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

[71stbrew]

Didn't think of it like that duh. I do want to thank you for all of your wisdom to us newbies. While reading this thread I realized that of all the threads that I have read more than a page or 2 of have had you for a main contributer. I like your style and maybe one day I will get to read all of the OT and FF threads. But this one is the shortest and took me 4 days to finish. I might get full grey before I can sift through the others. Keep up the good work and I hope your blog gets filled out nicely.

 

[Beekissed]

Thank you! I've noticed you viewing the thread and wondered if you were going to write. the OT thread got ginormous real quick and now it's hard to access...one just has to read it from beginning to end and it's like a really thick, chatty book. But it has substance!

I see that many are viewing and I often wonder if they will ever chime in...I often wonder what is going on in their heads about what they see and hear. Are they intrigued? Do they have questions but don't want to ask them? Are they having similar problems in their flocks and are looking for natural solutions? Do they have pics of such things they would like to post but are afraid of doing that here for some reason? Are they going to try these methods? If so, will they post back here so that others can learn from it?

 

[City farm]

LOL!  Don't look at the shipping prices for some of the ingredients if you decide to make your own.  Shipping can cost more than the items themselves.  With luck you'll find most of the ingredients locally.


From what I understand, wood ashes are a component in a number of native recipes involving corn.  (Check out Hopi piki bread recipes.)  The wood ashes help release the niacin in the corn, making it a more nutritionally valuable food.  Europeans in this country didn't catch on to the ash trick right away, and wound up suffering from pellagra (niacin deficiency) until someone clued them in.

Wonder what the nervous nellie types would think of that?  "Eeeewww... ashes!"  I can hear it now... 

hope this info helps... "FOOD GRADE"
DIATOMCEOUS EARTH... To much info to tell you about..
I got this info from Tempe feed & tack.. Truly amazing.. GET'S RID OF;
Very effective on outdoor crawling insects..
Natural insecticide
Natural wormer
De-ionizer or de-energizer of worms or PARASITES.
Most internal worms including
Roundworms
Pinworms
Tapeworms. Also helps keep the flys loads down..
Flea
Lice
Mites
Ticks.. Amazing more info threw Wolf Creek Ranch
Or call Tempe feed & tack.. 480-966-3884
I give it to our cats,dogs,chickens..
Or did I mention there is 15 trace minerals..
Oh & affects
Ants, caterpillars, cut worms, cockroach , snails,TERMITES!!!!!!
Scorpions.. & so much more!!
hope this helps...

 

[Beekissed]

Tempe and Tack are trying to sell you something...of course they are going to tell you only what you want to hear. Folks promoting natural means of pests control aren't trying to sell you anything at all...most of what you can use is easily and readily available and free.

Many people here using DE in bedding and in their chickens are reporting that they still have mites, lice, etc. DE isn't real selective...it kills any and all in the same manner and the problem arises when it kills the beneficial insects and nematodes that prey on the larvae of lice, mites, flies, etc.

How much better is it to create a balance in the coop and run environment that promotes natural control and balance of these types of problems. If you start using DE, you will have to continue to use DE, simply because you killed off the beneficial bugs and such that take time to build up a population. The pests, on the other hand, come back with a vengeance and very quickly.

Same with bacteria and molds...if all you do is try to kill everything in the environment, you leave a clean slate that is more quickly populated with bad pathogens because they grow more quickly than do the microorganisms that keep them in check.

I won't use DE. It has no place in the environment of a coop nor in the internal environment of the animal. It simply isn't necessary if you are doing things properly.

 

[Justahannah]

Quote:
I've read all three threads beginning to end and keep up daily but never post...just haven't felt the need to chime in yet. Any questions I've had have been answered through the reading, and any input I feel I could contribute is usually covered by the time I have a few to sit at a keyboard. I learned about chickens growing up with my mom...basically you let 'em out in the morning, gather the eggs, lock 'em up at night, and the coyotes will take care of the rest. But that was when I was young and didn't live in a city...it's been a decade since I've been around choocks, and trying to adapt what I grew up with to managing a few birds in an urban environment is where these threads have been invaluable. Knowing the practical and biological reasons behind doing things certain ways helps me scale them down. Beside that, it's both entertaining and educational to watch the flow of posts go by, and I've learned a lot...FF is new to me, but it makes sense in a whole lot of ways and the girls love it. I'm thankful to be able to hit these threads and sponge up some common sense that's sorely lacking elsewhere in the world.

