Ahhh, I'm glad you posted hillfooter, because the BHWT told me they recommend Barrier products, that they've found them to be the best to use, and I was wondering if maybe it could be a sponsor thing as I'm sure there is other treatments that work just as well.
I'm all for keeping animals as close to as how they'd be in the wild as possible, so I do frown on chemical use and pampering. I'll go out of my way to provide entertainment for them, but only in a way that they would entertain themselves in the wild.
I'm hoping the bit under the coop will be dry enough for them to make a dust bath, but I will provide a big old plant pot full of earth for them to use if they wish, is it good to mix a bit of diatom and/or red mite powder in with it??
I'm going to put a big, many branched log in the run eventually, once they're strong enough to jump, as they perch in trees in the wild dont they, so I'm presuming they'll enjoy that. My run is nearly 6ft high and fully enclosed so they should ave the space to flap a bit.
I've got a hanging food pole for their greens, make them jump up and work for their food a bit and I've got a multitude of different things I can rotate in their run for them to scratch around and sit on (breeze blocks, an old hoselock reel, logs, plastic crates etc), I'm thinking if I keep changing the things in their run, they sould stay amused.
BHWT told me to buy all the worming stuff and louse/mite powder (all Barrier) today because I will need to treat them for everything, but I thought it would be better to see which ones are needed (if any) over time. Is apple cider vinegar worth getting for in their water?
Ooooh, it's all exciting and a bit confusing, but I'd much rather go the natural way than chemical, there's no chemicals in the jungle after all!!!