It's expensive but not as expensive as the trauma of seeing a bunch of dead chickens.

If you don't have a gun I suggest a rat trap set up as seen on Youtube. Though I live near a creek I haven't seen any weasels. I'm not sure how people friendly they are. I make my presence known.

good. Most people don't take that precaution.

the 3 weasels I shot were out in daylight, ran right near me. They don't care one bit about peoples presence. I work from home and am in and out of my workshop which is near 2 of my 9 coops all day long. All 3 I shot were within feet of my workshop and the coops.

I have tried every trap imaginable for weasels. They have NOT worked. Weasels want living food. You MIGHT get lucky once in a while but a good hunting cat or small rat dog like a terrior and a weapon, even a pellet gun like I used yesterday are the only ways to ensure a weasel will be killed.

I'm even with my cat on the weasel killing. It is his turn to start killing them again.

 

[stonykill]

Today is day 24 for my hatch. I still see some rocking so I haven't given up yet. One is halfway unzipped but I think it quit. Other than that there isn't even any pips

I don't know what went wrong.

possibly nothing went wrong. Eggs can't tell time, can't read a calender and aren't on an egg timer to hatch. I have had the rare day 25 hatch happen before. Don't give up hope.Yes 21 days is considered the time it takes for eggs to hatch. Yet I get MANY on day 19 and a decent amount on day 23.

 

[mderby48]

possibly nothing went wrong. Eggs can't tell time, can't read a calender and aren't on an egg timer to hatch. I have had the rare day 25 hatch happen before. Don't give up hope.Yes 21 days is considered the time it takes for eggs to hatch. Yet I get MANY on day 19 and a decent amount on day 23.

Thanks, I feel a little better. I just candled a white egg and there was lots of movement but it looks like it has some growing to do. Maybe the temp git low in the muddle of the night and I didn't realize it. My last hatch started on day 19 so I guess I just assumed this one would too. Just proves every hatch is different.

 

[Glasshen]

Yes, Gramma, that was the little coop I saw. The gypsy one was really fun, though, and looked like it would be much more expensive. Coops are way more money to build than it seems like they should be, materials are expensive, and not all can be recycled. But creativity is a wonderful thing.

It is good to see that a pellet gun can be an effective tool, my husband just mentioned getting one the other day.

I think there could be a market for tick removal. Perhaps guinea hens for hire? You would need a small portable chicken tractor, with a pop door, and portable possibly electric fencing. Then branching out to Rent a Goat for brush removal, which is kind of related...could be big.

 

[happyhensny]

With all this negative talk of shipping experiences going on (sorry to hear about the $180 worth of birds. Ouch) I thought I would mention a very positive experience. I received an email from Murray McMurray hatchery Sunday morning at 5am saying my chicks had shipped, and at 9am received a call from the Albany postal service place that my chicks were there and they thought I might like to pick them up instead of waiting for them to get sent to my local post office

all 18 arrived healthy and are little balls of energy right now!

Our Albany hub is absolutely the best. I have also had chicks shipped and they will call you on a SUNDAY morning to ask if you want to go down and pick them up or wait till the mail gets to your local PO the next day. Fantastic people!

 

[NookNook01]

Anyone live out in the sticks like me and treat their lawn with anything to keep the ticks away? (I know, I know, I need more chickens!) Summer isn't even here yet and I've had it with these nasty things! Was outside yesterday for not even an hour and pulled another 2 off my dog (after finding two the day prior), had one crawling on the sleeve of my hoodie, and last night when my daughter was getting into her jams she had one on the outter side of her armpit. Also, what is it that will keep the ticks OFF my dog - Frontline or Advantix?? I'm going to Home Depot today to try to find something I can spray around the perimeter of my lawn that won't be harmful to the chickens, but I doubt that'll help. 

We live in a TICK HAVEN!! My hubby collects the clippings each time he mows and discards it at the edge of the property. That eliminates a lot of them... I also use the Advantix for my dog. Anything besides a home brew with essential oils that you purchase will NOT BE SAFE for your Chooks.

 

[featherz]

Gansevoort post office is great also - they have called me at 5AM and told me 'your embryos are here' LOL. They let me come get eggs or chicks at the back door even at 5AM! I still don't want to have any more chicks shipped, however, as they sometimes go to Saratoga and not sure they'd do that for me.