The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[hellbender]

I have used cayenne as a preventive against worms. I've never seen a worm overload in my hens since I got them 18 months ago.

OMG I was laughing so hard at work.

She would of had it a lot easier is she threw out a handful of scratch lol

The greatest surprise to me is the fact that she actually posted it. I don't think her intent was to put everyone on the floor with convulsive laughter...she really thought she was doing something great.

I don't know how the camera person could keep a straight face.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:

This is the one pic I have from today. I can get some more tomorrow if you like. Thanks for your help. v

Okay, good. Thank for the photo. Now a few more questions.

Remember that I can only see this photo on a screen.

Take a look at those feet really well. Do you see any areas that look like there is an infection. Look between the toes, on top of the foot, on the toes themselves both top and bottom. Is there anything that looks like it's filled with infection?

On the scabs themselves, are they dry? Does there appear to be infection under the scabs?

 

[Leahs Mom]

Her mix is great! I even had poo tests done after using it and results came back clean! Another nice thing is there's no waiting period on the eggs or the birds; both can be consumed over the course of treatment with not even a hint of altered flavour, even

Speaking of flavour: my heavily-dosed-on-turmeric chicken made me an egg the other day. I just ate it, expecting it to taste turmeric-ey, but not a hint!

Can you put out a link to the specific product you used?

 

[Leahs Mom]

yes - the run itself is quite large, and when I am home they can free range. I was pretty cranky Sunday because I was home, the ground was bare and I let them out and they were really working hard to eat the miniscule grass sprouting up, and along came two big dogs out of the woods. I had to scramble to get the chickens back in the run before the dogs came through, and then I was fearful the dogs would return.

I am pretty close to making a decision on the electric poultry netting. That will help extend the time they get to be outside of the run - and help them spend more time on "clean" ground.

I haven't seen any evidence of worms, it is just that I can't understand the drop in egg production, so I think it will likely be worms or mites. Still no sign of mites, so....

Frustrating on the dogs. That's why I got the net in the first place. I occasionally have stray dogs and I didn't want to lose a whole flock of birds to a playful pup.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Forgot to say...
How do your birds look? Are the combs nice and red? Are they acting okay or "off"?
If they seem okay otherwise, I think I'd give it a bit of time and not just routinely worm with no evidence of issue. Your weather has been brutal up there. It's pretty likely that they'll settle into laying well again before too long I'd guess.

 

[subhanalah]

Since the antibiotics are also killing the good bacteria, start with probiotics right away, like plain yogurt or fermented feed. Not doing so will allow yeasts to proliferate whereby they may then have immune troubles. I don't know whether the antibiotics are passing into the eggs or not, so I guess if you're okay with getting trace amounts of medication you can eat them.

amporillium is NOT an antibiotic. It is a thiamine blocker.

 

[trilliumcoop]

From the top of the feet there is nothing off at all, they look completely normal. There does seem to be very light swelling on each pad. It's very slight though, not red at all anywhere. I wouldn't say they look infected at all. The scabs are very dry and almost look like warts so me though they aren't raised, there's concentric circles. I picked part of one off. She didn't like that so if I need to pick at it more I'll need to be prepared and have help I think. But yes, I think they could be removed by peeling them up.
Thanks again for your help!

 

[hellbender]

From the top of the feet there is nothing off at all, they look completely normal. There does seem to be very light swelling on each pad. It's very slight though, not red at all anywhere. I wouldn't say they look infected at all. The scabs are very dry and almost look like warts so me though they aren't raised, there's concentric circles. I picked part of one off. She didn't like that so if I need to pick at it more I'll need to be prepared and have help I think. But yes, I think they could be removed by peeling them up.
Thanks again for your help!

When I was a kid, my granny would cook the chicken's feet and save them...it took about a dozen to get a meal for a kid...I don't think I'll be having any for a while...

 

[lalaland]

Forgot to say...
How do your birds look? Are the combs nice and red? Are they acting okay or "off"?
If they seem okay otherwise, I think I'd give it a bit of time and not just routinely worm with no evidence of issue. Your weather has been brutal up there. It's pretty likely that they'll settle into laying well again before too long I'd guess.

well, I don't think I would worm with a chemical pesticide wormer at this point. When it warms up I'll do the soapy water thing with bronners. I'm just thinking of getting back into acv, garlic, etc. am going to look at the herbal wormer too mentioned earlier today. The combs are not as bright red as they were a few weeks ago, at least some of them aren't as bright red. I still have a few with frostbit edges (booster's comb - yeah I still haven't culled him - looks really really good as his dead parts fell off during the rooster fight).

I haven't been home as much lately with both my parents in and out of hosptital, rehab, etc...so things have gotten kind of bare bones for the chickens. They get fed and watered, and not a whole lot else right now.

I figure I have about 8 inches of snow so far and it is still coming. nothing sadder than robins on a bare branch with nothing but white in sight.

 

[Leahs Mom]

ORANGE CLEANER:
Okay. Here's what I do.

The basic cleaner can be found all over the internet. Here is one from Fresh Eggs Daily so you can get the idea. I DON'T MAKE IT THIS WAY...BUT THE BASICS ARE POSTED HERE:

http://www.fresh-eggs-daily.com/2012/06/homemade-orange-peel-white-vinegar-coop.html

It was kind-of a fad last year to make the orange cleaner....not just in chicken circles but around places where folks like using something less chemical as a cleaner.

HERE'S WHAT I DO:

For the basic cleaner, I stuff as many orange peels as I can into a 1/2 gallon jar. There has to be enough space at the top to put something into the jar to push those peels totally under the vinegar as they will mold otherwise. They have to be totally submerged.

In the jar, you can put OPTIONAL ITEMS...I usually use a cinnamon stick and some whole cloves in the jar. I like the smell it adds. I DON'T worry about things like vanilla beans...WAY TOO EXPENSIVE in my opinion for a cleaner.

Pour white vinegar over all and use something to keep everything under the vinegar. I always keep half gallon jars of this steeping on top of the fridge. That way I can get out whatever I want into a sprayer when needed.

You can "make it as you go"...just put as many peels as you currently have in the jar and put in enough vinegar to cover them when pressed down tight. Keep adding peels and vinegar as you have them.

I really don't clean my chicken house so I've not used it as a cleaner out there. If I ever do I suppose I could use it.

You can see the small jar inside these jars pushing the peels down.

This is a finished batch waiting to be used.


This is the batch I just started. We're adding peels whenever we have them.




FOR MITE/LICE USE IN THE CHICKEN HOUSE
I put it in a sprayer and add a few drops of peppermint essential oil, eucalyptus essential oil, and/or lavendar essential oil. I sometimes use all of those or whatever I have around that is a mite/lice deterrent.

I use that to spray the edges of the nest boxes - only in the cracks around the edges UNDER THE NESTING MATERIAL. I do that about 1x/month or so. Also spraying it on the roost crevices.


Drying orange peels in next post.