Utah!

[La Casa de Pollo]

Sara, you did get your hair did!   Is that red?  Or red with orange?  Looks cute!     Yes, post some photos of the different leghorns..let's see how they are looking.  Hope you got some girls.

Gary, cute mama and babies..I love the mama and baby thing. 

Lisa, I have more of those SG eggs being sent out tomorrow.  She only had 10, but will send more if any are laid while she is wrapping them up. 

Woo Hoo! Good luck with them So cool she was so nice to send you some more!

Here is my day--
I spent ALL day outside with my girls. First I cleaned the big Casa and run---bug spray, DE, new shavings, the works...then my DH tilled up the run afer using a pick axe to tear it all up. Then we set up a chicken spa. Ha ha. Not nearly as glamorous as it sounds, but we had a toenail clipping station (Some of them were an inch long :O ) A Leg/Feet/Comb-oiling station, and two plastic tubs with warm water, one with the mite/lice dip and one with soapy water. I used the mite dip until the bucket got disgusting, then when we ran out, the rest got a soapy bath and a warm rinse. Whew. I only got about half the girls done, we ran out of time/sunshine...kept getting bouts of wind and sprinkles this afternoon, But I feel like we got lots done. But I did find two girls that had some crud underneath on their bellies, got them all oiled up and taken care of. No more buggies. I cannot believe how soft they are now, I just want to squeeze them! Need to finish the rest---we started with the oldest so the ones remaining are all babies (3+ months) anyway, much less likely to have issues. Also My DH put up some roost bars all the way down the run, they were perched up there pretty happy tonight. Will have to get some pics---it just feels so good to get some of that stuff done and off the to-do list Oh ya--we moved the Quail Ho-Tail out of the run too and put them in another spot in the yard, and added some nests and different features to their habitat. They will be happier, in some shade by our lilac bushes.

So funny we just went out to spend our morning watching chicken tv, then just kept projects going, the whole day got away from me! i was out there in my PJ's til 3, then finally came in to change and keep going. It was a good day out there with my babies though But now I can't walk around so good, I am gonna be so stiff tomorrow when I wake up! I guess that means I got some good exercise. Now I need to get myself a Baconator from Wendy's to reward myself lol!

 

[sillycmoy]

I spent the whole day outside with my girls too. We took out the chicken coop from under the deck, and put up plywood on the run under the deck to make a 12 foot by 9 foot chicken Coop. Now my sweet husband helped, and he really did help, but I would have done it completely different. But hey, I don't think they chickens are going to mind a huge 9 x 12 coop, even it looks extremely funny. Brian and Kevin came over for a second to drop off a Sussex chick, and I'm sure they drove off laughing their heads off at us. But they were extremely helpful with taking the other coop out. Was nice to have some extra muscles for a minute. We put plywood on the one side up to 6 feet high, with Ventilation on the top with the roof that will be going on of 6 inches, the other side is 9 feet and we only put the plywood up to 5 feet with the ventilation about 12-18 inches with the roof slant. This side is completely under our deck, and gets no sun, wind, rain or anything. This is why this side has more ventilation, and from what I have read, more ventilation is better. I'm also planning on shutting up the other 2 sides for the winter since that is where the wind will bring in the snow. Going to paint it the same color as the house, so pretty much we just framed in under our deck a huge like shed with ventilation on the top. Just need to figure out the roof. I did get a nest box frame started, so it will be 4 ft by 16 inches, and so I think I can get 4 nest boxes on it, and then I'm going to make 2 smaller ones that are lower to the ground for the Bantams. Then I just need to put in the roosts. I can't believe how huge it is, its so huge.

Now I feel awful for the girls, they are in their regular coop, but they are out in the side yard in it, and its blowing like crazy outside, they are not use to being out in the wind, they are used to being under the deck almost completely out of any elements. I want to just bring them in so bad, wish it wasn't raining, or I would put them in their new coop, but I don't need them to get the small drips that come through the deck. I'm sure they are just find in their coop though.

 

[saracalderas]

Tell me about this lice/mite dip. Should I use it as a preventative? Also what's all this oiling about? Should i do that too? I don't want my girls catching something because I'm not doing something right.

Sounds like you had a busy day! I live days like that though. Makes you feel accomplished.

