DE is great stuff for chickens. Ours have a large pan with DE and dirt mixed together in it. The chickens go to the pan for their dirt bath and get treated. Thanks for the tips. Great video
Please keep doing a great job with your chooks , I know alot of people kill their layers once they have reached the stage when the hen has slowed down her production of eggs . What people should know that they may not produce the eggs they use too but keeping them around your farm they can offer alot of other handy jobs that we can benefit from . Firstly they still lay eggs so it is just that their production has slowed down so why destroy a wonderful animal just because they aren't in their prime ? People don't kill their dogs , cats or other family pets because their old and not as spritely as they once were . They can still be very helpful around the garden or farm as natural pest controller's which is great for organic farming or gardening as well as producing top quality manure they also air rate the top soil which helps the soils quality and improves the growth of plants and trees. But best of all these little guys are great for stress relief because if you just sit quietly with a nice cuppa on a comfy chair and watch them as they go about their business it's really quiet mesmerizing and by the time you decide to get up and move on you have forgotten ( even if temporary ) what was stressing you out in the first place . So lets give a cheer for these cool little feathered friends and their many hidden talents 😆
Appreciate Video! Forgive me for the intrusion, I am interested in your thoughts. Have you thought about - Machaaldity Coop Blaster (erm, check it on google should be there)? It is an awesome one off guide for building a chicken coop minus the headache. Ive heard some incredible things about it and my best friend Jordan at last got cool results with it.
I understand what your saying but alot of people use layers that are also fryers. This is what I hope to do and just refresh my stock every year by allowing a couple to breed while using the others as layers then at a certain time every year I would slaughter them for my families food. It's about how much of a homestead your homestead really is I guess, but if you look at them as pets then yes I can understand what you said
Becky actually chicken mites like to stay and lay their egg sacks right around the underside of t he vent area and if a chicken has a bad enough mite problem it will has what appears at first glance large clumps of dried poop stuck like glue around the base of the feathers near the vent but if one looks very close it becomes obvious that this is not dried poop but is actually rock hard mite egg sacks which upon closer observation look like porous spongy looking material. If a hen has mites this bad the best method that I have proven works is to generously cover this entire area with new cooking oil such as olive oil or even better yet soybean oil, use a soft paint brush and just dab lots of this oil all over these egg sacks and the entire vent area. This suffocates most of the adult mites and also wipes out the egg sacks. You may have to do this 2 possibly 3 times over a 20 day period to completely rid the chicken of these pesky mites, after that the feathers will naturally clean themselves up again and dusting the area good with diatomateous earth will keep any mites from trying to re-establish themselves on that particular hen. If you have many hens then it is wise to check all of them and use the oil method on any that show clumpy egg sacks on the vent area and on the hens that just have some mites but not heavily infested to the point of egg sacks dust these hens real good with the diat. earth. When dusting you need not to cover the entire hen just the lower vent area and all around it, take extra precaution not to allow any of this powder to be breathed by the hen. I usually try to do it on a slightly windy day and hold the chicken somewhat upside down then I just grab a small handful of the powder and rub it into the feathers all around the vent. Fluffy hens such as buff orpingtons or wyandottes take a bit more effort to actually get the powder all the way down through the feathers and onto the skin, be sure to get plenty around the vent since this is where the mites go for moisture and if the hen has lots of powdered diat. earth around this area the mites have no chance. Don't hesitate to use the soybean oil generously since this is a proven organic chemical free way to knock the mites right into the past. All hens must be powdered or else the mites will seek out a hen that has not been powdered, they cruise between hens at night and if all hens have bveen powdered then the mite problem will be taken care of. Powdering the hens should be done a couple times with a week between powderings.
Martiwoodchip I’m wondering if you have any info on the best way to naturally clean a heavily infested, stagnant coop in an old barn (i.e. lots of nooks and crannies and such). Is it necessary to burn all the current bedding (straw/pine, deep litter method) and scrub down all the walls? I have 29 chickens. Also have 7 ducks, that share the space, so I’m wondering if I should also do something to treat them. Currently I have been dusting with DE, DE In their dust bath and nesting boxes. The problem has been going on for two weeks at least and I’ve been spraying down the roosts with oil and soap and water combo. Seeing this comment yesterday was EXTREMELY helpful. I thought one of my chickens had pasty butt and thought oh I need to catch her. Today I was letting one out at a time to treat with oil and paint brush and realized that nearly all of them have heavily infested vents. Guess I’m just looking for a little more guidance. The problem is so bad - any help would be greatly appreciated! TIA!
Marianne Goodwin, Again, i say, there's no such thing as too much information. And THANKS to @MARTI for a good idea to put in my collection of "How to BYC" stuff.
As a new chicken owner, you absolutely right! My chickens were definitely driving me crazy with all the stuff that happens to them, but now that I know more, the easier it is getting. Thank you for your content.
