Ok...next is the spray he's talking about completely went over my head...stove oil/crude oil/ and what ever the other one was...can I get my hands on them today or what would you suggest?
"Stove oil" is kerosene, crude oil would be plain old tar. Carbolic acid is known as phenol. Kerosene is easy to get, paving tar would do for the crude portion. Phenol I'm at a loss for, but it is fairly common as chemical's go.
And there again...spraying it on the sand...what if the chickens pecked and ate the sand...wouldn't that make them sick?
I guess not. I dunno, Ive not used any of that stuff, but there is precedent for it's homepathic use.
- Kerosene is till recommended for mites, depending on who you ask. Some folks I know rub it onto the birds legs to prevent scaly mites. I know of old-timers that even drink it "for what ails you."
- Tar? Ever heard of Creomulsion? It's an elixir of creosote - tar.
- Phenol has antiseptic properties, and was used by Sir Joseph Lister (1827-1912) in his pioneering technique of antiseptic surgery. It is also the active ingredient in some oral anesthetics such as Chloraseptic spray.
In pure form and excessive exposure, it has it's dangers. Dilute, as Mr. Weeks recommends I gather not.
"It is also used in the production of drugs (it is the starting material in the industrial production of aspirin), herbicides, and synthetic resins (Bakelite, one of the first synthetic resins to be manufactured, is a polymer of phenol with formaldehyde). Exposure of the skin to concentrated phenol solutions causes chemical burns which may be severe. Washing with large amounts of plain water (most labs have a safety shower or eye-wash) and removal of contaminated clothing are required.
Phenol is also used in the preparation of cosmetics including sunscreens, hair dyes, and skin lightening preparations. Compounds containing phenol moieties can be used to prevent ultraviolet light-induced damage to hair and skin due to the UV-absorbing properties of the aromatic ring of the phenol. These compounds also act as free radical scavengers and can be used to prevent premature aging and cancer caused by oxidative stress.
It is also used in cosmetic surgery as an exfoliant, to remove layers of dead skin. It is also used in phenolization, a surgical procedure used to treat an ingrown nail, in which it is applied to the toe to prevent regrowth of nails. 5% Phenol is sometimes injected near a sensory nerve in order to temporarily (up to a year) stop it transmitting impulses in some intractable cases of chronic neuropathic pain."
It would seem that these things, when taken together as Mr. Weeks suggests, do the job. He proved that before we came along. The choice to use them is yours. A search of more readily accessible components might bear fruit.
Again, I havent proven ALL of Mr Weeks methods. But I've used enough of them to know he is on the right track.
Feed...got the green..and actually that's music to my ears...what else do you do for food...like can you give me specifics on grains and YOU get them..cause I think depending on the type it might be best for me to grind them as I need them...assuming that's something I can actually do.....
I would recommend keeping the feed hopper full of a common poultry feed, obtained from a local mill whenver ppossible. I pay $7 a bag if I buy it in bulk, $9 at retail.
This will simplify your efforts greatly.
Remember when Charles wrote his book, commercial feed wasn't as ubiquitous as it is now. The industrialization of poultry farming works to your benefit in that regard. That is one of the problems of these old books - they are dated and you have to pick through and modify things for current availabilty.
As for the grains, a good mix of whatever is available locally would do, favoring wheat 2:1 over corn if available. Mr Weeks worked in bulk quantities, remember. He was all about ecnomy of scale and eliminating all the "fussiness" we so love.
And lastly...I didn't think I could have an open/missing wall. I get the advantage of air and dust control...but I have bone chilling winters.... 3 walls wouldn't be enough I'm thinking? Suggestions?
Lets let Pat explain it; as usual, she does a great job of it:
"
I used to know someone up here in Ontario (winter lows to -20F or lower) who had hens for years and years in a screen-fronted house like Elderoo is referring to. In the winter she put a couple layers of plastic over it. I do not think she used a heat lamp or anything, although I do not know for sure whether she made any other provisions for warmth, and she did have reasonably cold-hardy types of chickens. If it's doable here it should be doable in Penna."
I'd suggest making frame panes of 2 x 2's, covered with plastic or my personal favorite - bubble wrap. That stuff wil insulate an Eskimo.
Hang these frames on hooks and secure them with simple toggle clamps so they can be removed easily. A small heat source may be needed, but probably not.
Chickens don't need swampy, sweltering heat in the winter. It's inefficient and costly. They just need to be kept from hard freezing temps and given grain high in energy, usually corn based. Mounting insulated panes and selecting a cold-hardy breed like Wyandottes would go a long way to eliminating this as a worry.
That is the goal throughout Mr Weeks book - eliminate the worries upfront by using your noggin and keeping things simple.
Well that, AND, standing on the shoulders of great and benificent men like himself, to your own benefit.
oh..and I get a chuckle every time I see you want Glen Beck for President....that would be a tough pill for me to swallow...hahaha...
It used to say TED NUGENT FOR PREZ, but it seems he isn't interested in the job. Glen isn't either, but he IS both current and cut from the same mold.
My politics are best summed up by these two quotes from Winnie Churchill, perhaps the greatest pragmatist of the modern age:
"If you're not a liberal at 20, you have no heart, and if you're not a conservative at 40, you have no head."
"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries."
-- Winston Churchill
