The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[aoxa]

I've had a chick as young as 4 weeks old squat for me. Turned out to be a girl.

Just had one of the basement babies squat and they are 7 weeks old. Kids grow up so fast these days!

 

[Sally8]

when you say leg mites....do you mean scaly leg? or do you mean you saw a red mite or a tan louse? Just wondering because with scaly leg, ash won't help prevent. The only thing that helps is topical treatment on the leg and/or ivermectin internally. If it is leg mites, don't want you to have to do the work you are describing because it wouldn't help.

but, am guessing you mean you saw a mite on a leg....?

No, she has scaly mites. Her legs are huge and knobby. Not sure why I didn't catch this before now. As I'm thinking, she was always on the roost. Now I know why. I have NuStock that I rubbed on. Ivermectin, does it have to be internally? How much to use?. She's pretty light, lost weight. Not sure about the mites itself. I can usually feel them. I don't have them as bad right now but at one time, all I had to do was to get eggs and I'd feel them. Sometimes when I dust the girls I can feel them. I always shower when I get in the house. At one time I was considering burning the chicken coop down. That's why I built the new one. It's just so consistant. Never a break. Ugh!

 

[countrygirl74]

No, she has scaly mites. Her legs are huge and knobby. Not sure why I didn't catch this before now. As I'm thinking, she was always on the roost. Now I know why. I have NuStock that I rubbed on. Ivermectin, does it have to be internally? How much to use?. She's pretty light, lost weight. Not sure about the mites itself. I can usually feel them. I don't have them as bad right now but at one time, all I had to do was to get eggs and I'd feel them. Sometimes when I dust the girls I can feel them. I always shower when I get in the house. At one time I was considering burning the chicken coop down. That's why I built the new one. It's just so consistant. Never a break. Ugh!

I dread having to deal with mites, etc. someday. So far, so good... I wonder if some of these critters are more prominent in certain regions? My sister has had chickens for a while now and never had mites or anything and she hardly provides them with anything - small run, cheap food, no acv, etc. They even lay for her most of the winter and it's cold and snowy as they are further north than I am in Arizona. Crazy!

 

[countrygirl74]

Your ducks feather out faster? Wow..
Mine feathered out much slower.

The calls were still half naked at 4 weeks. I threw them out at that time. Couldn't handle raising them in a brooder all day. they made such a mess and stink. That was in early August.. so it was warm out. They hadn't had any heat lamps on them for a week by that time, but I was worried about the older birds bothering them.. They were the ones who harassed the chickens. Little boogers.



This is them the first day outside (all but three were sold and are alive and well).

They hardly had any feathers as you can see. This was at dusk. They weren't sure where to go in to bed, so I corralled them in. It was so easy. They follow the leader

My Pekins and Rouens took forever to feather out too! My chicks were outside at least a month before I could put my ducks out. Of course they were fall hatches and it was in the middle of winter when I had to acclimate them all. I had the ducks living in the bathtub, praying every day that they would get more feathers. I loved them but man was I ready for them to be outside!

Also, aoxa, I don't think it helps with my feed that I am pretty sure Metzer's accidentally sent me a JUMBO Pekin instead of a regular one. My two Pekins are definitely not the same... even their quack is different and both are definitely females. My Jumbo weighs twice as much as the Rouens...

 

[Sally8]

I dread having to deal with mites, etc. someday. So far, so good... I wonder if some of these critters are more prominent in certain regions? My sister has had chickens for a while now and never had mites or anything and she hardly provides them with anything - small run, cheap food, no acv, etc. They even lay for her most of the winter and it's cold and snowy as they are further north than I am in Arizona. Crazy!

I've thought this same thing. I never had mites before (living in other locations) and I cannot, cannot get rid of them. I live on the edge of the woods, very close to a creek. It's always pretty damp here. 10 degrees cooler than 5 miles away year around. Just awful.

