Thursday, December 31, 2009

GET R DONE FRIDAY - Don't BUG ME!

Welcome to the GET R DONE FRIDAY party - Everyone is welcome to join in today to post about what YOU have gotten accomplished - craft projects, decorating, barn raisings, bread baking - you name it, we'd love to hear about it! Go HERE to read the rules, and at the end of my post, sign in on Mr. Linky with a perma-link so we can all click on your name and find your GET R DONE for the week!!!
After giving it much thought, I have decided that this will be my final hosting of GET R DONE FRIDAY. My original idea was finding a way to inspire myself to get some old projects finished by posting one of them on my blog each week - HOWEVER - I have found that I am only adding NEW projects and not finishing up the OLD ONES!!! So, it is not working out as I had hoped! I will still be getting things done - there's always a lot to do around here, believe me! So, with that being said, here is my GET R DONE for this final party day.

Parasites on chickens can lead to itching and picking of the birds on themselves and on their coop-mates. It can also lead to a lowered or discontinued egg production, as I found out with 2 new hens I recently purchased. They stopped laying rather abruptly, and after questioning the fella that sold me the birds, his response was basically this: "Don't BUG ME!" I let him know I would not recommend him to anyone, and in fact, would warn others against purchasing from him because he was taking advantage of a relative 'new comer' to the wonderful world of poultry!

I use Sevin 5% garden dust for my hens. Luckily, I was able to isolate the 2 troubled hens from the others in time - however, I did dust my original flock, and cleaned their chicken palace and nest boxes, dusting it and the perches as well. Hen house cleaning is important, and I do it weekly, removing old bedding, dusting the bases and corners in the house, and filling it with fresh shavings. Nest boxes are cleaned daily to ensure the eggs will be clean when the hens lay them.

If one hen has lice or mites, chances are all of them have it (or the eggs, thereof!), so all must be treated with the powder or spray of your choice. Investigate and read up on it. You'll find much info on the internet.

The best time to catch the birds is after they have begun to roost for the night. They're much calmer then. The dust can be put into a toe of a nylon stocking, or a shaker can of some sort, if the dust you bought does not come in an easy applicator container.

I have learned to do most chicken chores with little or no help, and wear old clothes and gloves. A face mask or a bandanna over your nose and mouth is a good idea too. If you hold the bird by the legs and rest it on an old towel on a table or the floor of your hen house, sprinkle the vent area and under each wing after parting the feathers a bit. Then fluff it down by ruffling the hen's feathers with your gloved hand. The powder will do little good if left on top of the feathers, so get it down next to the skin where the parasites will be dancing around! Then turn the bird right side up, holding it firmly but gently, and do the same on the back, shoulders, and neck. Don't get it into the eyes!

This is a photo of my original flock. Their feathers look good, and they are healthy. I will probably re-treat them and their house at least 3 more times in the next 3 or 4 weeks. The other 2 hens have lost feathers like you would not believe! Since powdering them last week, they have begun to pop out some new feathers on their breasts. They still only sport a single tail feather - they look something like Indians you see in cartoons with one feather shooting up in the air!

Sign up on Mr. Linky below, and show us your projects!

10 comments:

Angela said...

I'm so glad that you were able to get your original flock of hens all cleaned up before they all ended up like the two new ones! Sounds like it would be a very hard job to do if you had 50 chickens like my neighbor does. I don't think she does all of the work and care for her chickens that you do for yours. We had chickens when I was a kid but I don't think that my parents did all that you do for yours either! Your girls are lucky to have you to be their "Mother Hen"! hehehe

I hate it that this is the last Get R Done Friday but I also understand!

Get R Done Friday!
Happy New Year!
Angela

Diann @ The Thrifty Groove said...

Hi!

I love to see how well you take care of your little ladies! I know it is a lot of work, but you "Get R Done"!

I'm sad to see this is the last Get R Done! I totally understand it though. What was so nice about this party was, it was for REAL life stuff. I love all the craft and redo parties out there but, the reality of it is, we have a lot of REAL projects that need to be taken care of that aren't always fun or cute and it was nice to come over here and have a place to sorta toot our own horns! LOL

I hope you and your family have a wonderful New Year my friend!

See ya in the New Year!

Barbara Jean said...

Monica,
I know what you mean about the new stuff getting done, and although i understand, i will miss coming over on Fridays.
You did a great job!

Glad you are getting your chickens fixed up.
I can see they are family to you.

Hope you will still come for a visit some time.

blessings to you and your family in 2010.

barbara jean

Chatty Crone said...

Well I too understand, and I will miss it too. Sometimes our lives have to go a different direction or we need a change.

Your hens are beautiful and I hope the other two will survive and get their feathers back.

Talk to you later my friend.
Sandie

Knitty said...

I understand too! I found myself feeling guilty when I didn't participate in some of the weekly blog events but they can become a problem when they feel like work instead of something enjoyable. I don't mean this as a reflection on any host, it is purely my mind set. By Wednesday I would be searching for something I could post on Friday instead of working on various projects and just enjoying myself.

This is true of a few other days of the week with different events. I don't plan to stop visiting anyone, but I've given myself permission to not participate every week. Whew! That took a lot of pressure off! LOL!

Good luck with your chickens and Happy New Year to you and yours!

ocmist said...

I understand, too, but you really did help me to get some things done, like I mentioned in tonight's post (before I knew this was the last one). My post was about a nasty job that you "prodded" me into doing, that I really have kept putting off, so it worked for me!

It's been fun, and it did help me meet a few new friends like Barbara Jean and Chatty Crone, so thanks for that too!

I remember my dad dusting for mites on our chickens, too, now that you mention it. You DO take better care than most people do, though! I still will be coming over here anyway, and to my new friends blogs too.

Cathy Santarsiero, "The Christmas Corgi" said...

Thanks for the tip about the chickens. As a fairly new chicken owner, I can use all the help I can get! Happy New Year!

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Melissa/Piney Rose said...

OOps! I posted to Mr. Linky, then realized the date - Oh well, my project for this past weekend was unique apothecary jars.

Debra@CommonGround said...

Hi there, you've certainly been a busy coop keeper lately. I had no idea of the maintenance of your little group of gals! They are such cuties, out there in the snow! good lesson, anything worth doing, is worth doing "well". Hope they get back their winter "coat".
Blessings for the New Year.
Debra