HOME MADE TREATMENT FOR CHICKENS FLEAS ,LICE, AND MITES

No one wants to think about creepy crawlies crawling all over their chickens, but it certainly isn’t something you want to ignore, either. As we dive into chicken keeping, I often look to experienced, knowledgeable friends for what to do in any given situation.

Chickens are naturally a resilient, generally disease free bird. But they do fall victim to several different types of parasites at times. In small numbers these seldom cause any issue, but given the right conditions, their populations will explode exponentially.

A heavy infestation on these blood sucking bugs cause stress, resulting in a decline in condition. Fleas, lice and mites are different bugs but similar natural treatments work with all of them as they all have similar aversions and weaknesses.

WHAT ARE FLEAS?

Chicken fleas are small and brown and visible to the naked eye. They live on the bird, and can survive off of animals in long grass for short periods. They hop from host to host. The adult fleas that you see only represents 5% of your flea population. The other 95% exists in egg and larvae form.

WHAT ARE MITES?

Mites are a distant cousin of spiders, they even have eight legs and a quite tiny.

Red mites: They live in nooks, cracks and crannies in the chicken coop, particularly the perches and nesting boxes. They come out at night and feed on the chicken’s blood. These mites are very difficult to get rid of once they’ve become established.

Northern Fowl Mite: Small and blackish brown. All stages live on the chicken and are generally found in the vent region.

Scaly leg mite: These live in between the scales on the chickens legs. Causing them to look rough and thick, then the chicken may go lame.

WHAT ARE LICE?
There are up to 50 species of lice found on chickens They are all soft-bodied, pale-colored, flattened-bodied insects. They do not suck blood, but they eat skin flakes and chew feathers. If there’s a large population of lice living on your hen, they will cause irritation and can be so annoying that the bird will fail to thrive.

The colonies of eggs at the base of the feathers can be highly irritating to the chicken, and when they are in large numbers, even preening won’t remove them. Lice can be found on the breast, back, vent, and under the wings of birds

SYMPTOMS OF FLEAS, LICE AND MITES
Generally the symptoms of these blood sucking parasites arise from a combination of itch, irritation, discomfort and blood loss. Heavily affected chickens will display decreased egg production, irritability, malaise, restlessness, anaemia and, on occasion, death

It’s best to catch an infestation early, so monitor regularly for parasites, both on the animals and in their living quarters. Once you have identified which ectoparasite you may be dealing with, there are several control options. To inspect your chickens, look amongst the feathers against the skin, particularly around the breast, tail and vent areas.
Scaly leg mite are found on the legs (surprise!). They lift the legs scales making the whole leg look rough and scaly. A chicken might have a limp and be favouring one leg.

TREATMENT OF FLEAS, LICE AND MITES IN CHICKENS NATURALLY
Traditional pesticides are available at farm stores, but be sure to read and follow the label instructions before applying anything to your chickens! Many of us prefer a more natural treatment approach for ailments on our blocks so I have provided several natural treatment options. With natural treatments the management of these pests is best achieved using an integrated approach, using several of the options together.

When treating your coop and flock for fleas it is often necessary to repeat the process again 10 to 14 days apart. Used long term these treatments can help prevent a re-infestation.

Suped-up Dust Bath

Chickens LOVE their dust baths! Why not set up a suped-up dust bath for them to help treat parasites while they are at it? You will need one dust bath for every 10- 15 or so chickens, and put it somewhere it won’t get rained on so they can use it all year long.

You Need:
A box, tire, rubber maid tub, old jam pan or plastic paddling pool.
2 parts dry dirt/dust
1 part wood or paper ash (not coal or from burning rubbish)
1 part sand
1/2 part diatomaceous earth
Gloves and mask
Optional – dried and powdered Sage, Lavender or Rosemary

Method:
I use a small bucket as my ‘part’ measure. You may want to wear a dust mask and gloves for this next bit as it does throw a bit up into the air. Put all ingredients into your container and stir together well. That is it really, simply leave somewhere out of the rain/snow and let the chooks have at it.

