Ticks, chiggers.... HELP!!!!!!

[ChooksChick]

To avoid chiggers, use 'Flowers of Sulfur' powder in an old sock to dust all around anywhere your clothing is tight. This includes anywhere you have elastic, like bra, socks, underwear...You get it from your pharmacy, and it's usually on the shelf in a little plastic jar with a pink label.

This is the only thing that works well as a chigger deterrent, and you have to make sure you get your socks and cuffs well. If I go camping or hiking around here and will be in any tallish brush at all, I will give everyone in my family a gallon zip lock bag for their socks, undies, etc., and put in a couple of tablespoons of sulfur so they smell strongly...no chiggers!! It's not a bad smell for humans, unless you stick your nose in it.

For the after-effects of ticks, I use antibiotic ointment, then Caladryl Clear. For chiggers, the Caladryl Clear, but if they are the really bad bites that make you tear at your skin for 2 weeks, I use Oragel for teething- it has enough numb-er in it for some relief.

My Girl Scout Leader side is showing...

 

[Rhett&SarahsMom]

petroleum jelly.

At the barn I was at previously the horses were crawling with ticks every afternoon when I brought them in. It was disgusting. And I treated the boy for lyme and ended up with it myself
Barn we are now at has a large free range flock. No ticks.

I was playing in the dirt/leaves last week and got chiggers. Since I hate itching it has been near torture for me.

 

[Godsgrl]

The best way to remove a tick is just to grasp it behind the head with tweezers and pull it out. I wouldn't mess around with trying to suffocate it or burn it out. Then dispose of it. Yuck, sorry, ticks are so nasty.

 

[zatsdeb]

sounds like you need some guineas!!! our guineas patrol our 6 acres, and the neighbors on both sides!! They love them, they don't tear up your flower gardens like chickens either!!!

 

[HennysMom]

NEVER pull a tick out - unless you have it backed out fully. If you pull it out you may leave a bit of its head it (even if it appears that you have the entire thing, even a piece left in can make you sick).

Vaseline works great to smother them, however you must reapply often. You can coat them with clear nail polish (front and back sides) and do it heavily. This will prevent them from breathing and will back them out. Reapply when you see them backing out. If you're not going anywhere - do both clear nail polish AND vaseline (double your chances of success). once you clearly see it, then and only then do you tweezer it, then run it under a microscope and/or magnifying glass to make sure every bit of the tick is there. Swab area with alcohol and keep it cleaned. If you start to notice after a few days any red areas, raised, bulls eyes, get to the dr. DOCUMENT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE - take a picture - because if you do get sick later, they will want to know what type of tick it was to test for certain things. Lyme is just one disease ticks carry, Rocky Mountain is another.

For chiggers - use clear nail polish to smother them. They breath the same way a tick does. It can take up to 4 weeks for chiggers to die. The more you scratch, the more you release the toxin.

Hate chiggers..awful little things.

Now - my son is allergic to ticks (just found that out last year). He got bit by litte ones (deer ticks) and upon removing them, for about 4 weeks following he developed red raised areas, almost like a boil. We had to keep warm compresses on them a few times a day and then put alcohol on them along with neosporin after they released the pus. They got infected just from the bite (the reaction he gets). Some people react this way. He was tested for Lyme as well and luckily, doesnt have it (WHEW!).

Wear light colored clothing and socks - pull them up and check for ticks every few minutes when you are outside. I dont use any type of chemical that has DEET in it, personally, as I dont like chemicals that are toxic. I cant recall what I have, (I'm out of it), but I have a friend that I get it from - its a non-chemical homeopathic repellant she uses (its what I have), so I'll ask her and post the name of it.

 

[chickenbuddy]

I hear guines are good for eating ticks.

 

[purr]

b.hromada :

Ticks have been bad this year, all over the country! My poor dogs get them all the time. After they bite, they leave bumps on the poor things.
My chickens are kept on the oposite side of the yard from the dogs, so they didn't get their benefit of eating them! Just thinking about the darn things make you itch.

Even advantix is having a hard time keeping them away.

try adding some garlic to the dogs diet, It deters the ticks​

 

[turney31]

When we were working on a ranch we would make sure our jeans were over our boot tops,fold leggs tightly and put duct tape around and do the same on your long sleeve shirts above any holes around cuffs. It looks retarded but it works.

 

[77horses]

Quote:
Aside from wanting fresh eggs, that was my other reason for getting chickens. We a lot of pines, ticks love pines.

Once they are big enough, I shall unleash my chicken army on the ticks

Bluemoon

Uh oh....we are SURROUNDED(not joking!!!) by pine trees!

lol and yes I do mean SURROUNDED!!!

there are huge pine trees around our house and all along the road and other houses! LOL we should be keeping a good eye on ticks this year...especially because our yellow lab loves to play outside. He's had lime disease 1-2 times, and is now recovering...he's been taking some medicine from the vet for several weeks now. poor guy.

he's been limping in one of his legs when he uses it too much.

I hate ticks! we usually just pull them out with a tweezer, making sure to get the head out, too. Then we burn them. lol my dad hates them. when we find one, we pick it off and he lights them on fire...then they actually go "POP!" from the heat.

kinda funny and nasty at the same time.

 

[Bluemoon420]

Lyme disease can cause some major damage. One of my best friends ( we camped and hiked together over the years) had to have her hip replaced, and later on she went into a coma. We both had lyme disease but mine hadn't progressed as far as hers did. Mine was easily treated with antibiotics. Her treatment was far more complicated because it had progressed so far.
If you ever have a bite mark that has a ring around it like a bullseye, get it checked. Get tested. Deer ticks carry lyme disease. They are so small you sometimes won't see them. The bigger ticks can carry a different disease, and to be safe, just have a doctor look at it.

Hate ticks. hate them, hate them.


Bluemoon