 

[aoxa]

No, she has scaly mites. Her legs are huge and knobby. Not sure why I didn't catch this before now. As I'm thinking, she was always on the roost. Now I know why. I have NuStock that I rubbed on. Ivermectin, does it have to be internally? How much to use?. She's pretty light, lost weight. Not sure about the mites itself. I can usually feel them. I don't have them as bad right now but at one time, all I had to do was to get eggs and I'd feel them. Sometimes when I dust the girls I can feel them. I always shower when I get in the house. At one time I was considering burning the chicken coop down. That's why I built the new one. It's just so consistant. Never a break. Ugh!

NuStock is supposed to be really good on leg mites.

What you have to do is really coat them good when you clean out the coop this spring. Make sure no mites are left alive in there and kill them by smothering with nustock. That has to work..

Also dust them with wood ash the same day.

Ivermectin is not licensed for livestock meant for food - therefore I avoid it altogether. Vet RX is all natural and also works for leg mites/mites. Verm X is all natural and works for worm treatments.

Margaret had lice. Which is why I gave her a really thorough bath. Mid bath I started stripping off my clothes because I could feel them on me! I used a flea comb and got all the dead ones off. Not a single one left (I held her and searched for an hour - no kidding.. what else do I have to do?). I put a bit of tea tree oil on her, and remove any little eggs I could find. I have wood ash chilling outside in case I need it. She can not dust herself at this time due to her frost bite.

2 days later I still couldn't see any. I used all natural shampoo and lathered her up three times. Bath was 30 minutes long. Poor girl.

 

[ChickNmamma]

Quote:
When we got some free chickens a rooster came with a really really bad case of leg mites. My mother would dunk him every day in a container of engine oil (deep enough to reach the top of his legs). We called him "Crankcase" because he always smelled like engine oil. It took awhile, don't recall how long now - but they finally went away. None of the other chickens got them, fortunately for us.

 

[countrygirl74]

Has any of you had experience with a vicious little silkie roo? If I just even reach out toward him, he attacks my hand. He doesn't just peck, he grabs on and twists. I always have to wear gloves. And... he doesn't like it if I am in the chicken house (not run) - he attacks me then too. When I pick him up and hold him, he will turn his head around like an owl and keep trying to rip my skin off. He doesn't fly at me or chase me - just attacks if I reach out or am in the house. My other silkie roo does his little dance on occasion but has never pecked. Even my big EE roo doesn't peck at all or show any aggression. The little vicious guy is a good protector though - he always sounds the alarm for the flock, etc. My EE roo seems oblivious to everything.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

meyer hatchery posted an article showing brewers yest in a recipe for chicken feed. Should I be giving my chickens brewers yeast? If so how much for 20-25 chickens? Should it be mixed in with dry food or soaked with water in wet feed? I don't do FF but I do occasionally give them wet food that has soaked for at least 2-4 hours.

My chickens love peas too. Works out nice because my children won't eat them. Chickens get the leftover peas and the children are happy to settle for green beans or corn.

As for ducks I would like one but don't really have the space for one. We do have very large puddles in our yard for long periods of time during the spring rains and the winter thaws but absolutely no puddles in the heat of the summer. I'll have to be happy with the wild ducks this summer. I must say some of the ducks are extremely pretty.

 

[aoxa]

meyer hatchery posted an article showing brewers yest in a recipe for chicken feed. Should I be giving my chickens brewers yeast? If so how much for 20-25 chickens? Should it be mixed in with dry food or soaked with water in wet feed? I don't do FF but I do occasionally give them wet food that has soaked for at least 2-4 hours.

My chickens love peas too. Works out nice because my children won't eat them. Chickens get the leftover peas and the children are happy to settle for green beans or corn.

As for ducks I would like one but don't really have the space for one. We do have very large puddles in our yard for long periods of time during the spring rains and the winter thaws but absolutely no puddles in the heat of the summer. I'll have to be happy with the wild ducks this summer. I must say some of the ducks are extremely pretty.

Ducks can be housed with chickens (try to avoid drakes - male ducks around your chickens). They do not need to swim, but it sure makes them happy. Kiddie pools are what the majority of duck owners use. They cost $10 at Wal-Mart.

You have to have at least 2 ducks I think, or you will have one with an identity crisis.