Garlic
Garlic is a potent natural cure-all for many many things, including parasites! To feed chickens garlic is so easy! Simply put a couple of crushed cloves in their drinking water or some garlic powder in their dry feed to keep fleas, mites, lice, ticks and internal worms at bay.

Garlic Spray
You Need:
3 Whole bulbs of garlic
2C Water
Optional – 1 teaspoon (total) any combination of these essential oils – bay, cinnamon, clove, coriander, lavender, spearmint and/or thyme

Method:
In a food processor, whiz up the garlic until finely chopped. Add the water and pour into a large jar or bowl to seep for a day or two. Strain out the garlic by lining a sieve with a coffee filter, paper towel or double layer or butter muslin/cheese cloth. Dilute with a further 4 cups of water and add essential oils. Then pour into a pressure sprayer to spray the hen house with or a misting bottle to spray the individual hens with.

Spray your hens and hen house weekly as a preventative or every other day for three weeks in the case of an infestation. Concentrate around the vent and under the wings on the birds and cracks and perches in the house.

To treat leg mites spray the legs daily with garlic spray, using an old tooth brush to gently get it up under the scales. Smother the legs in either petroleum jelly or a similar natural alternative like a home made bee balm (we have a recipe here http://www.piwakawakavalley.com/recipe/homemade-balm/ ), Sierra Sage Green Goo or Waxelene.

Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous earth works because the particles in it are incredibly sharp, these sharp edges cut the bodies of parasites causing them to dehydrate.
Using food grade diatomaceous earth in a sport sock with the top tied shut is a great way of powdering it on to your birds without throwing it everywhere. Simply dab the sock on the bird’s underside while parting the feathers.
You can sprinkle diatomaceous earth around the floor of the coop and in the nesting boxes as well.

Essential Oils
You can make a spray up to use 2-3 times per week anywhere that animals are living or sleeping inside or out to help keep fleas, lice and mites away.

You need:
1/4 tsp. of Eucalyptus or Wintergreen Essential Oil
1/4tsp total of any combination of the following: bay, cinnamon, clove, coriander, lavender, spearmint and/or thyme
1 1/2 cup of water

Method:
Simply mix and spray around sleeping quarter

Labels: and fleas, Lice, Natural treatment for Mites

Happy new.year

Have a wonderful new year

WARNING SIGNS TO DETECT SICK CHICKEN

As a chicken owners and poultry farmer, there are some skill you should know in helping you to maintain healthy flock.
Luckily to make your job a bit easier, chickens like all animals have several warning signs to tell us when they are sick. In the beginning, those signs are subtle, but if you know what to look for you can save yourself and your chicken from loads of these sickness.

Warning Signs Of A Sick Chicken are :

Dull feathers with or without bald patches. This is an easy one to spot and can mean many different things. Hen pecking, external parasites, seasonal molting or illness should be first on your radar if you see lackluster feathers. A healthy and happy hen should have shiny thick feathers.
A dull comb and/or wattle. A healthy chicken will have a bright red comb and wattle. The comb and wattle are the extra skin above and below the head. If you notice the color is dull and the comb or wattle looks dried out it is time to look further. Illness, poor diet or overcrowded conditions can all lead to this so you will need to dig a little deeper.
Disinterest at feeding time. For me, one of the top warning signals with any animal is loss of appetite. Feeding time is the best time to look over your birds since they tend to stay at least somewhat still. If you have a bird off to the side or completely away from the flock you may have a sick bird. If it is warm out, check immediately for heat stress.
Coughing or raspy breathing. Although this is a late term warning sign it is not always a death sentence. I have had coughing hens before that recovered completely to return to the flock. The trick is to act fast to first save your hen and second keep any possible contagious illness from the rest of your flock.
Dirty back end. This one is easier on some birds than others. This year, I have all Black Star Hens and unless the mess is white I will miss it. In my case, I need to check my coop and run at every feeding. Yes, by inspecting my chicken’s poo I am able to catch any parasite problems before they become widespread. Runny is normal for some hens, but if it is different than normal or has an overly foul odor take note.
Hunched up Hen. If you notice one of your gals is hunched up, something is wrong. She is either in pain or sick. Usually, my hunched up hens are moving pretty slowly or not at all so they are a bit easier to spot.
More often than not when I pick up a hen with one or more of these symptoms I will see she is thin and weak. Chickens like most animals will hide when they are sick and unless you are watching daily you will miss the early warning signs.
So, what do you do if you have a hen with one or more symptom on this list? I always err on the side of caution. I have found that isolating the hen in question is the best and most effective way to keep my flock healthy.
Anything will do to house your sick gal, but if you need ideas you can ready my post What to Do If You Have a Sick Chicken to get tips. Once you have your hen away from the flock you will be able to inspect her more closely and decide on a plan of attack. Choosing between home care and calling on a vet all depends on the situation.
Watch your animals daily so you will notice any changes as soon as they happen. Catching things early can be the difference between life and death in livestock so keep your eyes open.
These skills are very important to chicken owners.

