The NFC B-Day Chat Thread

[bruceha2000]

Treat them at night when they are on the roost, they are easy to catch then, take a helper to hold the flashlight.

But really, you need to take care of the mites in the coop and on the roosts or they will just keep infesting the chickens. I'm sure there are plenty of posts here on BYC on how to get rid of scaly leg mites. I know it isn't a quick or fun thing but I have been lucky enough to not have them in my coop so far.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Treat them at night when they are on the roost, they are easy to catch then, take a helper to hold the flashlight.

But really, you need to take care of the mites in the coop and on the roosts or they will just keep infesting the chickens. I'm sure there are plenty of posts here on BYC on how to get rid of scaly leg mites. I know it isn't a quick or fun thing but I have been lucky enough to not have them in my coop so far.

Thanks, I'll try that tonight!! Hopefully it will be much easier. Unless they all wake up hah

And I hadn't realized the got in the coop, thought that was just regular mites. I will be sure to treat the coop. They are actually moving to a new coop soon so maybe if I get them treated before the move they won't take them with them?

 

[CapricornFarm]

My next project will be a solar water heater for the chickens. Going to start today i hope.

You can follow my build at my thread Getting Ready for Winter under Random Ramblings. I have started!

 

[ShrekDawg]

I'll check it out! I actually like solar idea cause we don't have power out there

 

[Teila]

Good Morning Friends

Aaaaw KD I am so very sorry to read of your loss

Tee hee N F C I am pleased you found hubby.

Predicted maximum for today is 88F with no real chance of rain so after housework and grocery shopping it is watering time.

As you know, yesterday was my trip into town to buy an outfit for the upcoming work Christmas function.

At Rockman’s [clothing store] I purchased a pair of black dress pants $50, a really pretty pink top [my colour] $50 and a costume jewellery necklace $26.

Total $126 … However, Rockman’s were having a 50% off everything sale so $126 became $63. Off that take the $50 Rockman’s gift voucher I won a while back in the CWA raffle and the whole lot cost me $13 .. stoked and still smiling about it!!

 

[bruceha2000]

Thanks, I'll try that tonight!! Hopefully it will be much easier. Unless they all wake up hah

And I hadn't realized the got in the coop, thought that was just regular mites. I will be sure to treat the coop. They are actually moving to a new coop soon so maybe if I get them treated before the move they won't take them with them?

They will wake up but they can't see at night so they won't struggle as much as they do when they are caught during the day. Pick them up by reaching over their backs with both hands and hold their wings to their body, you don't want them flapping about. You can talk to them so they (maybe) recognize your voice as a known entity and not a predator trying to kill them. They still won't be happy though. Cradle them in your arm on their back, that tends to quiet them, plus it gives you access to their legs

As I said, I've been lucky not to have had to deal with mites, perhaps someone else here will have better information. But I THINK if you have them mite free when you move them to the new coop you have a good chance. But it wouldn't hurt to be extra careful to look for a recurrence frequently after they move. Then you have to clean the current coop and kill off any mites that are in there.

A quick search turned up this post by @Nifty-Chicken in 2008, I didn't read but the first 2 pages, I suggest you read it all because sometimes later posts have good or better information. https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-best-easiest-quickest-solution-scaley.33903/

I would use castor oil instead of vaseline, it has medical healing properties (Vaseline has none) and will still smother the mites without leaving a gooey mess on the birds' legs. From prior reading you do NOT want to scrape at the scales, that can lead to more irritation, the castor oil will soften them.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Thank you Tails!

They will wake up but they can't see at night so they won't struggle as much as they do when they are caught during the day. Pick them up by reaching over their backs with both hands and hold their wings to their body, you don't want them flapping about. You can talk to them so they (maybe) recognize your voice as a known entity and not a predator trying to kill them. They still won't be happy though. Cradle them in your arm on their back, that tends to quiet them, plus it gives you access to their legs

As I said, I've been lucky not to have had to deal with mites, perhaps someone else here will have better information. But I THINK if you have them mite free when you move them to the new coop you have a good chance. But it wouldn't hurt to be extra careful to look for a recurrence frequently after they move. Then you have to clean the current coop and kill off any mites that are in there.

A quick search turned up this post by @Nifty-Chicken in 2008, I didn't read but the first 2 pages, I suggest you read it all because sometimes later posts have good or better information. https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-best-easiest-quickest-solution-scaley.33903/

I would use castor oil instead of vaseline, it has medical healing properties (Vaseline has none) and will still smother the mites without leaving a gooey mess on the birds' legs. From prior reading you do NOT want to scrape at the scales, that can lead to more irritation, the castor oil will soften them.