Identify an area in your run and hen house where the chickens can dust. Make the area they will dust to be three feet by three feet and place one in the hen house and run. Place a liberal amount of DE, Wood Ash, Fine Sand (Carpenters Sand) in each dusting box. Then keep an eye on your chicken to make sure the Lice, Mites are dead. Keep dusting material in the dusting boxes year round. To be one the safe side I apply a liberal amount of DE on the roosting bars, floor, nesting boxes, walls of the hen house. Dust down the run area as well.
I have 15 adult hens,1 adult American Rooster and 17 chicks ranging in age from a week to 4 weeks and I love the tips on how to care for them and keep them happy and laying. Thanks again and keep'm coming as I have learned a lot and I've had chicken for about 3 years and still learning,thanks to your Vids!
I so enjoy watching your videos, I've just adopted some caged chickens who can now enjoy some freedom. I find your personality so humorous, it's what makes the videos so entertaining and valuable. Thank you for sharing!
I need to clarify to the readers that the mites do not hang out under the wings but rather around the vent (butt) area. A hen can be quite infested with mites and you may see none at all under the wings or around the neck area but will see tons of them down around the vent area and this is one of their camo. techniques being dried poop looking clumps but actually mite egg sacks firmly glued to the feathers shaft right at skin level, soak it good with soybean oil or any vegetable oil, some recommend bay oil or mineral oil but I have found natural cooking oils to work just as good and since cooking oil is food grade unlike baby oil or mineral oil I choose to use that, also I do not use vaseline but do use bacon lard or even crisco for any leg mites which I have never found on my hens. The idea behind using any kind of oil is that it suffocates the adult mites and also soaks into the mites egg sacks so one can conclude that there is no reason to use petroleum products if in fact natural oils/lard will do the same thing organically.
Mhaico Ismael, YES! Lice can be anywhere too, of course, and just like when human children get lice, you must burn the house down. LoL. Not really, but your house must deal with lice by washing EVERYTHING in scalding hot water, hot dryer, to kill the lice that are hanging around. Surely chickens must have their coops completely cleared out and hot soapy water washed, sun dried if at all possible, and every speck of bedding replaced with newly bought litter. Hot wash feeders, dry in hot sun, etc. BC they will be reinfested, if one lice remains.🐔🐔🐔
I used to put big scoop of DE in their litter box I used to give mine for dust bathing they would do the dusting for mites on their own, I never had mites ever, once a week routinely is all is needed, they love to dust bath, sand in a deep litter box with a cup of DE, done,
Please remember, if you keep chickens and allow them to free range, you will get mites. Mites show up because wild birds use the same watering jugs, forage the same food, and simply visit your yard. Also, if you have a wooden coop, chances are you have mites. The humidity and temperature changes cause the wood to form tiny crevasses that mites hide during the day. Basically, if you get mites, you have not failed your flock in any way. You are not a bad chicken keeper. It simply happens to even the healthiest flock of chickens. OK, now that I got that out of the way...clean the coop regularly and DE is your friend!
Have you tried a dust bath box? (diatomaceous earth & peat moss powder kept in a shallow box in a dry area) As handy as you are it could easily be built from pallet wood.
Oh my gosh thank you soo much Becky!!! 💕 For a while now all my chickens have been having feather loss. It all started from my hen called Kenny and she is losing feathers all over her wings and on her back. Her skin looks very red and the chickens are having feather loss too. Thank you so much Beck! You saved my Chooks!😊Because I thought they had a disease! Just Thankyou!! Love you Becky!!! 💕
+Emma Kate It's good to know chickens molt twice a year (drop old feathers and grow all new) it's easy to know when that is because you will see lot's of feathers in the coop. You will be like "what's going on" when you see all the feathers. They don't lay when they molt.
THANK YOU, Thank you for your advice that '“at first if you don’t know what you’re doing, they do die pretty easy” but it was very encouraging that as I have been learning it will get better! I've just made it past my first year with chickens and it was rougher than I thought. I've heard that "chickens are easy" but it helped me realize that I have been learning a lot this first year and that hopefully things will stick and get easier and go better now with what I have learned. I appreciate all your tips and plan to use them today!
Thank you for your videos. I really enjoy them and find myself smiling all the way through! It's so nice to watch a "real" person. you bring me joy while I learn. Much love
My favorite part is the end of your videos! lol "Shut up u r stressin me out" lolll Becky you need your own show on TV too funny and you are very informative. ty for all the videos.
Becky has lost weight and we all know that has reduced her risk of many modern diseases. She looks great, in my opinion, because she is clearly a happy person.
I do this to outdoor cats and neighborhood cats too so they don't spread fleas to my place. I also put DE in wild bird food. Thanks I thought I was going over board but my chickens and animals are healthy. My cat is 18 and still full of life I am so lucky to still have her, I don't give her as many baths as I did when she was younger because I don't want to stress her out so I DE dust her and the birds. Thank you Thank you.
