Hi, everyone! I am new to this forum. We have been raising layers for the past seven years on our little farm in the West Kootenay mountains in B.C.
We have been quite successful in incubating and raising our birds, but have had some setbacks because of predators. Twice our flock has been destroyed from
bobcats. I think we have learned some lessons and now have a secure system for our birds . Last time our flock was destroyed by a bobcat, I got a temporary flock from another farmer. These were older birds, and I was not very careful to assess their health. They all had pretty serious scaly legs. Meanwhile we hatched another batch of our own chicks, and eventually introduced them to the old scaly birds. Damn! That was a mistake.
Now we are trying to eliminate the mites. People say that it is not possible to get rid of them completely. I have read through the poultry podiatry section of this
forum, but I still am not sure what I should do. Here is what we have done.
Coated all the birds legs with vaseline mixed with powdered sulfur. Completely cleaned and vacuumed and powdered with permythin dust the whole
henhouse and all areas where they dustbath. I also gave the birds a light dusting with 3 parts permythrin, one part powdered sulfur.
If I repeat this treatment in another 2 weeks and then even again if neccessary, do you think I can get on top of this problem?
And is the permythrin dust a terrible thing?
Thank you for your help!
Rob
We have been quite successful in incubating and raising our birds, but have had some setbacks because of predators. Twice our flock has been destroyed from
bobcats. I think we have learned some lessons and now have a secure system for our birds . Last time our flock was destroyed by a bobcat, I got a temporary flock from another farmer. These were older birds, and I was not very careful to assess their health. They all had pretty serious scaly legs. Meanwhile we hatched another batch of our own chicks, and eventually introduced them to the old scaly birds. Damn! That was a mistake.
Now we are trying to eliminate the mites. People say that it is not possible to get rid of them completely. I have read through the poultry podiatry section of this
forum, but I still am not sure what I should do. Here is what we have done.
Coated all the birds legs with vaseline mixed with powdered sulfur. Completely cleaned and vacuumed and powdered with permythin dust the whole
henhouse and all areas where they dustbath. I also gave the birds a light dusting with 3 parts permythrin, one part powdered sulfur.
If I repeat this treatment in another 2 weeks and then even again if neccessary, do you think I can get on top of this problem?
And is the permythrin dust a terrible thing?
Thank you for your help!
Rob