 

[saracalderas]

Sara, you did get your hair did!   Is that red?  Or red with orange?  Looks cute!     Yes, post some photos of the different leghorns..let's see how they are looking.  Hope you got some girls.

I wasn't able to wrangle one of my chillins into holding the chicks for me before we had to leave so I'll get a good one tomorrow.
It was orange and pink at that time. I dont have many pictures of myself that I tolerate but that is one. It's about the same cut but is a natural looking orange with some red and purple. I lubs it.

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

I spent the whole day outside with my girls too.  We took out the chicken coop from under the deck, and put up plywood on the run under the deck to make a 12 foot by 9 foot chicken Coop.  Now my sweet husband helped, and he really did help, but I would have done it completely different.  But hey, I don't think they chickens are going to mind a huge 9 x 12 coop, even it looks extremely funny.  Brian and Kevin came over for a second to drop off a Sussex chick, and I'm sure they drove off laughing their heads off at us.  But they were extremely helpful with taking the other coop out. Was nice to have some extra muscles for a minute.  We put plywood on the one side up to 6 feet high, with Ventilation on the top with the roof that will be going on of 6 inches, the other side is 9 feet and we only put the plywood up to 5 feet with the ventilation about 12-18 inches with the roof slant.  This side is completely under our deck, and gets no sun, wind, rain or anything.  This is why this side has more ventilation, and from what I have read, more ventilation is better.  I'm also planning on shutting up the other 2 sides for the winter since that is where the wind will bring in the snow.   Going to paint it the same color as the house, so pretty much we just framed in under our deck a huge like shed with ventilation on the top.  Just need to figure out the roof.  I did get a nest box frame started, so it will be 4 ft by 16 inches, and so I think I can get 4 nest boxes on it, and then I'm going to make 2 smaller ones that are lower to the ground for the Bantams. Then I just need to put in the roosts.  I can't believe how huge it is, its so huge.  

Now I feel awful for the girls, they are in their regular coop, but they are out in the side yard in it, and its blowing like crazy outside, they are not use to being out in the wind, they are used to being under the deck almost completely out of any elements.  I want to just bring them in so bad, wish it wasn't raining, or I would put them in their new coop, but I don't need them to get the small drips that come through the deck. I'm sure they are just find in their coop though.  

Whoa! PROJECT! I can't wait to see , i am sure it will look fantastic when you are done.

Sara--there is some stuff at CAL ranch called Poultry protector..you can dip/soak you chickens in it and it gets rid of any bugs and coats them with a protectant for a little while. of course, mine head straight to the dust bathe and get filthy after and probably half the protectant comes off

But oiling their legs and roost bars helps kill scaly mites, and the dip takes care of the body mites...so I try to do it twice a year. I oil the legs and roost bars a little more often. Also there is some spray they sell in the parakeet section at petsmart mite/lice spray and it works for touch ups in between if you see bum feathers missing or critters on your birds in the winter. Some people like to dust with DE, I did that for a long time, still do sometimes, but the dust kills me, my eyelashes are white and the stuff gets all over me. And some worry about them (the chickens) inhaling and getting sick. Lots of different methods, you just have to decide which way is right for you. When I get new birds I use DE with a little Sevin dust in it, and dust down new birds and don't put them with my flock for several days. Lots hate the Sevin dust because it is a harsh chemical. Again, just have to figure out what makes you the most comfortable So to sum it all up-----I use a little DE in the coop and nests , spray the cracks with the mite spray. Dust my birds occasionally with DE in between the bug dip...dip early spring and fall (did it early this time because I saw bugs and I could not sleep last night lol) when it is warm outside so they can dry off properly (I have too many to try and blowdry). Use the more harsh stuff on newbies just one time to be sure they don't bring bugs in, and that is about it. Oh and Oxine OR ACV in the water (never both-- I found out that from a gal on here, close call!). Denegard if they sneeze or act sick.... Sheesh that is starting to sound like a lot of stuff, huh? You know my neighbor just does none of that and her birds are great. I am probably overthinking it. But I am on here with all the ideas going around, seeing what everyone is doing, so I do alot of this stuff because I am a worry wart You can read up on lots of this stuff around the forum. A good page to keep tabs on is this one:

http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.ca/

and this gal's blog
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/

the foot page--this gal is Speckeldhills on here:
https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/

There you go.


