Should I feed my hens scratch or layer feed?

[chicksurreal]

O my God thank you so much I really do take care of my chickens I gave 3 of my older hens a bath today the tem. 61 I know they feel better I have big girls and baby girls big girls 1 an 1/2 baby girls will be 1 this coming May what happen that they got this was it because I used the straw are what are what anyone know should I have use thing of on to treat them again think you

No problem! We're all here to learn and share, right? Any chickens can get mites or lice, no matter how well you take care of them. Wild birds carry these little pests and bring them around to where your chickens are. Nature happens.

I watch my chickens for any signs of pests regularly, it can happen to anyone. Don't feel bad that this happened, you're dealing with it, that makes you a good chicken keeper!

 

[chickenguy12]

you should feed them scratch as a treat or during winter around a cup a day to help with energy and insulation btw 60-90 grams of layer feed per laying hens

 

[Cluckies]

I put the garden/chicken powder stuff in the toe of a nylon stocking, tied the end in a knot. I then patted it under the wings and in the vent area so it was easier to handle. I did one treatment, then another 7 days later. I'm not sure if mine had lice or mites, but used it as a precautionary as one was not acting right and I was trying to figure out why. never saw any bugs though.

 

[chicksurreal]

I put the garden/chicken powder stuff in the toe of a nylon stocking, tied the end in a knot. I then patted it under the wings and in the vent area so it was easier to handle. I did one treatment, then another 7 days later. I'm not sure if mine had lice or mites, but used it as a precautionary as one was not acting right and I was trying to figure out why. never saw any bugs though.

We tried the powder in a nylon thing the first time and it kind of went all over the place. I probably didn't do it right, Lol! I just didn't want to be breathing it in or have the roo breathing it or getting it in his eyes, so we went with just putting a pinch of it around the vent and under the wings.

I think either method works, just depends on how you want to do it. We gave our roo a bath because he was so dirty, when we got him he had poo all over his backside, stuck in feathers and everything. That's when we saw the lice. They were floating in the water. YUCK.

 

[Cluckies]

We tried the powder in a nylon thing the first time and it kind of went all over the place. I probably didn't do it right, Lol! I just didn't want to be breathing it in or have the roo breathing it or getting it in his eyes, so we went with just putting a pinch of it around the vent and under the wings.

I think either method works, just depends on how you want to do it. We gave our roo a bath because he was so dirty, when we got him he had poo all over his backside, stuck in feathers and everything. That's when we saw the lice. They were floating in the water. YUCK.

Ewww! I'm glad he is with you and doing better, poor guy. Sounds like he has a great home now!

 

[chicksurreal]

Ewww! I'm glad he is with you and doing better, poor guy. Sounds like he has a great home now!

He's doing great! We just put him in with 27 pullets so he has a flock again. He's a happy guy.

 

[Heme]

Other than using Diatomaceous Earth on the floor of our coop, Cyper WSP spray occasionally was all I needed to keep ALL pests from attacking my flock.
The reason I do not like using Seven or many other powders is the absorption of chemical traces entering the eggs, thus we consume the material.

Cyper seems to work well with a very low dose, not enough to be absorbed into the food chain. DE food grade is great for killing pests and parasites, and humans can digest the properties without any health disadvantages. It is even good ( Food Grade) for humans as well as foul and animals.

The experts report that, DE is not toxic, but its particles are like tiny spiked spheres that cling to live matter (like mites, or even ants, etc.) and tend to absorb fluids. The spikes attached to the soft underbelly of pests draw the body fluids from the parasites or bugs, and dehydrate them. These creatures do not die of toxic poisons like powdered Seven Dust, they simply dry up and wither away. ALSO> insects that carry their offspring on their exterior do not shed their next live generation, or create a new generation of pest immune to the original dust formula. No super bugs here.

I am not an expert, but having used this method with great success; I only pass my experiences along and hope it is beneficial to others.

 

[chicksurreal]

DE may work well to prevent infestation, I'm not experienced enough with it to have an opinion.

When we got the rooster who had the lice they needed to be eradicated immediately, they were causing severe skin issues around his vent and on his neck, chest and abdomen and feather loss as well as other problems for him.

From what I understand, you do not want to inhale DE, nor do you want your animals to inhale it as it is an irritant to the lungs. There's no way we could have doused him suffuciently with the DE without causing him harm, and it has to come in direct contact with the parasites to do any good. He was absolutely infested. It was horrible. We did the most expedient thing to help him without causing more harm.

I'm all for natural fixes whenever possible, we even thought about using DE because we do have the food grade variety at our house for ants and other pests. It just wasn't a viable option in this case.

 

[jerrey]

No problem! We're all here to learn and share, right? Any chickens can get mites or lice, no matter how well you take care of them. Wild birds carry these little pests and bring them around to where your chickens are. Nature happens.

I watch my chickens for any signs of pests regularly, it can happen to anyone. Don't feel bad that this happened, you're dealing with it, that makes you a good chicken keeper!

thank you so much I was down there to night looking over all 32 hens I just don't like them to have to go through this I take pride in the way I take care of them and yes birds do fly in there house and I will be looking a lot closer by picking them up and looking over them again thank you

 

[Heme]

Thank you for sharing your experience. In reference to dust particles irritating the flock, so far I have not had that problem. You are CORRECT as per NOT Breathing in plumbs of DE floating in the air. Yes, it will irritate your lungs a bit and make you cough ( it happened to me) and I now use a mask when scooping up the DE Powder. I use gloves to keep the particles from collecting to my skin when making an application to the birds. Food grade is available on the internet and safe. It has been used by researchers in a liquid suspension (like milk or water) and digested by humans. In poor countries like Haiti for example; I read where DE food grade was consumed by their residents who had infestation of parasites from bad drinking water and food. The DE eventually worked its way through the bowel and killed off the living tape worms, intestinal parasites, and allowed the normal FLORA necessary for digestion to thrive. A cloth cap dusted with DE was placed on the heads of children with head lice and days after removed. The Ultra-violet light that detected live mites found them all dead with out any physical distress to the host children.

I well understand your concerns and I respect your choice and method of treatment. I too had concerns, however; after reviewing many chemical treatments, I read the FINE Print whereby some properties (toxic in nature) were absorbed into the skin, bones, and organs of the host. That was a concern of DDT used years ago and now banned. Seven Dust is supposed to be safe, but like everything else these days, we seem to find out decades later what is good and what is bad? You never know?