ORIGIN AND CAUSE OF DEATH

There are principally two kind of death and both of then come from the garden of Eden.
What is death ? Death is the opposite of life, the departure of life and the cassation of life. To humans, death is the separation of body, soul and spirit. They body goes to the grave and disintegrates; the spirit goes back to God, and the soul goes to one of two place: The soul of the wicked go to hell and the soul of the righteous to Paradise.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN AND CAUSE OF DEATH ?
  There are principally two kind of death and both of then come from the garden of Eden.
  1. Spiritual death, which means separation from God . In the garden of Eden , Adam and Eve did not die physically immediately they ate the forbidden fruit. However they were separated from God and driven out of garden of Eden . They died spiritually.

2. Physical death, which is cassation of life also originated in Eden when God killed some animals to get skins to cover Adam and Eve. The first human to die physically was Abel, the son of Adam.
Spiritual death was caused by disobedience to God . Death is the direct result of sin. In the case of physical death, the doctor may write any one of many things on the death certificate , but the real answer is SIN. Sin is the basic cause and disease is the immediate agent that God uses to execute the sentence that was pronounced on mankind in the garden of Eden.

WHAT IS THE REMEDY FOR DEATH ?

Physical death is described in various ways in the bible , for example, it is described as : sleep (john 11:11); they requiring of the soul (Luke12:20); going to a place of no return (Job 16:22); putting off this earthly house (2Corinthians 5:1); yielding up the gost (Act 5:10).

Regardless of what modern science and doctors may achieve , we are appointed to die ( Hebrew 9:27). We are born with an appointment to meet physical death. We must keep that appointment unless the Lord return soon.
However, we can avoid spiritual death simply by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and accepting Him as our Lord and saviour. Physical death can be avoided by the rapture of the Church but if we meet our appointment with death before the Lord return, there is still hope . Christ has promised to walk with us through the experience of death ( John 14:13). If you can truthfully says, " The Lord is my shepherd," then , you can not have to fear death .

MARITAL INTIMACY

A crucial key to intimacy in marriage is communication.
  The intention of God for marriage is that the couple become one flesh. Marital intimacy, therefore, is the process that brings about the intended oneness in marriage, it involves bridging the gaps between the two worlds of the husband and wife until complete oneness is achieved physically, spiritually and emotionally. Oneness in marriage does not happen by default or by accident, but takes concerted and conscious effort of the two parties involved.

WHAT BRINGS ABOUT MARITAL INTIMACY?
1. Acceptance: There is no perfect human being. Therefore, the journey of marital intimacy begin by accepting the totality of your partner, including the strength and the weaknesses.
2. Agreement: It takes two to tango. Marital intimacy will be difficult to achieve with an unwilling partner. Therefore, there is a need for the couple to agree on certain values of marriage and set appropriate goals towards achieving them.
3. Service: Couples must serve each other in love and reverence to achieve the intended goal of oneness. You must make sacrifices for each other. You must celebrate, comfort, cuddle and rebuke each other in love when necessary.
4. Prioritising: If the marriage must not be hanging on the balance of marital instability, there is need to break ties with relationships and engagements that could compete for equal attention. Make out more time for each other.

