Texas

[A1momof3]

I live in van 2-3 hours from dfw not really willing to go that far was hoping someone could send chicks

I missed something what are you looking for? I live in Quitman!!

 

[A1momof3]

All this talk about mites has me all itchy. Had to go out and check my girls. I feel lucky they don't appear to have any and yes I had my glasses on.

Me too!!

 

[jajeanpierre]

All this talk about mites has me all itchy. Had to go out and check my girls. I feel lucky they don't appear to have any and yes I had my glasses on.

You are not likely to find any mites on your birds during the day. They don't live on chickens, but in cracks and crevices in the coop. You'll see them at night. Or, you might see their eggs in the feathers.

 

[A1momof3]

Pens around the two main coops are finished. I can officially invest in chickens again!

Just need to get a door back on coop number one, and invest in a Great Pyrenees. Nothing like finding out your back yard has become a main travel site for Coyote. Scheduled little pests, too. The big female comes through every night around 10 o'clock and drives my dogs nuts. Cats are mad about being brought in at night... and I may have to invest in Coop Knox while I'm at it.

OH my that is terrible. We have 100 acres behind the 5 acres our house sits on and I here those things all the time. We use to have hogs come up on the 5 acres all the time but my lab I guess scared them off. NOW she has to stay in side because she liked to travel into town and she got picked up by the Po Po and when to doggy Jail. Yes it was a sad day BUT I got a ticket for my dog being at large. TOP THAT when I went to court the girl in front of me had gotten a ticket for shop lifting. Her fine was the SAME as mine for my dog running around town like she was in the movie My Dog Skip! SO now she lives inside and the wild animals run free. So my coop is being put up like fort Knox!!

I feel ya pain!

 

[hensfortherapy]

You are not likely to find any mites on your birds during the day.  They don't live on chickens, but in cracks and crevices in the coop.  You'll see them at night.  Or, you might see their eggs in the feathers.

Oh. But there would be signs of bites right? Do you check your birds at night? I keep their coops really clean. I hate to treat for something that isn't there, but I might use some of the natural preventatives.

 

[A1momof3]

Here is an interesting site on mites:

http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/2013/07/crying-fowl-it-might-be-mites.html

Lisa

That was a GREAT site. Lots of great information. Thanks so much!!

 

[ThackerArrykka]

I missed something what are you looking for?  I live in Quitman!!  

Some silkie chicks

 

[jajeanpierre]

Oh. But there would be signs of bites right? Do you check your birds at night? I keep their coops really clean. I hate to treat for something that isn't there, but I might use some of the natural preventatives.

I stand corrected--one species of mites, the Northern Fowl Mite, lives on the host. The other species, Chicken Mites, lives off the host. Yes, check at night. Check while wearing white cotton gloves (so you can see them on your hands)

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

I bought Elector PSP that can be used on laying hens with no withdrawal time. It is fairly expensive, but very effective. A vet who raises Cochins recommended it. I've never had a mite issue, but the new birds I bought came with a lot of lice eggs on them. I dipped the new birds in a Permectrin II every two weeks and used the Elector spray after the poultry shows, plus bathed them in Adams Flea and Tick shampoo before the shows. I'll dip them again in a week if the weather is good. I'm not sure about withdrawal for Permectrin II, and if there is any, I'll just do a routine spray with Elector PSP which is incredibly effective.

You have to concentrate around the vent since that is the preferred place for them to go.

My understanding is the mites and lice are really easy to get, especially if you don't make sure new birds are quarantined and clear of parasites. Infestations are persistent, too. Most people don't check their birds. A bird can be horribly infested, to the point where it dies and the owner doesn't realize.

 

[henless]

Have you tried using Castor Oil on your chickens' legs?

Here is a good site: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/bees-all-natural-treatments-for-parasites-external-and-internal
You can PM her if you have questions.

Lisa

Thanks for the site Lisa. I've bookmarked it for future reference. Hope I won't need it!

Here are my new babies. Checked them this morning. All are bright eyed, no dirty butts. Gave them their first bowl of scrambled egg and cooked oats this morning. At first they didn't know what to do, then one of the marans pecked a bit off the side. It wasn't long after the others saw him and soon everyone was at it. Playing keep away with bits of egg.

So cute! Mine love boiled eggs. First time they tried it, took them a while. Now when I put their treat bowl in the brooder, they go absolutely nuts! They look like little raptors running around.



Today was so nice outside. Pretty nippy this morning, started out in jeans and ended up in shorts this afternoon. Got some yard work done and raked up some more large piles of leaves for my deep litter. I even opened up the windows to let the house air out. Thinking about leaving them open tonight, but the dogs have that coon treed again, so I really don't want to hear them barking at it all night.

My chicks are starting to get more rambunctious as they get older. They had their feeder turned over, and waterer full of shavings twice today. Added some more bricks to raise both higher, and put a wider brick under the feeder. Looks like I'm going to have to get a larger waterer or get a 2nd one. I refilled it 3 times today.

I have come to realize one problem with having different age chicks brooding together. Some are feathering much faster than the others. They will be ready to get out of the brooder before the younger ones. I also had one escape today. One of my Comets. She always jumps on the feeder when I pick it up to refill it. Today when she went to jump down off it, one of the other chicks jumped at the same time and she went right out the brooder door. She just stood there looking around with her neck stretched wayyyyy up! Silly girl, was free and didn't take advantage of it, lol!

 

[jajeanpierre]

Here's another article with lots of pictures:

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/08/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification.html