Best way to deal with chicken lice

 Lice and other mites on chickens can be a common thing unfortunately. The best way to treat them is with preventative measures like sanitary coop conditions and providing your chickens with a a place to dust bathe.

In a study performed by the University of California Riverside, chickens that rolled in a dust bath of sand and diatomaceous earth showed a huge reduction in the amount of external parasites after just a week. If you have chickens that aren’t laying as well, it might possibly be caused by mites. If your chickens have to fight of an infestation, they have less energy for egg production.

The best way to treat them is what I call the Shake & Bake method.

• Use an old pillow case and place it inside a large plastic bag.
  

• Place diatomaceous earth, food grade, about a cup. You can mix in Sevin if you wish to use it.

• Make sure to wear a breathing mask and gloves.

• Here's a good video explaining it:

Tips & Recipes

 I'll add to this post from time to time to keep it fresh

Herbal & Food tips, please feel free to comment or ask questions

Basil:

Antibacterial, repels flies and mosquitoes 

Fennel

An incredible powerful laying stimulant. Add some freshly shaved fennel to their feed now and then, you can also add some of the leaves to their nest boxes.

Sunflower seeds

Sunflower seeds are a good treat for your chickens. Chickens typically love them, and for a treat, they're very nutritious. They contain methionine, for example, an important amino acid for birds. There is lots of vitamin E, too! 

I feed the Black oil seeds and use these in the blends I make, the chooks eat them whole but they get ground up in the gizzard as long as they get enough grit.

Parsley

Is a great addition to your chickens diet. It's rich in vitamins and promotes circulatory system and is another strong laying stimulant. I use it in some of my products including Super Eggs

Oregano

 is known to strengthen the immune system and is thought to help guard against common poultry illnesses such as salmonella, infectious bronchitis, avian flu and e-coli, we use Oreganonin our Super Egg Blend

Diatomacous Earth (food grade)

I'm going to add a link here to a good article that explains it much better than I can, click here

How to Make Tea for chickens:

Fill your teakettle with water and heat to boiling. Partially fill a glass mason jar with fresh herbs. Pour the boiling water over the herbs to completely cover then, then let them steep for ten or twenty minutes or so.

Serve warm on cool days or freeze in summer as ice cubes and give as a treat. It really encourages them to stay hydrated. Add a teaspoon of local or organic honey to boost health benefits even more. If you'd like to buy premade teas click here

Make your own disinfectant spray

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup distilled water
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 8 OZ spray bottle
• 7 drops lavender essential oil
• 7 drops tea tree essential oil

Both lavender and tea tree have natural disinfecting properties. tea tree is anti-viral and anti fungal. 

Directions:

Pour the vinegar into your bottle, use a funnel if you like. Add the essential oils. Pour in your distilled water. Shake the bottle to distribute the oils. Can be safely used around pets, spray door handles, table tops, etc

DIY Coop Spray

To make a basic herbal coop spray, you need to pick 2-3 different herbs such as Basil, Thyme, Oregano, Calendula, Lavendar etc. Mix with:

• Peels from 2-3 oranges or lemons
• 1 1/2 cups of vodka
• 1 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar

Put everything in a one-quart mason jar, and allow it to sit for 2-4 weeks. Then, strain it into a glass spray bottle. Use it on all of the surfaces of your coop!

DIY Facial scrub for dry skin

Here in Colorado we have to deal with dry skin and hair due to the low humidity. This is one of my favorite easy facial scrub recipes to help moisturize and combat the dryness.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup uncooked oats
• 1/8 cup honey
• 1/8 cup olive oil

Pulse oats in a food processor until they are broken down but not quite like powdery flour. Place oats in clean bowl and mix with honey and olive oil.

Apply to clean skin, massage into skin and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, rinse off and apply your favorite moisturizer. 

Just say no to sweaters

Chickens may look fashionable or cute in a sweater but there are many reasons why it's a bad idea.

Sweaters will make your chickens actually colder

Chickens regulate their body temp by fluffing up their feathers. Feathers trap pockets of air in the downy layers of their under-feathers, which insulates them quite well.

When you put a sweater on a chicken they can't fluff their feathers any longer, so they actually feel colder.

Sweaters are a great place for lice and mites to hide

Unfortunately, lice and mites are a common pest of poultry, we strive               to keep them pest free but a sweater undermines our hard work and                 gives the nasty critters a nice hiding place

Sweaters harbor germs

A sweater on your bird will pick up bits of bedding, poop, and germs.

Sweaters and pin feathers don't mix

Sweaters interfere with feather growth and is an ideal way to catch new feathers or pinfeathers and cause pain.

Sweaters don't allow your birds to dust bathe

Chickens love to take dust baths, it's how they stay clean and control lice and mites. A sweater won't allow them to dust bathe,  

Sweaters are a colorful attractant for predators

Cute and colorful sweaters make your chicken more visible to predators like hawks and raccoons for instance. Why make them easier an easy target?

