Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[BullChick]

To my knowledge there is no age limit. Untreated Lice would be more dangerous to them than exposure to the powder.
I have often treated broodies with babies. It seems broodies are very susceptible to parasites since they don't spend as much time grooming. Its not that they don't dust bath at all, but not near as much as normal laying birds.

I was actually wondering about that too, but realized that I have had to use stuff in the past with the chicks in the coop. Meat Loaf has a red bottom himself. I’ll be cleaning the coop soon. Thank goodness Cher is so tight on the nest. I don’t think anything can survive in my nest boxes. I add a good dose of DE to those things to prevent infestations.

 

[fisherlady]

When we dust the crew I also add some permethrin dust to our dust pits and we clean out nest boxes and replace the hay. If a broody is sitting I dust her on the nest and dust the nest box she is in.
We use a pressure sprayer with liquid bug spray twice a year at least in the coops. We clean out all floor bedding and box bedding and soak everything down, roosts, floors, egg boxes and all nooks and crannies. We do this to reduce chances of leg mites and any other little blood suckers.
I always suggest folks use hay rather than straw for egg boxes or bedding. Hay is a solid shaft of grass, straw is a hollow stalk and gives biting critters somewhere to hide.

 

[BullChick]

The coop is drying. Cher never budged. I was only skeptical because it’s her.
I bought new hoses so I could reach better, and found one of the spray nozzles. I didn’t have the hose length or nozzles to properly clean last spring. The ability to get the dust and cobwebs out of the rafters was so satisfying! I used Dawn first, then let it dry about an hour before going back with vinegar and baking soda in the corners. I did dust Cher already. Everyone else is running around outside.
I had not seen the Easter chicks in the lilac bush before. They rarely leave the coop. I can’t even say when they left. It could have been when I was starting in the back, or they could have left before that just because.
They are a pair, right? I cannot decide on the one.

 

[fisherlady]

The larger one is an obvious pullet, not sure on smaller one yet. It is funny how they can feather in at such different rates but they often do. There seems to be an overachiever in each batch and it usually turns out to be a nice pullet.

 

[VictoriaTemple]

How wet can you get untreated unpainted wood before you get mold problems? My coop is unpainted, and with the lice (just dusted the whole “main coop” gang with permethrin) I figure it’s time for a solid cleaning. I want to use permethrin spray directly on the wood, take out the poopy tarps, and start a new floor with wood chips. I live in a humid woods, so hay or straw would mold much too quickly. Just concerned about getting the wood wet, I’ve always been very careful to keep it dry so I’ve never spray-cleaned, only scraped. Am I being ridiculous?

 

[TillyPeeps]

I just use garden and poultry permethrin dust to dust all the chickens every 4 month. I also dust they roost, coop floor, and nesting box. So far so good. I plan to give every one a Spinosad bath in a month though.

 

[TillyPeeps]

How wet can you get untreated unpainted wood before you get mold problems? My coop is unpainted, and with the lice (just dusted the whole “main coop” gang with permethrin) I figure it’s time for a solid cleaning. I want to use permethrin spray directly on the wood, take out the poopy tarps, and start a new floor with wood chips. I live in a humid woods, so hay or straw would mold much too quickly. Just concerned about getting the wood wet, I’ve always been very careful to keep it dry so I’ve never spray-cleaned, only scraped. Am I being ridiculous?

Just do the spray in the morning of a hot day, and it will dry by end of the day. I never spray my coop either. Just dust. I dust before putting new bedding, and another layer after bedding. I had lice once, and no more mite or lice yet.

 

[BullChick]

Not a single SPR (except the 3 broodies) is in the right pen. I have a total of nine chickens on top of the broody cage. For the record, I expected everyone to be roosting in the big coop tonight.

 

[VictoriaTemple]

Thanks for the tips! I already have the permethrin liquid concentrate, you get much more chemical for the money than dust, though for direct application to birds I certainly agree the dust is MUCH more convenient. Oh well, Hindsight’s 20/20.

 

[BullChick]

I can’t find my RSL. Nope, can’t find her anywhere.