Hold a chicken for a few minutes and your will have them crawling all over you. LOL I dip my chickens feet in vegetable oil and it smothers the mites. I never had a chicken with ticks. You can dust them roosts and nests with sulfur. This works very well. The DE is a great thing to put in the yard. Great video!
This is what I was looking for...a suggested alternative to DE. I don't use DE in my coop because I compost the bedding...and I've been told that DE kills the beneficial critters in the compost pile. So, questions for you: What type of sulfur? And where to get it? (Can't be straight sulfur...??) Never heard of this treatment, but sounds good to me! Even if it's got the sulfurous rotten egg smell, the chickens aren't house pets and the coop is 300' from the house. All good...lol
Love the video Becky! I took my oldest out today for health checks on the hens. The first hen I picked up had lice. I was shocked because I do use DE I deep clean my coop and run 1x a week. DE in nesting boxes and coop and run. Never a poopyegg. I seriously thought they were fine since they all look healthy. It was a punch in the gut for sure. So today everyone is getting a DE bath. A friend told me to use coconut oil with a few drops of tea tree oil on their legs and on perches etc while I'm at it though no signs of scaly legs. That should do it right? I would bath them with dish soap but we in Alaska, still have snow but at least it's in the high 45 degree weather. A way, if anyone else has any advice I'd greatly appreciate it! Love the ending credits Becky! So fun!
Wood ash works even better! I provide my chickens with a bathing area and let them do it themselves. Also the vent is where you really want to check for mites, that's where they like to hang out.
Hi Becky. Been watching you for awhile now. I love all your shared knowledge and am so thankful for it. We have only been raising chickens for a year and a half now. We have 19. One has a light pink bent over comb and she is the only one. I’m going to try all your suggestions. I have been using this stuff since the beginning because of you and I am hoping this will really work. Thanx
Only one of my hens had a ton of mites. I had just bought her a few days prior. When I first got my hens, I doused them in DE. Checked all over and no mites... I decided to check her again yesterday and they were all over. Put DE on her again and we woke up to a dead chicken. I made the mistake of buying her when she had low energy, and when I got her home and was actually able to hold her, she was super light weight and skinny.
If only I saw this sooner.. Yesterday I found out my chicken died and hardly slept.. She had scaly leg mites (I got her with it) bald spots (Breast bone, inbetween legs.) I got incredibly worried because she ended up stop laying. When I noticed she died my sister blamed me for 'not feeding her' hence she dying right next to her food. Because I found out the farm was infested with mites at the farm (About 7 - 30 guinea pigs died, 2 - 5 chickens dead.) Because I now knew I was able to treat my purchased chooks (Tammy and Clark.) Tammy had mites badly, the mites on her neck. Clark wasn't so bad. Because I had some purchased guinea pigs that died three weeks after giving them to the farm (Dog attack.) I had anti mite.
Becky Trie a large salt shaker. I find that it makes it easier to dust your animal's. A large flour sifter may work for your chicken yard. I have enjoyed your vedeos and have picked up a lot of good information. Just thought I'd put a couple ideas out there for you. Bill
My chickens combs are pale but no missing feathers and no red spots but they have completely stopped laying. And they are also free range. White leg horn, barred rock and isa Browns 30 in total
missing feathers on their backs and red skin are also from the roosters constantly mounting them...... lice can be seen near the vent - eggs on feathers
+mai pi I don't keep a rooster or worse yet roosters that mount SO often that they damage my hens. My laying hens are valuable to my homestead and I keep them happy and healthy so they lay all year long.
+Becky's Homestead I highly recommend getting a rooster. If you don't have too many they don't cause issues with the hens. 1 rooster per 12 hens is plenty. Not only do they help replenish your flock (so fun to let a broody hatch eggs) but you can sell the chicks for a small side income.
You have tamed your flock so well that "Hen Saddles" would be easy to use from time to time. Then you could have the pleasure of peeps and the protection that a rooster provides. :-)
Awe I seen your Guinea fowl we have two and I love them so much we have chickens and also peacocks and what a better world those little creatures make😍
Thanks Becky! A few of my girls have had some thinned out feathers on their necks and while I don't see mites or lice anywhere, we dusted them as you've shown as a precaution. I think they might be pecking each other and that's why there are some feathers missing, but I'm paranoid about pests, so will keep this up.
+E Hunter you should be more paranoid about over crowding and stress. That is the biggest problem chickens have to deal with if you ask me. My coop is 10 by 40 and 8 hens live in there happy and healthy year after year. When I add a few more the trouble starts. Every living thing needs a certain amount of living space to be happy and healthy.
