***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[NanaKat]

Diana, so sorry to hear about your Buffy. I know she was a special hen.

 

[artsyrobin]

maybe i need to add a couple muskovie hens to the the mix - i so want to punch a hole in the hoards of flies this year.... i use fly predators, that helps, will be doing DE - but they congregate in the mud in the runs-

 

[Kyzmette]

Robin, the best thing I've found for flies are those sticky strips you hang up. Flies LOVE those things. The DE might help break the larval cycle, or at least put a minor crimp in it, but once they're flying those strips gather them by the dozens.

And yes @hotcurltr moistened DE in quantity will become clay-like, and if allowed to dry like that, it becomes more cement-like. I used to make stained glass, and had to be careful to clean that mess up really well, or the little specks of ground glass that got on everything would become permanent. The silicate particles in DE don't dissolve in a slurry, though, so when moving through a digestive tract they're going to maintain their structure, which is what kills bugs. In an external environment it would be better in dust form, because you want it to coat the chitin and get up in the joints, but in a moist environment when mixed with other substances, it would also work. I could see the logic of it making a difference on the fly's larval stage in wet manure. It might not be a huge difference, but if you're looking for natural remedies it could be a partial alternative solution.

When used in gardening or bedding, though, dry is absolutely best.

 

[muesky]

Just saw that the Tulsa Animal Welfare shelter got a peacock in today if anyone is interested.

Oh Dang! I would so love to bring him home... Oh well Skinner would be heartbroken if I brought another male home. He thinks he is the sexist thing there is..

Would anyone be needing rabbits? I have minilops and jersey woolies and can bring them to the Newcastle auction. I'm interested in selling or trading for chicken stuff my new obsession lol

Like several have said sell them at the auction. You want to get there early so they are not last in line.

I did a lot of research on DE as a wormer and by what I can find scientificlly is that it does not work as a wormer. When It get wet it isn't effective because it becomes clay like and the little shards won't work. There is so much controversy that It's up in the air unless you ask a vet who will say no. But to get rid of the flys just put dry DE all over, esp, on something they want to eat and it will help a lot. Everytime it rains just add more. Or u could buy muscoveys, who love flys/ Anyway, I lost my Buffy hen. She was one of my originals that I got while I was waiting for my chicks I ordered to get old enough. She will be missed, She's my best brooder and except this last hatch she has always had 100%. hatch rate. This last tiem she hatched 8 of 9 and the 9thth just was in one of the small pullet eggs and couldn't get turned. Anyway. it's a little dog down the road. I am so beat right now, that I'll explain later. I got some pics for u, but the color isn't the best. It took me forever just to figure out how to zoom. It feels horrible to be so stupid and ignorant. Now I'm going to try to get them on here. I tried to get different views and especially their little fluffy butts. They didn't want to stan in one place to long and of course the best place had to be the compost pile. Well. here goes.

Sorry for your loss. It is hard when we lose the special ones!

Robin, the best thing I've found for flies are those sticky strips you hang up. Flies LOVE those things. The DE might help break the larval cycle, or at least put a minor crimp in it, but once they're flying those strips gather them by the dozens.

And yes @hotcurltr moistened DE in quantity will become clay-like, and if allowed to dry like that, it becomes more cement-like. I used to make stained glass, and had to be careful to clean that mess up really well, or the little specks of ground glass that got on everything would become permanent. The silicate particles in DE don't dissolve in a slurry, though, so when moving through a digestive tract they're going to maintain their structure, which is what kills bugs. In an external environment it would be better in dust form, because you want it to coat the chitin and get up in the joints, but in a moist environment when mixed with other substances, it would also work. I could see the logic of it making a difference on the fly's larval stage in wet manure. It might not be a huge difference, but if you're looking for natural remedies it could be a partial alternative solution.

When used in gardening or bedding, though, dry is absolutely best.

So I had to laugh when I read your post about the fly strips.. When I first got chickens and set up the coop I put up fly strips in the coop to try and manage the fly population.. Well that didn't work so well, we had several accidents. The first being one of the chickens tried to jump up to get the flies off the strip and managed to pull it down and it stuck to her. So in my attempts to get the strip it off of her because she was freaking out I ran into a couple of strips and they were stuck in my hair. When I pulled the one out of my hair it went flying and landed on one of the roosters who started running around like some thing was killing him. It took a couple of hours to get all the sticky paper off both of them and they were both mad at me for days. It took several days to get the stuff out of my hair. Needless to say I don't use fly strips anymore and am a bit traumatized by them now...

 

[artsyrobin]

we have used those and if you hang them just right the chickens will come and clean them off for you, i had one chicken got named sticky feathers... for obvious reasons! LOL!

 

[TheBarnSwallow]

Hello my fellow okies. Hope all is well for everyone in the BYC. The family and I are doing well... we only had four chickens die on us this winter. For a week now our crazy hens have been laying.... don't they know that it is still winter here in the north country? You guys all sure have some good looking chickens. We are hoping to breed our cuckoo maran hens n the remaining rooster so we have more of them laying. Two of the roosters that died were cucko marans but one is the lone ranger for now. I apologize in advanced for any words misspelled I'm using a so called smart phone.lol

Hello to all my fellow feathered friends

 

[Kassaundra]

Oh no, the sky is growling and I only have 1/2 the iris and none of the raspberries dug up for kyzmette, guess the race is on!

 

[Kassaundra]

I beat the rain, well the real more then sprinkles rain. Iris and raspberries are dug up and waiting for their new home. Some of the smaller rhizomes are from the fancier flowers, they are just smaller b/c of where they were growing I had to get the fringe ones



I must be worrying over those eggs more then I thought b/c they gave me a nightmare last night. I dreamed I was pregnant!!!!!!

 

[Kassaundra]

Is anyone's asparagus up? Mine isn't and I was thinking it was time.

 

[Kyzmette]

So I had to laugh when I read your post about the fly strips.. When I first got chickens and set up the coop I put up fly strips in the coop to try and manage the fly population.. Well that didn't work so well, we had several accidents. The first being one of the chickens tried to jump up to get the flies off the strip and managed to pull it down and it stuck to her. So in my attempts to get the strip it off of her because she was freaking out I ran into a couple of strips and they were stuck in my hair. When I pulled the one out of my hair it went flying and landed on one of the roosters who started running around like some thing was killing him. It took a couple of hours to get all the sticky paper off both of them and they were both mad at me for days. It took several days to get the stuff out of my hair. Needless to say I don't use fly strips anymore and am a bit traumatized by them now...

Ow! Owowowow!!! I just snorted coffee out of my nose that made me laugh so hard!!!

Kass, my eyes got as big as dinner plates when I read that you did all that for me! My cup overfloweth with chicken peeps fabulosity!!!

And on a side note, my blue egg quandary has been resolved! This morning I found Raven, a hen who has never laid a single egg and looks NOTHING like any EE type I've ever seen, in the nest box. I know this sounds bad, but this is one of those chickens i keep forgetting i have, because she keeps a super low profile. When she came out, there was a blue egg! I never would have connected those eggs with her if I hadn't been there to see it. She looks like a cross between a raven and a black copper marans, only slightly larger than bantam size, and she's about a year old. I was resigned to her being a furtive lawn ornament, but surprise!