Pets chickens

[Kram]

wtf.. Just picked that little crossbreed cockerel up to that I was talking about before Teriyakicat to have a look at as I might have to get rid of him soon and he had these small to quite large grey type bugs on his feet that were sucking his blood Not sure what they are or where they have came from because I haven't introduced a new adult bird for like 3 years.. Have to have a better look tomorrow and maybe get some ivomec from the vet or something.

 

[Teriyakicat]

wtf.. Just picked that little crossbreed cockerel up to that I was talking about before Teriyakicat to have a look at as I might have to get rid of him soon and he had these small to quite large grey type bugs on his feet that were sucking his blood Not sure what they are or where they have came from because I haven't introduced a new adult bird for like 3 years.. Have to have a better look tomorrow and maybe get some ivomec from the vet or something.

How big?
I know chicken can get mites- mine had reddish little things once- but if they're big and grey it sounds like ticks. Do they look like this??

If they're fat, they're full of blood.
The ticks I pull off lizards are about 1cm

 

[Kram]

Not really like that, shudder.

Just looked at one that I sprayed with fly killer then, it has 8 whitish legs, grey body up to about 7mm long and blood when squashed. Must be some sort of ****ing ticks or mites.. Haven't noticed them on others and even him when I albeit briefly picked him up the other day (they might come out at night??) Lucky I just happened to randomly pick him up and bring him inside to actually notice them tonight, must have somehow came in through native birds or something? Weird, I certainly never seen these things on my chooks ever before.

lol, now I keep feeling randomly all over my body..

 

[Teriyakicat]

Not really like that, shudder.

Just looked at one that I sprayed with fly killer then, it has 8 whitish legs, grey body up to about 7mm long and blood when squashed. Must be some sort of ****ing ticks or mites.. Haven't noticed them on others and even him when I albeit briefly picked him up the other day (they might come out at night??) Lucky I just happened to randomly pick him up and bring him inside to actually notice them tonight, must have somehow came in through native birds or something? Weird, I certainly never seen these things on my chooks ever before.

lol, now I keep feeling randomly all over my body..

Have you got any poultry dust?
They also can get lice- mine have brownish lice, though, not grey.
Hit them with Ivomec a couple of weeks apart, plus clean their nests and put poultry dust in there and on chickens, and that should do the trick.

 

[Teriyakicat]

7mm is too big for the lice I've seen, though.
Google images of chicken parasites. That might help.

 

[Teriyakicat]

 

[Teriyakicat]

Oh- and yeah- native birds will bring a lot of crap into your chicken pen.

 

[Kram]

Got the old bloke around to have a look, although he hadn't had them like for a looong time himself and mainly as a kid on their farm and they looked different, they are ticks. We found some hiding in the nooks and crannys in their sleeping cage and the odd ones under their wings.. Have to get some malaban wash to spray everywhere and ivomec for them to drink. What a ****ing pain in the backside. God knows where they came from, just goes to youit doesn't hurt to give your poultry the occasional thourough inspection even if you haven't even introduced any new birds because you just never know.

 

[Teriyakicat]

Got the old bloke around to have a look, although he hadn't had them like for a looong time himself and mainly as a kid on their farm and they looked different, they are ticks. We found some hiding in the nooks and crannys in their sleeping cage and the odd ones under their wings.. Have to get some malaban wash to spray everywhere and ivomec for them to drink. What a ****ing pain in the backside. God knows where they came from, just goes to youit doesn't hurt to give your poultry the occasional thourough inspection even if you haven't even introduced any new birds because you just never know.

Yeah- I don't inspect mine anywhere near often enough.
What I find easier is to buy a syringe of Ivomec from my vet and I put two drops on the back of their neck- like you do with cats and dogs. They use the same stuff on canaries but if you're worried, use one drop on the babies. (Check with your vet if you like.)
Then repeat in 2 weeks. That should break the breeding cycle of the bugs. Repeat again in a further 2 weeks if you want to make sure.

That way you know the chooks are getting the medicine- you aren't relying on them to drink a certain amount of water each within a defined period of time.

 

[PastiesPeake]

Question - Is there any humane way that I can tie a bit of string from my chickens leg to a tree so it can roam out the front of my house?

 

[Teriyakicat]

Question - Is there any humane way that I can tie a bit of string from my chickens leg to a tree so it can roam out the front of my house?

Probably not- they use their legs a lot when they forage around and the chicken might get tangled up.
I assume you're talking about inside your fence, not outside?
If you have a fence, you can clip your chook's wings- there are plenty of videos on YouTube showing you how to do that properly.
Or, if you've only got a low fence, you might just want to get a bit of chicken wire and use it to keep her confined to one small area of the garden- and you can move the chicken wire along day by day.

I wonder if you could make a little collar for your chicken, and attach a piece of string to that- then have that string run up and down on another wire which is attached to two points. This would maybe mean you could use a shorter neck string and the chicken won't get tangled.

sort of like this- but lightweight...

Maybe.....

 

[PastiesPeake]

I should have been more clear...

