The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[MumsyII]

Yes that makes things much more difficult...

Wrap the deck in duct tape?

Okay jokes aside, I am not sure what else to suggest.

Love the RIR running, from the wasps/hornets? hehe

Yep. No kidding. These things are little but they come after me, husband, and chickens. He got stung and I've seen many of the hens get it in the face and comb. I run!

I just came from the village store. Bought the last one on the shelf! The clerk told me the area is having a real outbreak of these critters. A big black can of wasp and hornet insecticide is sitting on my counter. Had to get my extra strong reading glasses to make out the warnings and precautions. I finished eating my breakfast. So no worry about eating after wards. The weather is cool and there is a heavy overcast in the sky. The hornets seem sluggish.

I have a plan. Using a sheet of thin grade plastic left over from my garden, will staple it around the porch. Making a tent and isolating the porch from the barn and pens. Then fill it with the spray toxin. Need to find some throw away clothes (washable) plastic gloves, and my respirator. (I suffer from chronic bronchitis)

*gah!* I hate using this stuff. But sometimes when life and limb is in jeopardy, a person has to do what needs to be done. Hope this works.

edited to add: I posted before I read Kassaundra's advice.

 

[delisha]

Quote: powdered milk sprinkled on feed can alter the gut pH making it less hospitable for the cocci and other pests, it also forces the chickens to drink more water.

the really tough thing for Mumsy is I am doubting it will get cold enough to kill the buggers in the winter, assuming it was possible to put up with them that long. Its a really tough problem. I think I would give in and go for the big guns/poison. Seems like it is a threat to your health /chickens, would think you could get seriously stung.

wish you weren't having this fun!

x2..now that I see it...I am humbled by your predicament. No way would the oil work since it cant be wiped on by the wasps/bees...etc.
Only other thing I can think of is find an old dead nest of bees and stick it under the boards. They hate to share space with other bees and will leave when they can't make the nest go away.

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

I don't know if this will work, but what if you covered the porch floor area as best you could w/ tarps and blocked as many air ways as you could and threw a couple of bug bombs under there? I know you couldn't block all the air holes but if you blocked enough of them to slow the air escape maybe the poison would stay under long enough to kill them????? Less invasive then tearing your porch apart.

Yes!! That is what I meant by covering the porch with plastic/tarp and setting off some of the Raid smoke bombs. The smoke gets in to all of the crevices and tight spots Cover and ducttape all the porch and openings to keep the smoke inside.

I like the drawing of the porch structure, and wondered about cutting an access through the floorboards.

 

[MumsyII]

*gAH! AND Double Gah!* Even with the respirator and washing my face, it seems like I can taste that poison! (I'm really paranoid about insecticides)

I can't get a tight seal around this barn porch. Not the way we cobbled it together. And pens on either side plus the Dutch doors don't help much. Working as fast as I could with angry little hornets buzzing and dive bombing me, I managed to tent it best I could and weight down the edges. Then I quickly stood back and shot this stuff around all the edges that I could get. Then I went inside the barn from the other entrance, opened up the top half of the Dutch door and lifting out the plastic tent, shot it down onto the porch from that angle. And then I ran. They swarmed above and below. I saturated the plastic from outside and after fifteen minutes, it seems most are dead or trapped under the plastic. I put up poultry fencing to make sure the flock won't get in here and eat dead ones. I'm going to keep this war going for as long as it takes until this hive is abandoned. The idea about cutting out the center porch timbers between joists might be something my husband would consider if we have replacement timbers.


The battle zone. I need to rest and let the adrenalin subside!
.

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

*gAH! AND Double Gah!* Even with the respirator and washing my face, it seems like I can taste that poison! (I'm really paranoid about insecticides)

I can't get a tight seal around this barn porch. Not the way we cobbled it together. And pens on either side plus the Dutch doors don't help much. Working as fast as I could with angry little hornets buzzing and dive bombing me, I managed to tent it best I could and weight down the edges. Then I quickly stood back and shot this stuff around all the edges that I could get. Then I went inside the barn from the other entrance, opened up the top half of the Dutch door and lifting out the plastic tent, shot it down onto the porch from that angle. And then I ran. They swarmed above and below. I saturated the plastic from outside and after fifteen minutes, it seems most are dead or trapped under the plastic. I put up poultry fencing to make sure the flock won't get in here and eat dead ones. I'm going to keep this war going for as long as it takes until this hive is abandoned. The idea about cutting out the center porch timbers between joists might be something my husband would consider if we have replacement timbers.


The battle zone. I need to rest and let the adrenalin subside!
.

Wow...you DO have a problem. I hope what you were able to spray in there does the trick and eradicates them. I too am against using poisons and non natural means ...but sometimes....situations require a bit more ammunition.

 

[Sally8]

Sometimes, we have to do that which we never wanted to and vowed never to do. My son, when he was 4 stepped in a yellow jackets nest when he was playing outside. Thankfully, he was not allergic because he was stung many, many times. As an adult in his 30's he's still terrified of bee's. Since the nest was in the woods, we left them alone. Again, last summer, dead on the property line between our line and our neighbor's was another yellow jacket nest in the ground. Remembering how things went with my son, we got together with our neighbor and burned them out. I know they do good but my family will always come first. One day, someone will have a reaction. You think a mother hen gets protective!