We've tried lots of things. Then, a couple of weeks ago I had a brainwave - I wrapped sicky face up duct tape at each end of the perch. I sealed the edges with the same tape, sticky side down to prevent them crawling underneath. The result was outstanding - many thousands caught every night. Thing is, most seem to be freshy fed mites returning to their lair but scratching my head (sometimes literally, lolz) - not sure how they reached the hens overnight, even the unfed ones.
Hello my name is Josh great video very easy to follow but in that note I have a bit of a problem my neighbor has free-roaming chickens and they come into my yard and my whole yard is infested with mites how do I get ride of them? Or do you know any information that can possibly help me do so.. if you have any information on my problem I would love your help.. thank you
I have 2 questions one is what breed is that bird /chook u holding ? I have exactly same color same shape n my second question is what is that powder u put on to her, is it a lime powder?
Hey Becky I have a hen that looks very weak and not laying I noticed she had lice and used lice killer I noticed the lice are dissapering is she getting better
@becky's homestead I found my chicken almost dead this evening in the entrance of my coop when I went to put them away. I brought her in by the fire and noticed she was covered in mites on her face and body (I assume they were). Would I treat these mites the same way? Ones that can thrive in 10-20 degree temperatures? She died within the hour. I checked the chickens in the coop and didn't really see any.
I just wonder about farming or homestead in colder climates like Montana,.Idaho Dakotas or Alaska. Someone told me that an American can become a Canadian citizen by farming in remote areas. Does anyone know?
I have 6 baby chicks in a big toate and now i am noticing that they are pecking at themselves and on others to where they have bald spots. We are new with chickens and have no idea what we are doing help help.ty
:-( I had 2 out of 8 hens left in my coop due to raccoons and possums. My 2 didn't have any bugs on them until now that we got new chickens and roosters. I biggest rooster has red butt like irritation and the hens are not looking too healthy on their feathers too. I carried my 2 hens from the first batch and i had white bug crawling on my arm. Will this help them and is it safe for them to eat if I sprinkle it in the coop coz they have some food on ground?
I love how gentle she is with her chicken I’ve seen you tubers holds chicken like a bucket of flowers gripping their legs so bad .
DE is great stuff for chickens. Ours have a large pan with DE and dirt mixed together in it. The chickens go to the pan for their dirt bath and get treated. Thanks for the tips. Great video
Please keep doing a great job with your chooks , I know alot of people kill their layers once they have reached the stage when the hen has slowed down her production of eggs . What people should know that they may not produce the eggs they use too but keeping them around your farm they can offer alot of other handy jobs that we can benefit from . Firstly they still lay eggs so it is just that their production has slowed down so why destroy a wonderful animal just because they aren't in their prime ? People don't kill their dogs , cats or other family pets because their old and not as spritely as they once were . They can still be very helpful around the garden or farm as natural pest controller's which is great for organic farming or gardening as well as producing top quality manure they also air rate the top soil which helps the soils quality and improves the growth of plants and trees. But best of all these little guys are great for stress relief because if you just sit quietly with a nice cuppa on a comfy chair and watch them as they go about their business it's really quiet mesmerizing and by the time you decide to get up and move on you have forgotten ( even if temporary ) what was stressing you out in the first place . So lets give a cheer for these cool little feathered friends and their many hidden talents 😆
Appreciate Video! Forgive me for the intrusion, I am interested in your thoughts. Have you thought about - Machaaldity Coop Blaster (erm, check it on google should be there)? It is an awesome one off guide for building a chicken coop minus the headache. Ive heard some incredible things about it and my best friend Jordan at last got cool results with it.
I agree! I have a silkie pullet and a cockrel and I love them 💖
Kylie Wilson Well said😊 Thanks!
I understand what your saying but alot of people use layers that are also fryers. This is what I hope to do and just refresh my stock every year by allowing a couple to breed while using the others as layers then at a certain time every year I would slaughter them for my families food. It's about how much of a homestead your homestead really is I guess, but if you look at them as pets then yes I can understand what you said
Chickens follow you around like a puppy! I love them!