I know. I confess I am a total chicken nerd lol

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

Forgot to mention neem oil. I spray that around the coop and that is the oil I use on the roosts...I use olive oil or vaseline on their combs and legs. And Cayenne pepper in their feed kills worms. They have no heat receptors, it does not faze them. I do that about 1 time per month.

Wood ash works really good too to coat them in--roll them in a bowl filled with wood ash...to control the buggies. Lots prefer that to the chemicals (TMI!!) sorry

 

[rlh1]

Could you use olive oil on the roost? Where do you get neem oil?

 

[Desert Springs]

Woo Hoo! Good luck with them

So cool she was so nice to send you some more!

Here is my day--
I spent ALL day outside with my girls. First I cleaned the big Casa and run---bug spray, DE, new shavings, the works...then my DH tilled up the run afer using a pick axe to tear it all up. Then we set up a chicken spa. Ha ha. Not nearly as glamorous as it sounds, but we had a toenail clipping station (Some of them were an inch long :O ) A Leg/Feet/Comb-oiling station, and two plastic tubs with warm water, one with the mite/lice dip and one with soapy water. I used the mite dip until the bucket got disgusting, then when we ran out, the rest got a soapy bath and a warm rinse. Whew. I only got about half the girls done, we ran out of time/sunshine...kept getting bouts of wind and sprinkles this afternoon, But I feel like we got lots done. But I did find two girls that had some crud underneath on their bellies, got them all oiled up and taken care of. No more buggies. I cannot believe how soft they are now, I just want to squeeze them! Need to finish the rest---we started with the oldest so the ones remaining are all babies (3+ months) anyway, much less likely to have issues. Also My DH put up some roost bars all the way down the run, they were perched up there pretty happy tonight. Will have to get some pics---it just feels so good to get some of that stuff done and off the to-do list

Oh ya--we moved the Quail Ho-Tail out of the run too and put them in another spot in the yard, and added some nests and different features to their habitat. They will be happier, in some shade by our lilac bushes.

So funny we just went out to spend our morning watching chicken tv, then just kept projects going, the whole day got away from me! i was out there in my PJ's til 3, then finally came in to change and keep going. It was a good day out there with my babies though

But now I can't walk around so good, I am gonna be so stiff tomorrow when I wake up!

I guess that means I got some good exercise. Now I need to get myself a Baconator from Wendy's to reward myself lol!

Sounds as if you were busy, busy, busy!!! Whew!!

As a dip, in the first tub of warm water I use salt and Dawn dish soap, then rinse. I had previously used just DE in the fresh pine shavings and lice/mite dusted the coops when I cleaned (which is bi-monthly), and sprayed with Oxine however am a fanatic about illness and bugs when it come to the bok boks!! Don't want to take any chances on buggies getting into the flock, and staying there. Have too many chickens to have to fight an infestation!!

Quote:

I spent the whole day outside with my girls too. We took out the chicken coop from under the deck, and put up plywood on the run under the deck to make a 12 foot by 9 foot chicken Coop. Now my sweet husband helped, and he really did help, but I would have done it completely different. But hey, I don't think they chickens are going to mind a huge 9 x 12 coop, even it looks extremely funny. Brian and Kevin came over for a second to drop off a Sussex chick, and I'm sure they drove off laughing their heads off at us. But they were extremely helpful with taking the other coop out. Was nice to have some extra muscles for a minute. We put plywood on the one side up to 6 feet high, with Ventilation on the top with the roof that will be going on of 6 inches, the other side is 9 feet and we only put the plywood up to 5 feet with the ventilation about 12-18 inches with the roof slant. This side is completely under our deck, and gets no sun, wind, rain or anything. This is why this side has more ventilation, and from what I have read, more ventilation is better. I'm also planning on shutting up the other 2 sides for the winter since that is where the wind will bring in the snow. Going to paint it the same color as the house, so pretty much we just framed in under our deck a huge like shed with ventilation on the top. Just need to figure out the roof. I did get a nest box frame started, so it will be 4 ft by 16 inches, and so I think I can get 4 nest boxes on it, and then I'm going to make 2 smaller ones that are lower to the ground for the Bantams. Then I just need to put in the roosts. I can't believe how huge it is, its so huge.

