The Middle Tennessee Thread

[n3kms]

Okay if we are going to talk about spiders someone might have to pull this thread. They really creep me out! But seriously, I have a question about spiders. It is not uncommon for us to see a black widow in the yard. we have a lot of rock and they seem to like to hangout around rocks. Will a chicken eat them and if they do does it hurt for a chicken to eat them?

 

[JennaLynn122]

Okay if we are going to talk about spiders someone might have to pull this thread. They really creep me out! But seriously, I have a question about spiders. It is not uncommon for us to see a black widow in the yard. we have a lot of rock and they seem to like to hangout around rocks. Will a chicken eat them and if they do does it hurt for a chicken to eat them?

good question. I'm wondering too now. My guess is that they will. I doubt it hurts them to eat them if they will eat them. Chickens are pretty good at avoiding eating things that can hurt them

 

[n3kms]

Well if it doesn't hurt them they can have all the spiders they want from my yard. Don't mind the skinks but don't care for snakes much. We had a snake get into a bluebird house we put out and eat the baby bluebirds. It doesn't eat any more birds anymore though.

 

[Penny Hen]

The babies are very brightly colored compared to the adult counterparts. The baby one my 6 year old found was about 4 inches long and smaller around than an adult pinky finger. (no he didn't touch it, we have had all the predator talks)
Adults are a much duller color unless they have just shed their skin. And much bigger, not sure how big they get.

As for spiders there are 2 that I really watch out for. Like previously said black widows are around but you don't normally find them in inhabited places so I don't worry about them. The ones I do watch out for are brown recluse, impossible to avoid, easy to smash.... and wolf spiders- they are pretty large, not poisonous but pack a heck of a bite. I find these normally during the late spring and throughout the summer when they are most of the time carrying their babies on their back (looks like they have a huge butt, don't poke it with anything they will all fall off and run around in a large spread). The bites can easily get infected but they tend to run rather than bite.

Fact about wolf spiders: They are the ONLY spider that carries the babies on their body until the are old enough to hunt on their own. ALL other spiders fend for themselves from day one.

They are not so keen on coming in unless it is very hot and droughtish. A shallow dish of water left outside for them helps keeps them out of houses. Weaver spiders can pack a bite too.
As a kid, I used to play after dark in the long grass and get bit occasionally. In the daylight though, they are very visible and easily avoided. They are not an aggressive spider and so they can be easily left alone. Only during drought and extreme heat do they seek the refuge of air conditioned houses where I have never seen them build a web inside. They usually seek out a bathroom where they can obtain water. You can tell their webs by the running W in them. Their appearance can forecast whether you will have a dry summer or a wet one. If it is going to be dry their abdomen will be narrow and rectangular shaped and their color dull. If the summer is going to be wet you will see a fat round abdomen with a brilliant yellow and black pattern. In truth not being a spider expert I don't know if these are cousin species or a morph of the same species caused by the environment. I do know after having a fascination with them since I was a kid that I have never seen the two types simultaneously (in the same year). I have seen it switch back and forth from year to year always coinciding with the amount of water available.

 

[JennaLynn122]

They are not so keen on coming in unless it is very hot and droughtish. A shallow dish of water left outside for them helps keeps them out of houses. Weaver spiders can pack a bite too.

As a kid, I used to play after dark in the long grass and get bit occasionally. In the daylight though, they are very visible and easily avoided. They are not an aggressive spider and so they can be easily left alone. Only during drought and extreme heat do they seek the refuge of air conditioned houses where I have never seen them build a web inside. They usually seek out a bathroom where they can obtain water. You can tell their webs by the running W in them. Their appearance can forecast whether you will have a dry summer or a wet one. If it is going to be dry their abdomen will be narrow and rectangular shaped and their color dull. If the summer is going to be wet you will see a fat round abdomen  with a brilliant yellow and black pattern. In truth not being a spider expert I don't know if these are cousin species or a morph of the same species caused by the environment. I do know after having a fascination with them since I was a kid that I have never seen the two types simultaneously (in the same year). I have seen it switch back and forth from year to year always coinciding with the amount of water available.

are those ones pretty big? I think I've seen the yellow you are talking about. I don't go near any bug that big lol

 

[Penny Hen]

are those ones pretty big? I think I've seen the yellow you are talking about. I don't go near any bug that big lol

Yes, including the legs they are about 1.5 to 2 inches across. There is a very lovely Native American story that these are the descendants of Grandmother Spider who was the only animal that was able to bring fire from the Sun back to the people so they wouldn't be in the cold and the dark. To them the zig-zag pattern in the web is not a running W but the flames of fire she brought back.

 

[FeyRaine]

Okay if we are going to talk about spiders someone might have to pull this thread. They really creep me out! But seriously, I have a question about spiders. It is not uncommon for us to see a black widow in the yard. we have a lot of rock and they seem to like to hangout around rocks. Will a chicken eat them and if they do does it hurt for a chicken to eat them?

We were heavily infested w/ Black Widow spiders about 4 yrs ago, the chickens cleared them out -- whenever I found one I'd call the chickens to come eat it; chickens loved it & had no problems.
Now they ate them w/o getting bit, so if they got a bite on their skin it could be a different story I don't know. But coming over and getting it like a normal bug <peck, gulp> all was fine.

 

[Oramman87]

All 25 of the 8 week old sebrights are outside now in a temp run. I have 5 pullets and 3 Roos left to sell.

 

[Wasson6Pack]

so I am having DH build a cage. It is roughly 4x8. My delima is that when we made the nest boxes we put them at the top of the coup hanging out one end so we can reach them easily. Granted I don't have anyone laying yet, but should I have poor them down towards the bottom further? It will be chicken tractor ish, so a laser won't really work, but I can pout a couple perches so that they can hop from one to the next to the top. Will they do that? I will have 14 birds in there (8 weeks old) for a bit until I figure out who I'm keeping. Suggestions?

That pen will have Easter eggers from TSC in there. So far it looks like only 2 are male, what luck!

BTW, the Dickson show was great today. Question, are LF the same as 'regular chickens' or will it usually be specified like bantams? My husband kind of freaked at the LF. I didn't think ours would get that big, but maybe?

 

[elorraine52]

Speaking of spiders, but slightly on a different note;
Does anyone on here have any idea what I can use to kill/repel ticks? We are trying to move, and where we are moving to is completely INFESTED with small ticks....not the seed ticks, but close, and also the larger ticks both deer and dog varieties....over a 2 day period both my husband and I were covered in bites, and we have ALOT more work to do there before we can move chickens in and get some guinea keets purchased and raised to help. I don't want to poison the area for future chicken/guinea/turkeys, but DO want to be able to camp/work there without constantly picking ticks off and being covered in bites!