Becky actually chicken mites like to stay and lay their egg sacks right around the underside of t he vent area and if a chicken has a bad enough mite problem it will has what appears at first glance large clumps of dried poop stuck like glue around the base of the feathers near the vent but if one looks very close it becomes obvious that this is not dried poop but is actually rock hard mite egg sacks which upon closer observation look like porous spongy looking material. If a hen has mites this bad the best method that I have proven works is to generously cover this entire area with new cooking oil such as olive oil or even better yet soybean oil, use a soft paint brush and just dab lots of this oil all over these egg sacks and the entire vent area. This suffocates most of the adult mites and also wipes out the egg sacks. You may have to do this 2 possibly 3 times over a 20 day period to completely rid the chicken of these pesky mites, after that the feathers will naturally clean themselves up again and dusting the area good with diatomateous earth will keep any mites from trying to re-establish themselves on that particular hen. If you have many hens then it is wise to check all of them and use the oil method on any that show clumpy egg sacks on the vent area and on the hens that just have some mites but not heavily infested to the point of egg sacks dust these hens real good with the diat. earth. When dusting you need not to cover the entire hen just the lower vent area and all around it, take extra precaution not to allow any of this powder to be breathed by the hen. I usually try to do it on a slightly windy day and hold the chicken somewhat upside down then I just grab a small handful of the powder and rub it into the feathers all around the vent. Fluffy hens such as buff orpingtons or wyandottes take a bit more effort to actually get the powder all the way down through the feathers and onto the skin, be sure to get plenty around the vent since this is where the mites go for moisture and if the hen has lots of powdered diat. earth around this area the mites have no chance. Don't hesitate to use the soybean oil generously since this is a proven organic chemical free way to knock the mites right into the past. All hens must be powdered or else the mites will seek out a hen that has not been powdered, they cruise between hens at night and if all hens have bveen powdered then the mite problem will be taken care of. Powdering the hens should be done a couple times with a week between powderings.
Maybe you should get your own channel since you know it all
Marianne Goodwin what? He's just helping out. Thanks I didn't know that! One of my chickens have egg sacks
Martiwoodchip I’m wondering if you have any info on the best way to naturally clean a heavily infested, stagnant coop in an old barn (i.e. lots of nooks and crannies and such). Is it necessary to burn all the current bedding (straw/pine, deep litter method) and scrub down all the walls? I have 29 chickens. Also have 7 ducks, that share the space, so I’m wondering if I should also do something to treat them. Currently I have been dusting with DE, DE In their dust bath and nesting boxes. The problem has been going on for two weeks at least and I’ve been spraying down the roosts with oil and soap and water combo. Seeing this comment yesterday was EXTREMELY helpful. I thought one of my chickens had pasty butt and thought oh I need to catch her. Today I was letting one out at a time to treat with oil and paint brush and realized that nearly all of them have heavily infested vents. Guess I’m just looking for a little more guidance. The problem is so bad - any help would be greatly appreciated! TIA!
@@andyrussell6421 following because we have a mite problem in one of our barns right now also. Need same advice
Marianne Goodwin,
Again, i say, there's no such thing as too much information.
And THANKS to @MARTI for a good idea to put in my collection of "How to BYC" stuff.
Becky you look amazing! Your lifestyle now looks very well on you...I love your videos...you make me smile...Thank you for all you do.
I love the extra blooper clips. lol I love your sense of humor!!
As a new chicken owner, you absolutely right! My chickens were definitely driving me crazy with all the stuff that happens to them, but now that I know more, the easier it is getting. Thank you for your content.
Identify an area in your run and hen house where the chickens can dust. Make the area they will dust to be three feet by three feet and place one in the hen house and run. Place a liberal amount of DE, Wood Ash, Fine Sand (Carpenters Sand) in each dusting box. Then keep an eye on your chicken to make sure the Lice, Mites are dead. Keep dusting material in the dusting boxes year round. To be one the safe side I apply a liberal amount of DE on the roosting bars, floor, nesting boxes, walls of the hen house. Dust down the run area as well.
I have 15 adult hens,1 adult American Rooster and 17 chicks ranging in age from a week to 4 weeks and I love the tips on how to care for them and keep them happy and laying. Thanks again and keep'm coming as I have learned a lot and I've had chicken for about 3 years and still learning,thanks to your Vids!
AWESOME! We just ordered DE (as well as 8 little chicks! first time owning chickens) and have stayed up for days watching all of your videos.
I so enjoy watching your videos, I've just adopted some caged chickens who can now enjoy some freedom. I find your personality so humorous, it's what makes the videos so entertaining and valuable. Thank you for sharing!
I need to clarify to the readers that the mites do not hang out under the wings but rather around the vent (butt) area. A hen can be quite infested with mites and you may see none at all under the wings or around the neck area but will see tons of them down around the vent area and this is one of their camo. techniques being dried poop looking clumps but actually mite egg sacks firmly glued to the feathers shaft right at skin level, soak it good with soybean oil or any vegetable oil, some recommend bay oil or mineral oil but I have found natural cooking oils to work just as good and since cooking oil is food grade unlike baby oil or mineral oil I choose to use that, also I do not use vaseline but do use bacon lard or even crisco for any leg mites which I have never found on my hens. The idea behind using any kind of oil is that it suffocates the adult mites and also soaks into the mites egg sacks so one can conclude that there is no reason to use petroleum products if in fact natural oils/lard will do the same thing organically.
This is what I've read...look at the vent, not under the wings. Thank you! :-)
Get your own channel
mites can be at anywhere on the body .. but not internally . mites can be on the mat,blankets and everything .
