The road less traveled...back to good health! They have lice, mites, scale mites, worms, anemia, gl

[Missa Chickabee]

fyi - found a recipe for nustock -73% sulphur ,2% pineoil, 25%mineral oil- haven't been able to find it in aust

Thanks. Still not sure what that looks like in terms of volumes since the sulphur would be poweder, right?

 

[Beekissed]

I'm going to mix the mineral oil and sulfur together until I get the consistency that I want, then I'm going to add the pine tar until it "smells" right....

I used to make my own soaps, lotions, sugar scrubs at home, so using the concentrated scents and oils is not a new thing...you just add it a little at a time, sometimes in mere drops and keep stirring until the color and smell is just right.

 

[Missa Chickabee]

I'm going to mix the mineral oil and sulfur together until I get the consistency that I want, then I'm going to add the pine tar until it "smells" right....

I used to make my own soaps, lotions, sugar scrubs at home, so using the concentrated scents and oils is not a new thing...you just add it a little at a time, sometimes in mere drops and keep stirring until the color and smell is just right.

OK then. I'm going to buy one tube of NuStock...just so I know how it should end up.

 

[Beekissed]

I hate the tube form of dispensing...hard to get it all out of the tube or mix it well when it separates~and it does. The chalky nature of the sulfur powder mixed in the mineral oil carrier tends to separate out and leave it too runny and then too pasty when you get to the end of the tube.

I'm going to put mine in a ketchup dispenser bottle...you know the kind they sell in a pair, one red and one yellow for the mustard? Nice collapsible sides for good squeezing..but I'm going to cut the opening a little bigger. This idea may change as I learn a better way to dispense it and mix it well when it separates.

 

[Missa Chickabee]

I hate the tube form of dispensing...hard to get it all out of the tube or mix it well when it separates~and it does. The chalky nature of the sulfur powder mixed in the mineral oil carrier tends to separate out and leave it too runny and then too pasty when you get to the end of the tube.

I'm going to put mine in a ketchup dispenser bottle...you know the kind they sell in a pair, one red and one yellow for the mustard? Nice collapsible sides for good squeezing..but I'm going to cut the opening a little bigger. This idea may change as I learn a better way to dispense it and mix it well when it separates.

Ok. We're watching you, BK. Could you keep track of the amounts of the 3 ingredients as you experiment for consistency? Then you'll have the secret recipe for us.

 

[Seslar]

I hate the tube form of dispensing...hard to get it all out of the tube or mix it well when it separates~and it does. The chalky nature of the sulfur powder mixed in the mineral oil carrier tends to separate out and leave it too runny and then too pasty when you get to the end of the tube.

I'm going to put mine in a ketchup dispenser bottle...you know the kind they sell in a pair, one red and one yellow for the mustard? Nice collapsible sides for good squeezing..but I'm going to cut the opening a little bigger. This idea may change as I learn a better way to dispense it and mix it well when it separates.

Thank you, Bee!

 

[Eowyn2]

Ok, 2 days into the fermented feed project, and I'm sold.

Am only on page 50 of the fermenting feed for meaties thread (only 100 pages to go!!) and am starting to get confused about what people are calling "fermenting". I have a background in biochemistry and microbiology, so I'm probably a bigger stickler for correct terms and processes than most. I'm going to do some research and perhaps start another thread on fermenting feed to clarify a few things.

Anyway, do chickens lick things? Because I swear when I go out to pick up the pie tins after feeding them, they are LICKED CLEAN. Seriously. My birds are big fans of this feed.

I'm starting to wonder if the mean black star is just mean because she's protein-starved. She is trying to grow feathers back in, she's a big hen, and she pumps out these massive eggs most days of the week - she needs more food than the rest. Perhaps her body biochemistry is making her desperate for nutrition and she is a nasty thing to the other hens because of it. I haven't seen her be as mean to the other hens the last day or so. Her egg from this morning had a slightly thicker shell and a more formed white, so perhaps she is doing better already... I'm going to go inspect her when I can get both children down for a nap (HA!) and see if she has any other problems. She has a lot of feathers missing from around her vent too, but I can't imagine anyone is vent-picking the boss hen.

I need to figure out how to make feeding the chickens less time-consuming. I have a job and small children, and I can't spend all my days off like today trucking FF, yogurt, garden greens, and kitchen scraps out to the chickens... Maybe once they're in better health I won't have to offer the extras?

 

[Beekissed]

I like to keep a system that is not time consuming as well, as I was a working single mom of 3 boys and keeping chores trimmed down was important when I had to juggle all that. Now, it's just habit...I like streamlining things because it's just good common sense to keep things as simple as possible.

It would help if you just keep all your food/feed out in or beside the coop...no carrying anything but water at that point. Feeding once a day is another good way of trimming the fat off the chicken chores. I free range and feed in the evenings during the warmer months and in the mornings during the cold months.

Keeping a deep litter system is another wonderful time saver...love it, it's beneficial to the health of the flock, gives them something to do when confined, keeps them warmer and cuts down on one chore that is time consuming and unpleasant.

During the warmer months, it helps to go with a nipple water delivery system...no more worrying about dirty or dumped water. Easy and breezy and so much less waste and mess.

Free ranging with a dog in place is another way to save steps and time...I can leave the pop door open at all times because the dog is watching over the predator situation. I keep the dog in a wireless electric system that keeps HIM safe and he then keeps the chickens safe. All this means I don't have to let chickens out, put chickens back in, so on and so forth. I also don't have to worry about taking the dog out, exercising the dog, cleaning up the dog's waste(he always goes in one place up in the woods where we do not travel)...usually an outside dog will always drop his loaves in one corner of his territory. When given a chance to establish a domain, dogs are pretty sanitary.

I keep heated water systems in the winter....saves so much worry and time about if the animals have water available.

Smoothing out the animal care systems are paramount for a busy life, to keeping it from being a chore, and turns it more into being something easy and pleasant to have in your life.

 

[Beekissed]

Update on the Gnarly Bunch: Three eggs today! All medium to large, huge and very orange yolks, two were fertile, very strong shells. Ranging further from the coop today...went down about an acre away from the coop for a little bit. Getting comfy in their surroundings, I'd say.

They are looking so much cleaner, smoother, more feathered each day....I even saw one of the BA's feathers had the start of a sheen of green in the sun this morning. Both of those gals looked pretty dull when they arrived, though the one Black Star had a good sheen on her feathers.

This same BA, whom I dubbed as Ruby, acts a little like she wants to hang around me...if for nothing more than in curiosity. I've had quite a few BAs over the years that were very friendly and moochy, even when not handled. I like that in a bird, though I also admire the independent ones as well.

I don't enjoy the lonely hearts and loners much...they do not adapt to socialization in the flock, they don't seem to get bred as much by the rooster, they don't fight for their food rights and they often get separated from the flock, making them a target for predators. They don't seem to keep a good weight and they don't seem to lay as well. I have two of those right now, a Speckled Sussex and a Partridge Rock and the PR currently won't roost in the coop but roosts underneath an old truck we have. Not good... and I expect she won't be here for roll call one morning.

 

[aussie pete]

sorry i couldn't find anymore info re whether % is x weight or volume,from what i did read, pine oil & pine tar r the same.
.seems a lot of dog ppl use the mix for mange ,fleas etc,.
herbalists,use this mix for ppl with skin problems u may find ingredient's in health food stores.
i did find that sulfur in feed stores /chemists & in garden centres as a treatment for fungal problems on plants
if i find any more i'll post it