COMMUNICATION IS THE KEY TO MARITAL INTIMACY
A crucial key to intimacy in marriage is communication. Communication helps breakdown every n wall partition between a man and his wife and gives unhindered access to each other's world. Effective communication breeds trust and transparency, strengthens the cord of love and breaks the backbone of assumption and suspicious. The line of communication must be open and unambiguous on any subject, love, care, compliments, offenses, rebukes, forgiveness, aspirations, ideas. When the barrier of communication is out of the way, there is unity at the home front , thereby, paving way for love to flourish.

Lastly,  One partner might pay higher price than the other but on the whole, It takes commitment and patience of the two to arrive at ecstasy.

FACTORS AND THINGS THAT DETERMING EGG PRODUCTION IN CHICKEN

All poultry farmer wants to get the most best out of their birds and not just eggs. Farmers want happy, healthy birds. We have listed some things you can do to keep your birds happy healthy and increase eggs production..

1. Genetic pattern of the breed of hen
Maximum production of top-quality eggs starts with a closely controlled breeding program emphasizing favorable genetic factors. Sex-Links are the most productive brown egg layers be cause they are a mix of two high productive breeds. If you were to breed a very low productive chicken with a high productive chicken, the next generation would not be nearly as productive as their high productive parent. But if you were to cross a high productive breed with another high productive breed the next generation would be just as productive or more productive than there parents. You should all look out for this.

2. Hen's age at egg-laying maturity.
Although early starters lay more eggs, maturity too early results in many small eggs. These small eggs are called pullet eggs and are just as safe to eat as any other egg. The reason they are so small is because the pullet is not completely grown , as she matures and gets bigger so will her eggs bigger.

3. Resistance to disease.
Some breeds of Hen is reinforced by good sanitation and vaccination. You would never want to breed an ill chicken they could pass the illnesses down to future generations and you would have a constant battle of your hands. Always breed the healthiest chickens together the more generations and that have healthy chickens the more resistance they build up to diseases.

4. Watch out for Light control.
Light control is primary importance both during the growing and laying periods, controlled, low-intensity light can be used to delay sexual maturity until the bird's body is big enough to produce larger eggs. Today's laying hen doesn't need to depend upon the sun to tell her when laying time has arrived. Intensity and duration of light can be adjusted to regulate production in the Fall and Winter when the days are shorter.

5. Feeding.
The amount of food hen eats depends upon the hen's size, the rate of egg production, temperature in the laying house and the energy level of the feed. In general, about 4 pounds of feed are required to produce a dozen eggs. A Leghorn chicken eats about 1/4 pound of feed per day. Brown-egg layers are slightly larger and require more food. Egg quality is affected by the type feed. Shell strength, for example, is determined by the presence and amounts of vitamin D, calcium and other minerals in the feed. Too little vitamin A can result in blood spots. Yolk color is influenced by pigments in the feed. Maximum egg size requires an adequate amount of protein and essential fatty acids.

THE WORLD"S FIRST FULLY SOLAR POWERED TRAIN

Welcome the world’s first fully solar-powered train, running on a restored train line that was out of use for more than a decade.
Converting the train to solar–using a vintage vehicle built shortly after World War II–was a challenge. “We were aware that it had not been done before and wanted to push the boundaries,” says Jeremy Holmes, development director of the nonprofit Byron Bay Railroad Company, which runs the train. The route, which travels between the central business district and the northern part of the town, had advantages: At a little less than two miles long, it’s short, and the track is flat and almost perfectly straight between the stations, requiring less power than other routes might. The vintage train, which was built with aluminum fuselage in a factory that made planes during World War II, is also lightweight.

Custom curved solar panels on the roof of the train send power to a set of batteries that replace one diesel engine; the other engine is still in place and can provide backup power in an emergency. As the train brakes, it generates more electricity, like a hybrid car. At a train station, the train can be plugged in to pull more power from solar panels on the roof.