Mhaico Ismael,
YES! Lice can be anywhere too, of course, and just like when human children get lice, you must burn the house down. LoL. Not really, but your house must deal with lice by washing EVERYTHING in scalding hot water, hot dryer, to kill the lice that are hanging around. Surely chickens must have their coops completely cleared out and hot soapy water washed, sun dried if at all possible, and every speck of bedding replaced with newly bought litter. Hot wash feeders, dry in hot sun, etc. BC they will be reinfested, if one lice remains.🐔🐔🐔
Asmoothjawn Atta,
There's no such thing as too much education.
Just sayin'.
I used to put big scoop of DE in their litter box I used to give mine for dust bathing they would do the dusting for mites on their own, I never had mites ever, once a week routinely is all is needed, they love to dust bath, sand in a deep litter box with a cup of DE, done,
just use chalk dust,
Yay, another video. Your soooo informative Becky. Thanks so much for sharing with the rest of us homesteaders or wannabe homesteaders.
Please remember, if you keep chickens and allow them to free range, you will get mites. Mites show up because wild birds use the same watering jugs, forage the same food, and simply visit your yard.
Also, if you have a wooden coop, chances are you have mites. The humidity and temperature changes cause the wood to form tiny crevasses that mites hide during the day.
Basically, if you get mites, you have not failed your flock in any way. You are not a bad chicken keeper. It simply happens to even the healthiest flock of chickens.
OK, now that I got that out of the way...clean the coop regularly and DE is your friend!
Thank you for this! How do I clean my coop with the DE, please?
What is DE is it available in south africa.
Have you tried a dust bath box?
(diatomaceous earth & peat moss powder kept in a shallow box in a dry area)
As handy as you are it could easily be built from pallet wood.
Oh my gosh thank you soo much Becky!!! 💕 For a while now all my chickens have been having feather loss. It all started from my hen called Kenny and she is losing feathers all over her wings and on her back. Her skin looks very red and the chickens are having feather loss too. Thank you so much Beck! You saved my Chooks!😊Because I thought they had a disease! Just Thankyou!! Love you Becky!!! 💕
+Emma Kate It's good to know chickens molt twice a year (drop old feathers and grow all new) it's easy to know when that is because you will see lot's of feathers in the coop. You will be like "what's going on" when you see all the feathers. They don't lay when they molt.
Thanks for the information! I use an old Parmesan cheese shaker to administer the DE, works wonderful.
My husband and I are really enjoying your Channel Becky, keep up the good work!
THANK YOU, Thank you for your advice that '“at first if you don’t know what you’re doing, they do die pretty easy” but it was very encouraging that as I have been learning it will get better! I've just made it past my first year with chickens and it was rougher than I thought. I've heard that "chickens are easy" but it helped me realize that I have been learning a lot this first year and that hopefully things will stick and get easier and go better now with what I have learned. I appreciate all your tips and plan to use them today!
Thank you for your videos. I really enjoy them and find myself smiling all the way through! It's so nice to watch a "real" person. you bring me joy while I learn. Much love
My favorite part is the end of your videos! lol "Shut up u r stressin me out" lolll Becky you need your own show on TV too funny and you are very informative. ty for all the videos.
Beautiful farmer, farm, and chicken. Hilarious interaction with the hen, too.
Becky you have lost so much weight. You look great!
Becky has lost weight and we all know that has reduced her risk of many modern diseases. She looks great, in my opinion, because she is clearly a happy person.
Buttermilk Bay Soap that means you thought she was fat before
That chicken is amazing. Well behaved. Wow.
I do this to outdoor cats and neighborhood cats too so they don't spread fleas to my place. I also put DE in wild bird food. Thanks I thought I was going over board but my chickens and animals are healthy. My cat is 18 and still full of life I am so lucky to still have her, I don't give her as many baths as I did when she was younger because I don't want to stress her out so I DE dust her and the birds. Thank you Thank you.
All of your videos are awesome and informative keep them coming we love them
Becky, I always enjoy your videos. Your so nice and explain things in detail. Thank you for your informative videos! Keep up the great work!
Thanķs! 7:13
Hold a chicken for a few minutes and your will have them crawling all over you. LOL I dip my chickens feet in vegetable oil and it smothers the mites. I never had a chicken with ticks. You can dust them roosts and nests with sulfur. This works very well. The DE is a great thing to put in the yard. Great video!
This is what I was looking for...a suggested alternative to DE. I don't use DE in my coop because I compost the bedding...and I've been told that DE kills the beneficial critters in the compost pile. So, questions for you: What type of sulfur? And where to get it? (Can't be straight sulfur...??) Never heard of this treatment, but sounds good to me! Even if it's got the sulfurous rotten egg smell, the chickens aren't house pets and the coop is 300' from the house. All good...lol
If you have a bacteria-based compost pile rather than a worm-driven one, DE won't do anything to it. DE is also a good source of silica for plants.
