Ticks

[Lacy Duckwing]

Thankyou. I know nothing about them apart from they are loud? Lol but can’t be louder than the roosters surely

Yeah, they can be a bit noisy... They're like having weird looking wild land birds around. They basically come out of the egg running and rooste very high in trees. They're a better bird to have in places of lots of ticks and predators. Though a predator can get them like any other bird, they're much harder to catch than a chicken. The average Guinea Fowl is the Pearl Guinea. You can get them the cheapest and they're very common.

 

[Dondon32]

Yeah, they can be a bit noisy... They're like having weird looking wild land birds around. They basically come out of the egg running and rooste very high in trees. They're a better bird to have in places of lots of ticks and predators. Though a predator can get them like any other bird, they're much harder to catch than a chicken. The average Guinea Fowl is the Pearl Guinea. You can get them the cheapest and they're very common.

Brilliant Lacy! They sound really interesting birds. That’s my bed time reading sorted thankyou so much for your help

 

[cmom]

I have never had any issues with ticks and I don't have any guineas but I have friends that do. I have had issues with things like lice and mites in the past. DE didn't work for me but permethrin did. I use poultry dust in the nest boxes. Good luck...

 

[Dondon32]

I have never had any issues with ticks and I don't have any guineas but I have friends that do. I have had issues with things like lice and mites in the past. DE didn't work for me but permethrin did. I use poultry dust in the nest boxes. Good luck...

Thankyou cmom. Will check out the permethrin and poultry dust. I’m glad you haven’t had any problems with ticks. Thanks again !!

 

[ashcons]

Guinea Fowl and Oppossums are excellent tick killers

Guinea can be used for tick control; second one is debatable, due to the methodology in the study that concluded that possums are tick vacuums, and widely spread. Any time someone posts here or someplace like Reddit about ticks, someone else will bring up possums or the other way around.

The permethrin is used on hunting/field clothes to prevent ticks from infesting hunters and field workers (think City water crew walking through grass/brush).

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Guinea can be used for tick control; second one is debatable, due to the methodology in the study that concluded that possums are tick vacuums, and widely spread. Any time someone posts here or someplace like Reddit about ticks, someone else will bring up possums or the other way around.

The permethrin is used on hunting/field clothes to prevent ticks from infesting hunters and field workers (think City water crew walking through grass/brush).

Wow! Interesting article! Now I can see why they came up with them eating so many. Sad that they don't really eat them. Too bad those researchers didn't check the possums.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hi and welcome to BYC. When I moved to Missouri from New Mexico ticks became a problem for me. I hate ticks and we didn't have them in New Mexico. So I immediately got chickens to deal with the problem. They do a wonderful job. I can't say I have NO ticks, but I certainly don't have very many. To make me feel even safer on my property, I spray my socks and pants with permethrin every six weeks. The clothing does not have to be treated again for six weeks even if it gets washed. DE is useless and a waste of money in my opinion, plus it is a respiratory hazard and very painful if it gets in the eyes (ask me how I know, lol!). These are my opinions and based on my experiences; ymmv. I have never seen a tick on any of my chickens. Good luck and enjoy your flock.