[Porffor]

Aubiose is great stuff, have seen it in use with an asthmatic (spell check) pony. I must confess i love the smell of woodshavings though. lol

[blulagoo]

I use wood shavings too, have never heard of aubiose.

With my cube I empty the trays weekly and will be cleaning thoroughly once a month - is this over the top Auntie?

Thank you.

[Porffor]

Aubiose is produced for horses - it has less dust to it so aids their breathing.
If you are buying shavings make sure you buy a bail from a horse supplier 25kg for around £7 it'll last for about 6 months or more! lol

[blulagoo]

Thanks Porffor,

I have been getting the big bales from a local chicken and farm shop, they are about £7 and are for horses (dust extracted).

What are your chickens up to - mine keep going out in the rain and then staring at me as if it is my fault - OK I only opened their run I didn't force them to go out in it. The funniest thing was this morning when it was really windy here, and then they lay as flat as they could against the ground - either that or ran around like mad things.

[Porffor]

Ahh that's good then, my Brother in law has a rabbit and was buying tiny bags!  :roll: I hate seeing people ripped off.. supermarkets charge the earth for a tiny bit of shavings!  :evil:

My chooks are fine, I ripped out some Iris's this morning that were in their run as read they are poisonous... yeah i know should've read up on them before.  :? They are enjoying the earthy patch today. Though Scarlet was fearing the sky was falling this morning! lol she was kind of calling i suppose.. went on for about an hour, but she's fine now.
They are generally quiet till I go out then Shimmer coo's and Scarlet gives a kind of low growly sound! she's not as keen on me! lol

I cut the hedge today in the back and Erin came out to natter to the girls. She sat in the run and asked me to catch them for a cuddle..she held them on her own for the first time! quite brave for Erin normally takes her longer to get used to animals!

Am really hoping they put themselves to bed tonight! I have put them to bed around 9pm the last 2 nights but am trying to brave it out tonight... I have a fear the fox is gonna jump out and eat them!  :oops: Shimmer went up the ramp today.. not sure if she went in as we only saw her coming down the ramp so fingers x'd she did! lol they get out ok.

ok... i'll shut up now!

[viks chicks]

Should I rush out and buy Diatom? I have been dusting in and  around my girls box with some organic red mite powder. Is diatom for the same problem- ie red mite?

[flatcap]

thank you for the link vember.

                                                          i had actually gone through that post and missed it :shock:

[Aunt Sally]

With my cube I empty the trays weekly and will be cleaning thoroughly once a month - is this over the top Auntie?

Thank you.

That's perfect blulagoo  

Should I rush out and buy Diatom? I have been dusting in and  around my girls box with some organic red mite powder. Is diatom for the same problem- ie red mite?

No, absolutly not.  All chook keepers develope  their own way of keeping their chooks healthy.  If it werks fer you - don't change it  

[peggyprice]

2. Good spray of Jeyes  all over to disinfect (or every few months I use Virkon a good antiviral disinfectant )  In the spring and summer once or twice I spray Milben Ex (others use Poultry Shield) using a pressure sprayer to ensure the stuff gets into every nook and cranny. Leave to dry all day.

Can I just check, Foxy - when you use the Milben Ex is it OK to use the Jeyes Fluid at the same time, or just one or the other?

[Porffor]

Well i have sprayed powder into the girls house today after a clean out.. smelled awfully strange when i tucked them in! lol They were thoroughly disgusted and told me so!

[peggyprice]

I've just discovered we have lice. At least, I think it's lice.  Don't think it's red mite, but probably doesn't really matter which it is. Still means ... B**GER :!:  :!:

So tomorrow it'll be the full Frontline treatment all round and ANOTHER full clean out - only did it last week  :shock:

Am now wondering whether the lice might be the reason for the recent drop in egg production.  The one that's been laying daily is showing no signs, the one that stopped (but has laid a couple of times in the last few days) has lots of eggs but no sign of live creatures, and the one that has stopped altogether has no obvious signs but has lots of dry feathery bits and (I've just discovered) is going bald round her breast bone and down towards her legs.  

One of the young 'uns also has a few eggs on her feathers, and this afternoon (when I went to do the weekly clean) there were several small black creatures wandering around the hen house - which is what alerted me (they all looked absolutely fine when they had their weekly examination last weekend   ).

Sure the warm damp weather isn't helping; we've also had to treat our dogs for fleas for the first time in SEVEN YEARS this week  :!:

[Porffor]

Frontline'll sort 'em out so i'm told anyway! lol

[kattcottrell]

I've read the post on front-line and it sounds idea, I also read that although it shouldn't effect the hens eggs, you might like to leave off for a week, what  do everyone else do who uses frontline? eat the eggs or not?

[peggyprice]

I've read the post on front-line and it sounds idea, I also read that although it shouldn't effect the hens eggs, you might like to leave off for a week, what  do everyone else do who uses frontline? eat the eggs or not?

I think I'll err on the side of caution and withdraw the eggs for a week; no point being organic and then risk giving us some fairly strong chemicals to eat     Besides, given the current lack of laying I don't think it will make much difference  :?  Though with my luck I'll have all five laying by Sunday ...