+crazy808ish I'll have to check into that... Thanks!
Please be careful when dusting with the DE because if the dust is breathed in it could damage the lungs of both you and the chicken.
Love the video Becky! I took my oldest out today for health checks on the hens. The first hen I picked up had lice. I was shocked because I do use DE I deep clean my coop and run 1x a week. DE in nesting boxes and coop and run. Never a poopyegg. I seriously thought they were fine since they all look healthy. It was a punch in the gut for sure. So today everyone is getting a DE bath. A friend told me to use coconut oil with a few drops of tea tree oil on their legs and on perches etc while I'm at it though no signs of scaly legs. That should do it right? I would bath them with dish soap but we in Alaska, still have snow but at least it's in the high 45 degree weather. A way, if anyone else has any advice I'd greatly appreciate it! Love the ending credits Becky! So fun!
Important that you get food grade diatomaceous earth and not industrial grade.
She forgot to mention that. I was just preparing the insect kind til I saw your post. Anymore info?
+Larry Sharp Food grade is the best but "animal" grade wont kill them. People can look at the link and see.
love this lady.. so awesome we can use one product for a few things... thank you
Another great and informative video, Becky! Thank you!
Another great video Becky, thank you so much. You are looking wonderful....keep up the good work!!!!
Lol. Your chicken looks so insulted. She's like, "why are you under my wing?!"
Thank you for giving me great advise now I am starting to raise my own chicks! :)
Love this!!!!!!!!! Great information and presentation.
Thank you for the information, things I didn't know. Love your little puppy too, he/she is a cutie! Lol
Wood ash works even better! I provide my chickens with a bathing area and let them do it themselves. Also the vent is where you really want to check for mites, that's where they like to hang out.
Thank you, your chickens are so cute . 💐
Hi Becky!!!!! your topic is amazing.
I enjoy your videos they are helpful. I also enjoy your voice.
Hi Becky. Been watching you for awhile now. I love all your shared knowledge and am so thankful for it. We have only been raising chickens for a year and a half now. We have 19. One has a light pink bent over comb and she is the only one. I’m going to try all your suggestions. I have been using this stuff since the beginning because of you and I am hoping this will really work. Thanx
Thanks for the heads up on that. I don't have chickens, but when I do get some, I know what to look for. BTW, I love your hat.
You Look Amazing😀 from all of the weight loss😀 and I, always enjoy Your videos😀. Lord Bless 💙 Sandi 🌻💛🌻
+Sandi Johnson Thank you!
Yrmw :) Sweety :)
Only one of my hens had a ton of mites. I had just bought her a few days prior. When I first got my hens, I doused them in DE. Checked all over and no mites... I decided to check her again yesterday and they were all over. Put DE on her again and we woke up to a dead chicken. I made the mistake of buying her when she had low energy, and when I got her home and was actually able to hold her, she was super light weight and skinny.
De is great around the house as well as the farm do you use garlic to worm as well
Thank you so much for this. You always make very informative videos! Love your outtake!!! 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂 OMG so funny!
If only I saw this sooner.. Yesterday I found out my chicken died and hardly slept.. She had scaly leg mites (I got her with it) bald spots (Breast bone, inbetween legs.) I got incredibly worried because she ended up stop laying. When I noticed she died my sister blamed me for 'not feeding her' hence she dying right next to her food. Because I found out the farm was infested with mites at the farm (About 7 - 30 guinea pigs died, 2 - 5 chickens dead.) Because I now knew I was able to treat my purchased chooks (Tammy and Clark.) Tammy had mites badly, the mites on her neck. Clark wasn't so bad. Because I had some purchased guinea pigs that died three weeks after giving them to the farm (Dog attack.) I had anti mite.
Hi beky. Very interesting your work. I like it
💚 all the good info Becky provides
Becky
Trie a large salt shaker. I find that it makes it easier to dust your animal's. A large flour sifter may work for your chicken yard.
I have enjoyed your vedeos and have picked up a lot of good information. Just thought I'd put a couple ideas out there for you.
Bill
You’re the best Becky xx
Love the dogs under the table 😄
Can you share the leak to the product you used? Please and thank you.
You are Great Becky!
My chickens combs are pale but no missing feathers and no red spots but they have completely stopped laying. And they are also free range. White leg horn, barred rock and isa Browns 30 in total
love the out takes!
missing feathers on their backs and red skin are also from the roosters constantly mounting them...... lice can be seen near the vent - eggs on feathers
yes, exactly, they can be seen very well.
+mai pi I don't keep a rooster or worse yet roosters that mount SO often that they damage my hens. My laying hens are valuable to my homestead and I keep them happy and healthy so they lay all year long.
+Becky's Homestead I highly recommend getting a rooster. If you don't have too many they don't cause issues with the hens. 1 rooster per 12 hens is plenty. Not only do they help replenish your flock (so fun to let a broody hatch eggs) but you can sell the chicks for a small side income.