Now I feel awful for the girls, they are in their regular coop, but they are out in the side yard in it, and its blowing like crazy outside, they are not use to being out in the wind, they are used to being under the deck almost completely out of any elements. I want to just bring them in so bad, wish it wasn't raining, or I would put them in their new coop, but I don't need them to get the small drips that come through the deck. I'm sure they are just find in their coop though.

The things we do for our chicken children...lol!!

Whoa! PROJECT! I can't wait to see , i am sure it will look fantastic when you are done.

Sara--there is some stuff at CAL ranch called Poultry protector..you can dip/soak you chickens in it and it gets rid of any bugs and coats them with a protectant for a little while. of course, mine head straight to the dust bathe and get filthy after and probably half the protectant comes off

But oiling their legs and roost bars helps kill scaly mites, and the dip takes care of the body mites...so I try to do it twice a year. I oil the legs and roost bars a little more often. Also there is some spray they sell in the parakeet section at petsmart mite/lice spray and it works for touch ups in between if you see bum feathers missing or critters on your birds in the winter. Some people like to dust with DE, I did that for a long time, still do sometimes, but the dust kills me, my eyelashes are white and the stuff gets all over me. And some worry about them (the chickens) inhaling and getting sick. Lots of different methods, you just have to decide which way is right for you. When I get new birds I use DE with a little Sevin dust in it, and dust down new birds and don't put them with my flock for several days. Lots hate the Sevin dust because it is a harsh chemical. Again, just have to figure out what makes you the most comfortable

So to sum it all up I use a little DE in the coop and nests , spray the cracks with the mite spray. Dust my birds occasionally with DE in between the bug dip...dip early spring and fall (did it early this time because I saw bugs and I could not sleep last night lol) when it is warm outside so they can dry off properly (I have too many to try and blowdry). Use the more harsh stuff on newbies just one time to be sure they don't bring bugs in, and that is about it. Oh and Oxine OR ACV in the water (never both-- I found out that from a gal on here, close call!). Denegard if they sneeze or act sick.... Sheesh that is starting to sound like a lot of stuff, huh? You know my neighbor just does none of that and her birds are great. I am probably overthinking it. But I am on here with all the ideas going around, seeing what everyone is doing, so I do alot of this stuff because I am a worry wart

You can read up on lots of this stuff around the forum. A good page to keep tabs on is this one:

http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.ca/

and this gal's blog
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/

the foot page--this gal is Speckeldhills on here:
https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/

There you go.

I know. I confess I am a total chicken nerd lol

Thanks for the links Casa!!!! Chicken nerds unite

 

[Desert Springs]

Well, tonight I had a scare!!

While closing up the coops I thought two of the neighbor's tom cats were giving each other a bad time, just over the berm, at the edge of our property, that separates us from the desert. Then a horrible noise started up that made me realize something really bad was going on. As I scampered up the berm, I shown my flashlight up the hill. Within 10 feet, right above me was a coyote. Seconds later another one shot within feet of me after one of my cats. Startled and fearful for the cats which follow me around, waiting to be fed and put up for the night, I yelled at the coyote, which was busy trying to catch the one cat that was ricocheting from one tree to another, just trying to have enough time to actually climb one. She did make it up one tree... finally!!

Unfortunately, my one neighbor's cat ran towards one coyote, in all the commotion. I don't want to think what happened to it.

Now, I'm on patrol... unable to sleep!!! I've already alerted the neighbors and tomorrow, a coyote hunt is planned. I hate the thought but my pets, livestock and poultry are now threatened. As these coyotes seemed unafraid of me, that is also a concern!! Up until now, my guineas have kept them away, for almost two years, something has obviously changed to make them so desperate. Since there seems to be an over abundance of rabbits this year, it can't be that they're hungry and unable to find food.

I just hate predator difficulties!!!! Thought the skunks were bad!! Guess tomorrow the coops stay closed!!!

 

[PoultryPedia]

Wow! What a scary encounter!
I hope you are able to get the coyotes on your hunt, as it sounds like they are behaving in a seriously troubling manner.