Just skip the sweaters

If you're looking for ways to keep your chickens warm there are other ways.

• Minimize drafts in the coop
  
• Keep them well fed
• Use the deep litter method
• Keep your coop well ventilated

 

The Benefits of Lavender

 

Lavender, it's not just for sachets. In fact, Lavender has been used to soothe and heal people for a long time. Lavender aromatherapy is not only soothing for us but for animals too. A word of caution here. Some essential oils can be toxic to cats. Certain essential oils naturally contain phenols and should never be used with cats. Their liver does not produce the enzymes to digest these compounds allowing them to build up to toxic levels in their systems.

Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is a perennial herb in the mint family, native to the Mediterranean. The leaves, stems and flowers may be used, but flowers are the typical choice for therapeutic and medicinal use on pets. The most common forms are dry, (heavily diluted) essential oil, ‘tea’, or Bach Flower Remedies.

• Just some of the benefits are: Antibacterial / Antibiotic Anti-fungal Astringent Anti-inflammatory Antispasmodic Analgesic (pain killer) Antipruritic (reduces itching) Regenerative Calming and antidepressive Tick repellent

Lavender is wonderful as an insect repellent, it is very useful to have in the kitchen because it effectively deters houseflies from hanging around. Planting lavender bushes close to the entryways of your home, can also keep many pesky bugs from entering.

Super Strong Insect Repellent Recipe~ (from https://skyaboveus.com/camping/Lavender-Insect-Repellent-Recipe) This bug zapper is seriously strong smelling when first applied but will disappear once dry on the skin. It is both antiviral and antibacterial. Ideal for walking in large infested woods or near water, it is also great for Morris mosquito attacks!

Ingredients:1 large clean glass jar with lid

32 oz apple cider vinegar

2-3 tbsp of dried lavender, mint, rosemary, thyme and sage (12-15 tbsp total)

Method:Pour the apple cider vinegar into the glass jar. Add the dried herbs and give a good stir. Screw on lid tightly and leave in the kitchen where you will see it. Leave for 3 weeks, shaking the mixture daily to get the herbs infusing with the vinegar. After 3 weeks, strain out the herbs. You will need another jar or a mixing bowl will work fine. Pour your infused repellent into the glass jar and pop into the fridge until you need it.

To use the repellent take a clean spray bottle (easily purchased in drug stores, pharmacies and dollar stores) and have half water half vinegar. Give a good shake and your set! Keep the main jar in the fridge until you need to make it up. Every time you need to replenish, add half vinegar with half water.

DIY Chicken vitamins

 I saw this on Instagram and thought it was a wonderful idea to use those eggshells

Save all of your eggshells until you have a enough to fill a sheet pan. I keep mine in a tub in the freezer. (I don’t wash them or do anything special to them, just throw them in the tub after cracking them open).

Spread on a baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until they become dry and brittle.

Pulverize the baked egg shells in your blender or food processor until they are a fine powder. Add herbs and process again.

Here are some herb suggestions to add:
Rosemary - antioxidant and antibacterial
Ginger - stress reducer and helps circulatory system plus a study found that hens supplemented with ginger started laying eggs with a greater mass and also higher amount of antioxidants in the egg yolks.

Oregano and thyme - natural antibiotic
Turmeric - stimulates the digestive system, add 1/2 teaspoon

Sprinkle on your flocks feed daily. No need to spend money on calcium or vitamins. 

Ginger for poultry

 I did quite a bit of research before adding Ginger to my wellness blend. I knew Ginger was good for us humans but had to make sure it's good for poultry and goats as well. I found this article by Dr. Zhao. He found that hens supplemented with ginger powder started laying eggs with a greater mass and also found a higher amount of antioxidant in the egg yolks.

Dr Zhao concludes by claiming that the ‘optimum’ amount of ginger powder for laying hens is between 10-15 grams per kilogram of feed. here's a link to the article

DIY flock block

 

Ingredients:

• 4 cups scratch grains Organic preferred
• 2 cups layer feed
• 2 cups oats {regular oatmeal oats}
• 1 cup sunflower seeds, Black or regular
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour {whatever you have in your cupboard is fine}
• 1/2 cup wheat germ or wheat bran or flax seed meal
• 1/2 cup crushed egg shells or oyster grit
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper 
• 6 eggs plus shells
  
• 1 cup molasses
• 1 cup solid-at-room-temperature oil {shortening or coconut}

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another bowl, mix all together with wooden spoon or hands and place in loaf pans. If you want to hang poke a hole in the center with a straw, It will look as though it closes up while baking but it will be there.

Bake at 325 degrees for 30 mins. Let it cool for quite awhile to harden then run a knife around edges

DIY herbal crumble

 Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 3 spoons dried mealworms
• 4 spoons coconut oil
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup dried herbs of your choice
• 1/2 cup water

Directions:

• Mix oats, mealworms, herbs and coconut oil together until combined
• Add water and combine until mix has crumbly consistency
• Serve to your flock and watch them enjoy

Chicken Boredom

 Here in Colorado my chickens don't mind the cold so much but they don't love the snow. They tend to stay inside during snow storms, which luckily we don't get too many sever ones. I tried installing a swing but they wanted no part of it. Here are some of the things I've done to prevent boredom.

