Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good morning one and all!

Tea is ready.

Temperature is in the 70s sunny 86% chance of rain.

Have a great day!

 

[no fly zone]

It is somehting I've thought about but Carbon had been having problems for some time now. She was getting on in for her breed. The breeding for small hens that eat less comes with a cost and that cost is according to others I know of who keep CCLs is a couple of years less life expectancy. Carbon was seven, maybe eight years old which is a fairly standard age for her breed. Given the conditions she endured for all but the last three years she did well to live as long as she did.

I was thinking the straw that broke the camel's back type thing.

 

[Shadrach]

I did think it was very likely. It's part of what I find very hard not living with the chickens close by. I would very much like to be close by when chickens are ill or dying so I can make regular checks throughout the day and be there with them when they die.

 

[Shadrach]

I was thinking the straw that broke the camel's back type thing.

The mite issue certainly didn't help and may have been the last straw. I don't know how long the mites had been there due to being away sick. It's a waste of expectations to hope C would even notice there was a mite infestation let alone do anything about them. If C was even slightly competent I wouldn't have stepped up to care for the chickens in the first place.

 

[Shadrach]

I'm struggling with the health issues. I seem to have become extremely light sensitive due to the shingles around my eye and my normally reasonably organized self isn't functioning as required. I forgot my camera today and had to take these with the phone.

I have to transport everything I might need daily in my rucksack. This is what I take.
multi bit screwdriver,
knife,
1.5 kilo of food,
small containor of treat food,
Ivermectin,
Disinfectant,
sterile swabs,
headtorch,
syringe,
permethrin spray,
vasaline,
calcium citrate,
spare batteries for the auto door.

As well as the above I have to take waterproofs and extra clothing, 500ml of water. My rucksack weighs around 6kilos with that lot in it. There have been days when I've left the flat and it's been dry and sunny at 23C but by the time I head home it's dropped to 14C and pissing down with rain. There is no just nip indoors to shelter from the weather for a bit. It's all outside for the duration apart from sitting on the extension roost bar with the chickens when it's pissing down.

The blow torch didn't arrive today. I think it's going to work if I'm quick enough. There isn't a major difference between the charing temperature of hardwood and recycled plastic from what I've researched.
I guestimate there are 80% less mites than there were after three treatments.

 

[kcan2]

I'm struggling with the health issues. I seem to have become extremely light sensitive due to the shingles around my eye and my normally reasonably organized self isn't functioning as required. I forgot my camera today and had to take these with the phone.

I have to transport everything I might need daily in my rucksack. This is what I take.
multi bit screwdriver,
knife,
1.5 kilo of food,
small containor of treat food,
Ivermectin,
Disinfectant,
sterile swabs,
headtorch,
syringe,
permethrin spray,
vasaline,
calcium citrate,
spare batteries for the auto door.

As well as the above I have to take waterproofs and extra clothing, 500ml of water. My rucksack weighs around 6kilos with that lot in it. There have been days when I've left the flat and it's been dry and sunny at 23C but by the time I head home it's dropped to 14C and pissing down with rain. There is no just nip indoors to shelter from the weather for a bit. It's all outside for the duration apart from sitting on the extension roost bar with the chickens when it's pissing down.

The blow torch didn't arrive today. I think it's going to work if I'm quick enough. There isn't a major difference between the charing temperature of hardwood and recycled plastic from what I've researched.
I guestimate there are 80% less mites than there were after three treatments.View attachment 3926058View attachment 3926059

That is a lot to remember to bring back and forth, and still lovely photos of the chickens. Maybe you should forget your camera for a while to lighten up that pack? I think Henry is more likely to forgive occasional camera misplacement than walnut shortages
Many of us would probably gladly take over some allotment chore days until you're feeling peachy again. Please take care of yourself, first priority!

 

[Perris]

I'm struggling with the health issues. I seem to have become extremely light sensitive due to the shingles around my eye and my normally reasonably organized self isn't functioning as required. I forgot my camera today and had to take these with the phone.

I have to transport everything I might need daily in my rucksack. This is what I take.
multi bit screwdriver,
knife,
1.5 kilo of food,
small containor of treat food,
Ivermectin,
Disinfectant,
sterile swabs,
headtorch,
syringe,
permethrin spray,
vasaline,
calcium citrate,
spare batteries for the auto door.

As well as the above I have to take waterproofs and extra clothing, 500ml of water. My rucksack weighs around 6kilos with that lot in it. There have been days when I've left the flat and it's been dry and sunny at 23C but by the time I head home it's dropped to 14C and pissing down with rain. There is no just nip indoors to shelter from the weather for a bit. It's all outside for the duration apart from sitting on the extension roost bar with the chickens when it's pissing down.

The blow torch didn't arrive today. I think it's going to work if I'm quick enough. There isn't a major difference between the charing temperature of hardwood and recycled plastic from what I've researched.
I guestimate there are 80% less mites than there were after three treatments.View attachment 3926058View attachment 3926059

Your daily commute to the chickens, and exposure to the weather once there, is something few people I know would entertain for a week, never mind year in year out, or with a lot of kit on board. Could you use any existing greenhouse or shed on site to store the chicken first aid kit and batteries at least? There's probably some stuff around that could camouflage a small box enough to disinterest any passing youth.