You have tamed your flock so well that "Hen Saddles" would be easy to use from time to time. Then you could have the pleasure of peeps and the protection that a rooster provides. :-)
i love the bloopers. awesome!!!
Awe I seen your Guinea fowl we have two and I love them so much we have chickens and also peacocks and what a better world those little creatures make😍
Thanks Becky! A few of my girls have had some thinned out feathers on their necks and while I don't see mites or lice anywhere, we dusted them as you've shown as a precaution. I think they might be pecking each other and that's why there are some feathers missing, but I'm paranoid about pests, so will keep this up.
+E Hunter you should be more paranoid about over crowding and stress. That is the biggest problem chickens have to deal with if you ask me. My coop is 10 by 40 and 8 hens live in there happy and healthy year after year. When I add a few more the trouble starts. Every living thing needs a certain amount of living space to be happy and healthy.
+Becky's Homestead Yes, for sure! They have lots of space in the coop and run, so I'll just keep monitoring them. Thanks!
Hi Becky do you know a good remedy or treatment for chickens that have a flaky scaly face mites?
I used one drop of frontline it works well
Hi Becky question did u make any new videos any i watch are a year or longer older
I'm wondering what if you use sevin dust too will it have any side effects to the skin or will it kill the chickens
This really helped what is the powder called
Can I use ag lime in place of the Diatomaceous earth?
We've tried lots of things. Then, a couple of weeks ago I had a brainwave - I wrapped sicky face up duct tape at each end of the perch. I sealed the edges with the same tape, sticky side down to prevent them crawling underneath. The result was outstanding - many thousands caught every night. Thing is, most seem to be freshy fed mites returning to their lair but scratching my head (sometimes literally, lolz) - not sure how they reached the hens overnight, even the unfed ones.
Just a question cant we use wood ash to help with fleas and lice
Thank you so much for the great information!!!
Will lard work without washing or soaking their legs and feet first? We're under a winter storm watch and pressed for time! Thanks!
you:arm pit
hen:wing pit
Becky I was wondering, the chickens I took in from my neighbor all wear infested,how long does it take once they are treated for feathers to come back
I love ur videos! Very helpful !
Thank you so much... this is very helpful!!
Hello my name is Josh great video very easy to follow but in that note I have a bit of a problem my neighbor has free-roaming chickens and they come into my yard and my whole yard is infested with mites how do I get ride of them? Or do you know any information that can possibly help me do so.. if you have any information on my problem I would love your help.. thank you
Love your videos. Do you ever eat your chickens and use their feathers for pillows?
Have you ever used seven dust? Is it safe in any quantity for a dust bath or should it be avoided?
I have 2 questions one is what breed is that bird /chook u holding ? I have exactly same color same shape n my second question is what is that powder u put on to her, is it a lime powder?
Hey Becky I have a hen that looks very weak and not laying I noticed she had lice and used lice killer I noticed the lice are dissapering is she getting better
thanks for all the info...I think its great!
Thank you so much for your advice!
How often should I clean my coop ?
Good info and very funny.
Your chickens look good
Good informative video. Thanks
What is DE is it available in south africa
@becky's homestead I found my chicken almost dead this evening in the entrance of my coop when I went to put them away. I brought her in by the fire and noticed she was covered in mites on her face and body (I assume they were). Would I treat these mites the same way? Ones that can thrive in 10-20 degree temperatures? She died within the hour. I checked the chickens in the coop and didn't really see any.
Does the diatomaceous earth need to be food grade?
Yes!
I just wonder about farming or homestead in colder climates like Montana,.Idaho Dakotas or Alaska. Someone told me that an American can become a Canadian citizen by farming in remote areas. Does anyone know?
Can i use ash from my wood stove. I heard you can use this for mites and bites.
I have 6 baby chicks in a big toate and now i am noticing that they are pecking at themselves and on others to where they have bald spots. We are new with chickens and have no idea what we are doing help help.ty
yes
WARNING.... KEEP THE ASH DRY, WHEN WET TURNS INTO LYE AND BURNS THEM.
Can you link where u got the DE all my chicks have mites and they are dying rapidly.
Can I add de inside there coop to?
where do we get this powder
try a sand and de bath on regular bases once a week and mine never have lice or mites..
Does this count for Muscovy ducks too?
:-( I had 2 out of 8 hens left in my coop due to raccoons and possums. My 2 didn't have any bugs on them until now that we got new chickens and roosters. I biggest rooster has red butt like irritation and the hens are not looking too healthy on their feathers too. I carried my 2 hens from the first batch and i had white bug crawling on my arm. Will this help them and is it safe for them to eat if I sprinkle it in the coop coz they have some food on ground?
love the bloopers...pixsy dust works too.:)