I've been reading the many different previous posts concerning Oxine and I'm trying to get all the different variations of methods of usage put into one single thread. This could then serve as a practical resource and we can then each decide how best to use this stuff for our small backyard flocks.
My ten questions concern UNACTIVATED Oxine. Unactivated means you are NOT adding any citric acid to the Oxine/water solution.
From my reading of previous posts, unactivated Oxine, diluted with water in proper solution concentrations, is entirely safe for humans and animals and chickens and other poultry, both for drinking and for application to skin and feathers, and for inhaling. (Activated with citric acid, Oxine becomes dangerous to use and requires you to implement several precautionary steps.)
SOLUTION DILUTION: I'd like to know what dilution concentrations you're using for UNACTIVATED Oxine when you mix up a solution for:
1- A quart-sized spray bottle, for spraying the roosts, bedding and walls inside the coop, as a general preventative sanitizer once a week. (If not once a week, what schedule are you using?)
2- A quart-sized spray bottle, for spraying the chickens directly onto their feathers, and for lifting their feathers and spraying onto their skin all over their body, face and legs and feet as a general preventative sanitizer once a week. (If not once a week, what schedule are you using?)
3- A quart-sized spray bottle, for spraying the bottoms of the shoes of any people visiting your backyard, as a biosecurity precaution.
4- A cool mist vaporizor, set inside the coop, to "fog" the air (using the UNACTIVATED Oxine) that the chickens breathe all night long while they're confined to their coop, as a preventative lung sanitizer once a week. (If not once a week, what schedule are you using?)
5- A cool-mist vaporizor, set inside the coop, to "fog" the air (using the UNACTIVATED Oxine) that the chickens breathe to treat respiratory troubles (coughing, sneezing, gurgly breath sounds). What schedule do you use? Do you lock them in the coop and do this cool-mist vaporizor "fogging" several times a day? For how many minutes each session? For how many days? I'm assuming that the vaporizor is used, instead of the sprayer, because the droplets emitted from the vaporzor are much smaller (and therefore able to be inhaled) than the droplets emitted from the sprayer, even when the sprayer is set to the smallest size droplets.
STORAGE CONTAINER:
6- Does the diluted solution in the spray bottle need to be kept in an OPAQUE spray bottle to prevent decline in its effectiveness? I'm assuming a spray bottle of solution may last a few weeks, so do you use opaque spray bottles, or do you wrap your clear spray bottles in opaque material? Or is a clear bottle just fine?
WEATHER WORTHY CONCERNS:
7- Can I keep the large gallon jug of the concentrate in an outdoor shed year round or will it be affected by summer heat or a winter freeze?
8- Can I keep the spray bottle (that's holding the diluted solution) in an outdoor shed year round or will it be affected by summer heat or a winter freeze?
INTENDED GOALS:
9- Besides killing all mold, fungus, viruses, and bacteria, and besides banishing all bad odors, have you found it effective against lice and mites? If so, is that from spraying the chickens or is it from using the cool-mist vaporizor in the coop?
10- Have you seen it affect the fly population in the coop at all? If so, is that from spraying the coop and bedding or from using the cool-mist vaporizor in the coop?
My ten questions concern UNACTIVATED Oxine. Unactivated means you are NOT adding any citric acid to the Oxine/water solution.
From my reading of previous posts, unactivated Oxine, diluted with water in proper solution concentrations, is entirely safe for humans and animals and chickens and other poultry, both for drinking and for application to skin and feathers, and for inhaling. (Activated with citric acid, Oxine becomes dangerous to use and requires you to implement several precautionary steps.)
SOLUTION DILUTION: I'd like to know what dilution concentrations you're using for UNACTIVATED Oxine when you mix up a solution for:
1- A quart-sized spray bottle, for spraying the roosts, bedding and walls inside the coop, as a general preventative sanitizer once a week. (If not once a week, what schedule are you using?)
2- A quart-sized spray bottle, for spraying the chickens directly onto their feathers, and for lifting their feathers and spraying onto their skin all over their body, face and legs and feet as a general preventative sanitizer once a week. (If not once a week, what schedule are you using?)
3- A quart-sized spray bottle, for spraying the bottoms of the shoes of any people visiting your backyard, as a biosecurity precaution.
4- A cool mist vaporizor, set inside the coop, to "fog" the air (using the UNACTIVATED Oxine) that the chickens breathe all night long while they're confined to their coop, as a preventative lung sanitizer once a week. (If not once a week, what schedule are you using?)
5- A cool-mist vaporizor, set inside the coop, to "fog" the air (using the UNACTIVATED Oxine) that the chickens breathe to treat respiratory troubles (coughing, sneezing, gurgly breath sounds). What schedule do you use? Do you lock them in the coop and do this cool-mist vaporizor "fogging" several times a day? For how many minutes each session? For how many days? I'm assuming that the vaporizor is used, instead of the sprayer, because the droplets emitted from the vaporzor are much smaller (and therefore able to be inhaled) than the droplets emitted from the sprayer, even when the sprayer is set to the smallest size droplets.
STORAGE CONTAINER:
6- Does the diluted solution in the spray bottle need to be kept in an OPAQUE spray bottle to prevent decline in its effectiveness? I'm assuming a spray bottle of solution may last a few weeks, so do you use opaque spray bottles, or do you wrap your clear spray bottles in opaque material? Or is a clear bottle just fine?
WEATHER WORTHY CONCERNS:
7- Can I keep the large gallon jug of the concentrate in an outdoor shed year round or will it be affected by summer heat or a winter freeze?
8- Can I keep the spray bottle (that's holding the diluted solution) in an outdoor shed year round or will it be affected by summer heat or a winter freeze?
INTENDED GOALS:
9- Besides killing all mold, fungus, viruses, and bacteria, and besides banishing all bad odors, have you found it effective against lice and mites? If so, is that from spraying the chickens or is it from using the cool-mist vaporizor in the coop?
10- Have you seen it affect the fly population in the coop at all? If so, is that from spraying the coop and bedding or from using the cool-mist vaporizor in the coop?