 

[ManueB]

The mite issue certainly didn't help and may have been the last straw. I don't know how long the mites had been there due to being away sick. It's a waste of expectations to hope C would even notice there was a mite infestation let alone do anything about them. If C was even slightly competent I wouldn't have stepped up to care for the chickens in the first place.

I know you've tried before, and it turned out even worse than with C., but it sounds like the next priority after the mites is to find someone that can help you, and sub when you're ill.

I have to transport everything I might need daily in my rucksack. This is what I take.
multi bit screwdriver,
knife,
1.5 kilo of food,
small containor of treat food,
Ivermectin,
Disinfectant,
sterile swabs,
headtorch,
syringe,
permethrin spray,
vasaline,
calcium citrate,
spare batteries for the auto door.

As well as the above I have to take waterproofs and extra clothing, 500ml of water. My rucksack weighs around 6kilos with that lot in it. There have been days when I've left the flat and it's been dry and sunny at 23C but by the time I head home it's dropped to 14C and pissing down with rain. There is no just nip indoors to shelter from the weather for a bit. It's all outside for the duration apart from sitting on the extension roost bar with the chickens when it's pissing down.

The blow torch didn't arrive today. I think it's going to work if I'm quick enough. There isn't a major difference between the charing temperature of hardwood and recycled plastic from what I've researched.
I guestimate there are 80% less mites than there were after three treatments.View attachment 3926058View attachment 3926059

Your daily commute to the chickens, and exposure to the weather once there, is something few people I know would entertain for a week, never mind year in year out, or with a lot of kit on board. Could you use any existing greenhouse or shed on site to store the chicken first aid kit and batteries at least? There's probably some stuff around that could camouflage a small box enough to disinterest any passing youth.

I was thinking one of those boxes with a lock. Or, putting a lock on a place that exists already.
Or, maybe the allotment people would be interested to have something like in office places or American high schools, individual locked closets.

About the mites. I mentioned a while ago that I used a product for lice on one one of my ex-batt who was dying, and that it was extremely efficient and even killed the eggs. It's a very environmental toxic product as Perris and Bdutch reminded us, and stays a very long time in laying hens eggs. I had a discussion with a lady who has a chicken rescue and she said it's just as efficient for mites. She used just one drop, just once, on a few of her most disabled chickens because she feared it would kill them when she had a red mite infestation that lasted for almost two months. I don't advocate it's use at all, but exceptional cases can require exceptional measures, to give a chicken a parasite free death or if it gives it a chance of surviving. I don't want people looking for a miracle cure for red mites to come into this post, because if it was it wouldn't be banned, so I'm not going to name it but you can likely find it back with the search engine.

 

[Shadrach]

I know you've tried before, and it turned out even worse than with C., but it sounds like the next priority after the mites is to find someone that can help you, and sub when you're ill.



I was thinking one of those boxes with a lock. Or, putting a lock on a place that exists already.
Or, maybe the allotment people would be interested to have something like in office places or American high schools, individual locked closets.

About the mites. I mentioned a while ago that I used a product for lice on one one of my ex-batt who was dying, and that it was extremely efficient and even killed the eggs. It's a very environmental toxic product as Perris and Bdutch reminded us, and stays a very long time in laying hens eggs. I had a discussion with a lady who has a chicken rescue and she said it's just as efficient for mites. She used just one drop, just once, on a few of her most disabled chickens because she feared it would kill them when she had a red mite infestation that lasted for almost two months. I don't advocate it's use at all, but exceptional cases can require exceptional measures, to give a chicken a parasite free death or if it gives it a chance of surviving. I don't want people looking for a miracle cure for red mites to come into this post, because if it was it wouldn't be banned, so I'm not going to name it but you can likely find it back with the search engine.

I read your post about the lice. Your friend who tells you it kills red mite doesn't understand the first thing about mites and needlessly ruined the egg laying of the chicken.

The chickens don't have lice. The problem is red mite. Red mite don't live on the chicken, they live in the coop and feed on the chickens overnight and return to their hiding places and lay eggs. Get the coop clear of mites and the problem is sorted.

It is really important that chicken keepers understand this. One can dose the chicken with as many chemicals as one pleases and it won't deal with the problem. It's why people burn their coops and not the chickens.
Products like Ivermectin for example will kill mites but in order to do so the mite must feed off the chicken. It's the mite feeding off the chicken that's the problem, not that they may run around the coop at night.

On the topic of security for for tools etc...
Every shed on the allotments where I am gets broken into on a regular basis. Having a padlock on the shed suggests to the theives that there is something of value in the shed and increases the chances of it getting broken into. Many peaple just leave their sheds open. The thieves are not interested in hand tools (unless they'revery shiny). We've had feed stolen in the past. The field isn't in some remote country village. It's surrounded by a number of housing estates and every generation of young it seems do the rounds from time to time hoping to find something they can sell.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good morning one and all!

Tea is ready.

Temperature is in the 80s mostly cloudy.

Have a great day!

@Shadrach Maybe a container with a handle with a place to hang it inside the coop.