I HAVE ANOTHER BCM HATCHING AS WE SPEAK!! UNBELIEVABLE! That makes 8.

 

[MumsyII]

Wow...you DO have a problem. I hope what you were able to spray in there does the trick and eradicates them. I too am against using poisons and non natural means ...but sometimes....situations require a bit more ammunition.

Yes. This nest is/was growing every day. We figured we will need to tear this old barn down and rebuild the porch too but that wasn't on the to do list this year. If I could have reached the hive, any remedy could have been so much simpler.
I will need to sweep and vacuum this area thoroughly before the chickens can walk through here again.

When under stress, Silkies cheer me up. Another chick just hatched. Day number twenty four! Another vaulted chick by Bonney. Made me laugh. This is the second chick to stick a foot out before hatching. Another Bonney baby! It seems to be splaying it a bit too. Might have to put a hobble on it. That makes eleven hatched. No more pips that I can see. Is eleven out of seventeen 65% hatched? That doesn't sound great but eleven beautiful white Silkie chicks is great in my book!

Bonney's babies want to walk before they are hatched. Silly things.

 

[Quailsong]

Having just the weirdest day. Day twenty two is coming to a close and TWO eggs pipped. Trying my hardest to stay out of the house NOT watching the pot boil. You know what I mean?

A bee nest is giving us grief. It is smack dab under the porch of my barn! Husband was stung and I saw two hens stung on their combs too. I made up a bottle of Dawn dish soap and rubbing alcohol. Sprayed it for a half hour. Killed some but not all. They are swarming and angry now. Chickens are hiding and husband ran too. They are not honey bees or wasps. A small bee. Don't know what kind. They are NOT happy and neither am I!

One of my Catdance Partridge pullets is injured and exhibiting wry neck. I suspect one of the randy Catdance cockerels had her by the ear and wouldn't let go. Got her in an isolation pen with vitamins in the water. Got to do the whole routine with Selenium, E, and egg yolk. Did not need this to happen right now. *Gah!*

Done ranting. Baby chicks hatching tonight would go a long way in cheering me up.

That sucks about the bees. I've got bees right now camping in the space of my fireplace. They come out through the basement, lost & confused - and freak me out! Although the basement spiders sure love the freebies.

Some years ago I had wasps/jackets under a garden shed in a dog run. I used to leave half-filled bottles of soda right by their hive entrance. The wasps were attracted to the sugar, would drown & more would come in, push down the bodies by weight & drown above them. It was slower to kill them, but safe & the dogs never touched it. Definitely weakened the hive & reduced swarms.

Edit: Just saw the photos. Man that's a problem! Kill them as fast as you can with that tarp. If you leave it on too long they may dig elsewhere to get out...

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I DID A STUPID THING.... VERY UNINTENTIONAL BUT STUPID.

I was at someone's house today looking at their goats. They also have poultry of all types. I've been there before. I INTENTIONALLY wear shoes for visiting whenever I go somewhere with animals then "religiously" throw them into the laundry right away when I get home. Never wear them out toward my coop or even on the path to the coop.

UNTIL TODAY

I went to the farm straight from work. Then I was rushing around running errands after I visited the farm, came home, ran into the house, got food for the chickens (hadn't given them anything yet today) and marched right into the chicken coop. Walked right into the litter. Filled bowls. Then had the great idea that I might as well rake/stir the litter while I was out there.

Came back into the house and all of a sudden it hit me.

I HAD WORN SHOES IN THERE THAT WERE FILLED WITH ALL KINDS OF MANURE FROM THE OTHER FOLK'S YARD.


Is there anything I should do? I went back out and removed a bit of the litter where I was standing but that's probably not very effective. Anything else you'd do if it were you?

Praying it all works out for you. At least you went places after the farm.
Mumsy ~
You did a great job with your tenting. Since you are bothered by the spray, is it possible to have a teenager come and spray it for you? Growing up with brothers, I have noticed many teenage boys love to kill or catch bugs. I'm sure the right one would think it was an adventure and might even start a bug collection. Boys also love food, you might get away with paying the boy with pizza or pie or milkshakes.

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

Yes. This nest is/was growing every day. We figured we will need to tear this old barn down and rebuild the porch too but that wasn't on the to do list this year. If I could have reached the hive, any remedy could have been so much simpler.
I will need to sweep and vacuum this area thoroughly before the chickens can walk through here again.

When under stress, Silkies cheer me up. Another chick just hatched. Day number twenty four! Another vaulted chick by Bonney. Made me laugh. This is the second chick to stick a foot out before hatching. Another Bonney baby! It seems to be splaying it a bit too. Might have to put a hobble on it. That makes eleven hatched. No more pips that I can see. Is eleven out of seventeen 65% hatched? That doesn't sound great but eleven beautiful white Silkie chicks is great in my book!

Bonney's babies want to walk before they are hatched. Silly things.

Yay for silky chicks!! You need a "pick me up"