Thanks Bruce! I think my chickens are weird - sometimes when I wake them and grab one then they all wake up and any efforts are then over usually hah

And thank you, I'll look at that! Hopefully I can get them cured before they move

And yeah, I actually used the castor oil. I bought it after I was told it works better than Vaseline

Managed to get it on the worst chicken and one other so hopefully they start healing up soon. Now I just need to treat the other 5. Hopefully I can do that tonight. I will try the upside down thing.

And some of their combs appear really dry and/or frostbitten (one chicken). I do not remember this last year? What can I put on that? The castor oil or should I use the Vaseline for their faces? Or is there something better than that???

 

[ronott1]

You know, the only good thing that might come of this is that I've already started taking better care of the animals I have. Lately I've been kind of ignoring the chickens and barely going out there, besides food and water of course, but even that I don't always go out there right away and the food and water last days. Anyway, I've known one has had scaly leg mites for like a year, almost year and a half, nd I keeo meaning to treat it, I even bought vaseline last year and castor oil the beginning of this year, but then, idk I never do. I know it makes me a horrible chicken owner but there's a lot of things I mean to do but don't, not just with animals. It's not really on purpose. Plus I thought they would be really hard to catch and treat. ANYWAY. Long story short, I finally treated the worst one today! Just refilled their feed and noticed the oil there and though you know what, what the heck, I'm just gonna treat her today. Grabbed her and she wasn't as hard to treat as I thought haha she was screaming by the end though. That's May the barred rock. I also managed to grab and Australorp when she finally squatted and you know, I think she actually liked it! LOL she pretended she didn't when I first got her but once I started rubbing the oil on her legs she relaxed and didn't fight

Anyway, only managed to catch those two which stinks cause the Easter Eggers are the second worst but also the hardest to catch and hold once you do catch. But I decided that they have had enough stress with the attack yesterday and to unnecessarily stress them more wasn't fair. Especially when I've had over a year to do it. Why right now? BUT. I think I am going to try at roost time. That's what I decided - why stress them chasing them? They should be sleepier at roost time. Or if not, then another time.

But I am really glad I finally treated May.

It is funny how things slip away like treating the chickens.

I inherited a bunny when my Middle DD got married and moved to Finland. He has a tooth problem and I have to snip them when the front teeth get too long. I often put it off and the poor thing has trouble getting his food out of the dish.

 

[ronott1]

Good Morning Friends

Aaaaw KD I am so very sorry to read of your loss

Tee hee N F C I am pleased you found hubby.

Predicted maximum for today is 88F with no real chance of rain so after housework and grocery shopping it is watering time.

As you know, yesterday was my trip into town to buy an outfit for the upcoming work Christmas function.

At Rockman’s [clothing store] I purchased a pair of black dress pants $50, a really pretty pink top [my colour] $50 and a costume jewellery necklace $26.

Total $126 … However, Rockman’s were having a 50% off everything sale so $126 became $63. Off that take the $50 Rockman’s gift voucher I won a while back in the CWA raffle and the whole lot cost me $13 .. stoked and still smiling about it!!

I wanted to tell you about the power outage at work yesterday. Facilities turned off the power for emergency maintenance. That is often a problem with technology.

The DHCP server(also a print server) decided to do a major update on startup. It is a Windows server 2012 server--of course people started complaining because the server was not giving them an IP Address(needed to get onto the internet). Then I found out that a power adapter fried on the bosses switch! I had to replace it quickly and was late getting lunch. It was quite a rough day!

Ok, back to chicken talk....

 

[DigMyChicks]

Good Morning Friends

Aaaaw KD I am so very sorry to read of your loss

Tee hee N F C I am pleased you found hubby.

Predicted maximum for today is 88F with no real chance of rain so after housework and grocery shopping it is watering time.

As you know, yesterday was my trip into town to buy an outfit for the upcoming work Christmas function.

At Rockman’s [clothing store] I purchased a pair of black dress pants $50, a really pretty pink top [my colour] $50 and a costume jewellery necklace $26.

Total $126 … However, Rockman’s were having a 50% off everything sale so $126 became $63. Off that take the $50 Rockman’s gift voucher I won a while back in the CWA raffle and the whole lot cost me $13 .. stoked and still smiling about it!!

Awesome deals!!