peas and fleas

[johnskoi]

have some due to hatch today/tomorrow... 2 days ago i noticed that i have some fleas in the 'chick /incubator' room -- my office..(probably the cats, which have now been banished (well, not really, but until i get this under control and them medicated,--- they'll be outdoors -- they don't mind) ...i've been spraying (within reason) and have victor flea traps on their way --- two rooms affected ---- i 'd rather not bomb ---- i may move the inc. into my bedroom and raise them there til this is resolved... but, if need be,....

what are the safest treatments for chicks? (i have diatomaceous earth on hand, but have never used it and don't know how)

as always, thanks!

 

[new 2 pfowl]

I'm sure someone with flea experience will have some advice for you!

But in the meantime, in my experience, peapeople seem to be pretty uniformly opposed to using DE.
It can cause breathing/lung problems, probably even more so in chicks.

 

[johnskoi]

I'm sure someone with flea experience will have some advice for you!

But in the meantime, in my experience, peapeople seem to be pretty uniformly opposed to using DE.
It can cause breathing/lung problems, probably even more so in chicks.

thanks! -- i am sooo glad you said that!.... i get a little antsy (fleasy?? lol) with "non-toxic" things knowing that safe isn't always as benign as we'd like to think .... in the meantime, two have hatched

.... well, they're not THAT active yet

... all but 1 have externally pipped -- i LOVE it when they all hatch within a day ---some much less stress ... i had a few hatch last week, but it was staggered (these and the ones from last week were silkie started) --- this round looks so much more hopeful -- if i use silkies again, i don't think i'll let it go beyond the first week of incubating...


... two more are out making it 4

lol -- (can ya tell i like those emoticons?? lol) .... these guys just hatched while i was typing -- the ONLY assistance i've given any of them is pulling the shell apart ever so slightly to make easier for them to push their way out....

have to go set up a brooder in the bedroom for them and hope not to bring any fleas with them....

may have finally hit my sweet spot(peawise) w/ the bators here in va... once a day turning until you see that membrane starting to 'get active' .. then the active (in the widest part of the shadow when you candle) spot becomes the 'bottom' until they hatch... (hijacking my own thread -- HAH!) -- i can sidetracked easily when hatching starts... i should start a new thread, because i wonder if anybody else has success with once a day turning ( i usually try to roll them (candling as i go) back and forth while always keeping the part with MORE 'contents' on the bottom)?...

anyway...... these are MY eggs that i held onto after i 'handed over' the rest (started or not) to the USDA once quarantine was officially reinstated (so these eggs were started during qt by my silkies--- once i had clearance and qt was over (ie -- showed no signs or pos results (as was FROM DAY ONE) --- i couldn't pull them from my silkies fast enough -- lol

rambling on -- i'll probably split this thread in the next few days...

once again, any advice on peachicks and fleas (as a preventative at this point) would be greatly appreciated -- thanks!

(with the time it's taken me to write this, hopefully more have hatched --- lol

 

[thndrdancr]

John, you tickle me to death! Lol.

I have never had fleas, just mites and lice/louse? I had had to use Sevin on my silkies and hope enough got on them from mom so that is how I do it so not sure in your case. I worry using toxic stuff but not sure what to do as I have had chicken chicks die from mites and didn't want that to happen. It is such a catch 22, I think there a spray used for budgies at the pet store that is safer, hope some chime in as I need answers too.

Happy for your hatch! I should have a couple tonite too!

 

[johnskoi]

John, you tickle me to death! Lol.

I have never had fleas, just mites and lice/louse? I had had to use Sevin on my silkies and hope enough got on them from mom so that is how I do it so not sure in your case. I worry using toxic stuff but not sure what to do as I have had chicken chicks die from mites and didn't want that to happen. It is such a catch 22, I think there a spray used for budgies at the pet store that is safer, hope some chime in as I need answers too.

Happy for your hatch! I should have a couple tonite too!

back atcha! i'm know i'm off, but i'm harmless

budgies -- MORE good memories! my mom (who was the MOST meticulously clean person i know -- that gene has skipped 2 generations so far -- lol) allowed me to keep a breeding pair of parakeets(not quite as cool as budgies) in my bedroom as a pre-teen/teen... she'd vacuum without a second thought twice a day ( i probably wouldn't've done it quite right -- maybe on purpose

) -- i had allergies and back then and feathers were at the top of the list (the dander will still make my lips a little numb if i'm smoking while cleaning ----last vice -- was maybe # 3 lol) ...

i know exactly what you mean by the '"catch 22's".. i've come to learn with most hobbies that deal with the 'living' are in a constant state of it...(picture me rolling in sevin and squatting over these peachicks..lol)...

and thank you for the input!

up to 8

lol .. ..

i'd be breeding minions if i had a source...

 

[thndrdancr]

Not sure if your feathers would hold enough dust to do those little peachicks any good!

Minions, hmm? Bet they are hard to hatch!

I have babies I need to check on here and it's raining buckets! And what to do with them when they hatch? I just had a new mom silkie kill her little chick, don't know if she actually killed it or stood on it. Not that I need any more chicks but every life is precious. Sigh. So no new mothers for my peachicks, or shall I brood them? Decisions, decisions!

I think the spray is some kind of permethrin....

Yea I had s parakeet I was allergic to as a kid as well, but I still loved the little thing.

 

[Jaydawnlove]

We had a flea problem when I got my first few peacocks this year. They left the peas alone. You can make a flea trap using a paper plate with honey spread all over it, at night shine your heat lamp onto the plate and the fleas are attracted to the heat and light. They get stuck in the honey and can't go anywhere. The pest control guy thought I was a genius when he showed up to flea spray. Said he never saw anything like that before. But it worked so well!

 

[johnskoi]

We had a flea problem when I got my first few peacocks this year. They left the peas alone. You can make a flea trap using a paper plate with honey spread all over it, at night shine your heat lamp onto the plate and the fleas are attracted to the heat and light. They get stuck in the honey and can't go anywhere. The pest control guy thought I was a genius when he showed up to flea spray. Said he never saw anything like that before. But it worked so well!

i agree w/ the pest control guy, i have shallow bowls of water and detergent set up in 2 rooms with the lights above --- one trap has nothing and the one in the office has 1/2 a dozen in it (2 of them, i squished and dropped in)... i think i went a little too heavy on the detergent.... i LOVE the idea of honey and paper plates---- may put an end to the last few flies as well!

i'm kind of hoping if the fleas get over the brooder walls, the chicks will eat them quick enough!

 

[johnskoi]

for now, the dishsoap/water seems to be kicking in .. my traps should be here tomorrow -- gonna hold off on the honey (fear of MORE flies and also adding ants into the equation...lol ) for now.. but i will remember for the future-- thanks again!