 

[Rachel'sFlock]

It took me 7 hours, but I am through this wonderful thread, start to finish.
My mind is reeling, but I have to sleep (it is 2am).
In short, thanks BeeKissed for the thread, for your committment to those poor chooks, and to the Process. I am a firm believer in your holistic approach, and really appreciate the wonderful (and huge!) effort on your part.
I have a few questions and comments, but they will have to wait til I can keep my eyes open!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Anyone wanting to view pics from this thread? There is a new feature on BYC that lets you view all the pics in a thread and click on them for a closer look....see this option above where you can place tags and above all the reviews on the right hand column of features.

I just did it and there was my hens butt ugly as it it for all to see.

 

[Miss Lydia]

It took me 7 hours, but I am through this wonderful thread, start to finish.
My mind is reeling, but I have to sleep (it is 2am).
In short, thanks BeeKissed for the thread, for your committment to those poor chooks, and to the Process. I am a firm believer in your holistic approach, and really appreciate the wonderful (and huge!) effort on your part.
I have a few questions and comments, but they will have to wait til I can keep my eyes open!

Hey Rachel good to see you here.

 

[armorfirelady]

I'm wondering the same thing. I would like to get it going while we are having an Indian Summer and would like to feed all year long. Wondering if I should set up a green house that has just 4 shelves with a plastic covering (at most nurseries) and then just take the shelves off.

Also, I used to buy organic soy-free mash for 'gulp' $34 per 50 pound bag. Now I piggy-back on the farm I work at and they have their organic feed delivered and dumped into silos. I now buy for $17 per 50# of the same type of feed (different brand), but in pellet form. I also buy through them (all organic), alfalfa pellets, oyster shell, whole grains, kelp, redmond's salt, redmond's conditioner, peas, corn, etc. Also for 1/2 the cost. I buy 3 months worth at a time...easier on their bookkeeping. No mash though and I'm not about to pay the higher cost for it elsewhere. How is fermenting with pellets?

I plan on feeding the FF thru the winter if the hens will eat it. Its been in the 30s/40s at night here and not much warmer during the day & the hens lick their plates clean. I plan on using a heated dog dish to hold the food when the temps stay low so it doesnt freeze before they eat it.

 

[Loghousemom]

Got 4 large trash cans of compacted leaves stored today for winter bedding....going to try to save some money on deep litter this year by using what is on hand.  The leaves will break down nicely and the bugs will prefer them to pine shavings, so this will give the girls something good to do on those long winter days of deep snow or frozen ground and high winds.  Supposed to be a hard winter this year, so I'm trying to prepare for battening down the hatches. 

Bk, I spoke with you before about the deep litter in my coop on the OT thread. I had no idea I could use leaves! That is something I have in abundance! I usually put a bunch over the garden to keep the weeds from coming up as soon as the snow melts,I add a bunch to the compost, then we burn some too. So since I was planning to use the hay and straw that I had on hand (not much straw. Most of it is hay from a friends field, general grass, weeds and some seeded alfalfa mixed in) I also have a tiny bit of pine shavings from when we brought the babies home back in May. Do you think that a general mix of these things would be sufficient for DL through the winter? Was actually thinking since the weather is supposed to be nicer this weekend I would go out and clean up some of the leaves. I have been trying to leave them till the trees were mostly finished dropping them. (I get so frustrated cleaning them up only to find I have to do it all over again he next day)

I have been leaving the straw on the floor, just cleaning out the section under the roost. (Just this week all 10 birds started finally using it!) I will be sure to post a few more pictures when I get finished with the changes you suggested to me before too.

Thank you so much for your commitment to providing an alternative to all the "trendy" chickens being raised out there. It is truly a blessing to someone who like me is looking to raise a healthy flock of birds as naturally and economically as possible.