I have got the perfect foraging grounds in the front yard which is NOT fenced off and is not likely to be any time soon.

I just want them to peck around there in the arvo without running down the road.

I should add, I am in the middle of suburbia too.

 

[Teriyakicat]

I should have been more clear...

I have got the perfect foraging grounds in the front yard which is NOT fenced off and is not likely to be any time soon.

I just want them to peck around there in the arvo without running down the road.

I should add, I am in the middle of suburbia too.

I would just get some cheap temporary fencing- - and put it up wherever you want to keep them in. There's some plastic stuff you can get at Bunnings as well that is used for climbers- it's this stuff (sorry- not sure what it's called):

just buy some and tie it to a couple of poles or 6' pickets. You can just move it to a new area after a few days.
Don't forget to clip the chooks' wings anyway. This stuff isn't strong enough for them to fly up and perch on, so maybe they won't get over the top.

We bought some cheap plastic contraption- square, pointed roof, made of black plastic tubing and wire- and that was good for small groups of chickens. Or to protect plants from chickens.

 

[Papa Juggs]

Chicken tractor

Some people swear by them.

Pretty much just a chicken run that you can move so you can direct your chickens where to forage.

 

[Kram]

I should have been more clear...

I have got the perfect foraging grounds in the front yard which is NOT fenced off and is not likely to be any time soon.

I just want them to peck around there in the arvo without running down the road.

I should add, I am in the middle of suburbia too.

What about a stray dog knocking it off though?

Or maybe you are lucky enough to live in a neighbourhood that doesn't have any nimrods that let their dog run loose half the time..

 

[estibador]

I would just get some cheap temporary fencing- - and put it up wherever you want to keep them in. There's some plastic stuff you can get at Bunnings as well that is used for climbers- it's this stuff (sorry- not sure what it's called):

just buy some and tie it to a couple of poles or 6' pickets. You can just move it to a new area after a few days.
Don't forget to clip the chooks' wings anyway. This stuff isn't strong enough for them to fly up and perch on, so maybe they won't get over the top.

That's the same stuff I made the little daytime run for my chooks out of. Can confirm they will get over it though.

It kept mine in for a couple of weeks but as soon as one discovered they could flap their way over the top the other two followed. They do that thing Kram81 was talking about earlier where they flap their wings while they literally walk their way up and over the fencing.

Gunna have to clip their wings now, because I'm getting sick of dodging chicken poo on my back patio and having to cover my young vulnerable plants with milk crates so they don't get eaten.

 

[Teriyakicat]

Maybe angle the mesh inwards at the top? The chickens should find it hard to climb over the top of an angled fence.
.....I think
Or build a movable teepee.

 

[Papa Juggs]

Any updates on smokey Kram81 ?

Got a rooster or a hen? Still can't tell?

 

[Kram]

Any updates on smokey Kram81 ?

Got a rooster or a hen? Still can't tell?

It's actually a Pekin, buff crossed with a black. Still not sure think it might be a hen now, it seems to have a body like a hen, its comb is pretty prominent but it hasn't turned darker red like a roo yet.

 

[Papa Juggs]

It's actually a Pekin, buff crossed with a black. Still not sure think it might be a hen now, it seems to have a body like a hen, its comb is pretty prominent but it hasn't turned darker red like a roo yet.

That picture has made my day Those 2 look like they're going to be good friends.

Certainly looks like a hen. No rooster type feathers coming through.

 

[Teriyakicat]

That picture has made my day Those 2 look like they're going to be good friends.

Certainly looks like a hen. No rooster type feathers coming through.

She looks like she's squatting like a hen does

 

[Borderline]

We used to have 2 Isa Browns that lived down the back in a coup next to the shed. It was a pretty humble little dwelling with a fig tree and a water tank on a stand. There was also one of those small, portable garden sheds you can buy at Bunnings that we used as their nesting and sleeping area.

In the shed there were 4 wooden boxes where they'd lay their eggs, they were like a cube shape with one open end and a closed end, and they were stacked next to each other, so two stacks of two boxes.

Anyway, one of the hens went missing and we looked all over the yard, in the pen for her and everything. There were no holes in the fence or any signs that she could've got out so we really had no idea what happened. After a week, yes 7 days, we'd given up hope of finding her. I was down at the pen feeding the other one when I heard some clucking from the nesting shed. I went in there and saw one of the boxes had fallen down, I picked it up and she was under there. She'd been trapped for a whole week inside a open-end down wooden box with no food, water or light and had survived, went on to live for another couple of years too, amazing.

 

[Kram]

Chooky slowly getting better.

 

[Papa Juggs]

Chooky slowly getting better.

Good looking hen besides the obvious area. Does the eyelid still work properly? Is she happy? Getting along with the others?

 

[Kram]

Good looking hen besides the obvious area. Does the eyelid still work properly? Is she happy? Getting along with the others?

Not sure if can blink yet it's still scabbed on the top eye lid but it's not looking to bad, runs around with the little uns and gets along with them well.