• Hanging cabbage or other greens
• Making my own flock block. See recipe here
• Piles or bales of straw
• Warm oatmeal with tea and raisins or anything else you want to add
• Black oil sunflower seeds
• Make an herbal crumble as a treat

Recipe here for Herbal crumble

Ginger for poultry

 

I did quite a bit of research before adding Ginger to my wellness blend. I knew Ginger was good for us humans but had to make sure it's good for poultry and goats as well. I found this article by Dr. Zhao. He found that hens supplemented with ginger powder started laying eggs with a greater mass and also found a higher amount of antioxidant in the egg yolks.

Dr Zhao concludes by claiming that the ‘optimum’ amount of ginger powder for laying hens is between 10-15 grams per kilogram of feed. here's a link to the article

Herbal goat treats

 

These treat balls are great for mixing herbal wormer inside

INGREDIENTS

• 1 c. Flax Seed 
• 1 c. Water
• 1/4 c. Honey (or black strap molasses)
• 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• Herbal wormer

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix together the flax seeds and water. Let the mixture sit for about 10-15 minutes, until the mix starts to go clumpy, but not too thick. Add in the honey and herbal wormer if using. Add any seeds or grains. Form into balls and dehydrate for at least 12 hours

Where are my feathers

 

Molting hens. OMG, where are their feathers?

Chickens will normally shed their feathers in late summer or early autumn when sunlight decreases and  egg laying slows down. Your birds make look rather scruffy with missing feathers. You’ll also notice abundant feathers laying about. At this time, hens may slow down or stop laying to divert energy into making new feathers, since feathers are made up of about 85 % protein.

Some of the things you can do to help your birds is to give them extra protein and minerals during this time. Some people even give a small handful of cat food. Cat food does contain Amino acids and amino acids, vitamins and minerals are the basic building blocks of protein. ACV or Apple Cider Vinegar is great to add to your birds water anytime of year but during molting it’s especially helpful as it too contains many vitamins and minerals. Chia seed is also wonderful to add to your hens feed, it is loaded with nutrients and protein. Nut butter and peanut butter is something chickens love and can be added in small amounts to oats or oatmeal or yogurt, non dairy if possible. You can also add Molasses as it’s high in many nutrients and minerals. Some other good ideas are mealworms, tuna, scrambled eggs, Black oil sunflower seeds, and kitten chow.

You can feed our Omega 3 Molting blend, it contains ingredients to boost your hens health and support feather growth including kelp which contains at least 70 vitamins, enzymes, minerals, trace elements and proteins. Chia seeds, Pumpkin seeds, Pumpkin seeds are full of manganese, phosphorous, copper, vitamin K, vitamin E, B vitamins such as thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), folates, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc and selenium and more! Dandelion, Dandelion also contains protein, more than spinach.

Luckily molt usually only lasts a few weeks. What are some things you do to help your hens during this rather ugly time :)

Incredible Benefits of Nest Box Herbs for Your Chickens

 

Explore the benefits of Nestbox herbs – an innovative solution for backyard poultry owners. Discover how these herbal blends, crafted with precision and care, make a comforting and secure space for your chickens. Nest box herbs are not just an aromatic experience for your feathered friends but a tool to improve egg production. Furthermore, this article delves into the concept of "nest herbs", a natural remedy to deter pests, promote respiratory health, and create an invigorating environment for your chickens. By using nest herbs, you can ensure a healthier, happier flock.

Did you know that wild birds use herbs to line their nests to shield baby birds from bacteria. Herbs not only calm  your hens, but they will help to deter mites, lice, fleas, and other insects and mice from visiting your nest boxes. Certain herbs will also be calming and will help to increase egg production.

All of our blends are edible and safe, we use wildcrafted and organic herbs when possible.

We also make blends for supporting your flocks health.

What's the best way to feed herbs?

1. Make an infusion or tea, add the herbs right to water.
2. Make a diy herbal block
3. Add them straight to feed or fermented grains

The following herbs also have immune boosting properties:

• astragalus* – antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory qualities
• basil – adaptogen, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory qualities
• echinacea* – antibiotic, antibacterial, aids to establish a strong respiratory system
• garlic* – antibacterial, natural immune boosting
• marjoram – anti-inflammatory, aids in respiratory issues
• nettle* – antiparasitic, high in vitamins, calcium, magnesium for strong health support
• oregano* – antibiotic, antibacterial, antioxidant, aids to establish a strong respiratory system
• parsley – high in vitamins K, D, A, iron, and folate
• sage – antibacterial. antioxidant, antiparasitic
• thyme* – antiparasitic, antibacterial, aids to establish a strong respiratory system