Quail_Antwerp: Words from the Barnyard...

Quail_Antwerp

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Thank you, Ann, for the link to jewelweed! I saved it to my favorites and will try looking for some around here later.

Went outside to see what I could accomplish, being half blind in one eye and all :p

Decided to do some cleaning up on the backside of the duck shed. Just down the logging road from the duck pen is where we burn our trash. The kids help take trash out, stack in the pile, then Zoe (our spayed dog that had puppies :rolleyes: ) digs the trash out if we don't burn it right away. :barnie So I went out and put it all back on the pile, cleaned up around it, and lit that puppy on fire (the trash, not Zoe). It's almost done burning now.

Then the oldest 2 kiddos and I set out and filled all the chicken feeders and waterers. While they finished filling waterers, I donned gloves and grabbed the sevin dust.....

Last night when I was tucking everyone in I had noticed my Wheaten Ameracauna pullet was looking kind of droopy. I honestly (and shame on me) haven't done much with this pair since I brought them home, other than stick them in a pen and feed/water daily. Couple weeks ago I noticed she was sneezing and shaking her head. I thought she might have CRD or something, and keljonma had brought down some drops for respitory issues in birds, so I put a couple drops on her nose. Still she sneezed.

Well, last night, I found her problem. She had lice crawling in and out of her nose and she was trying to sneeze them out! :th I feel like such an idiot. I had already dusted everyone else, and I normally check all my birds for lice/mites. I pulled her out of the cage last night and OMG not hundreds, not thousands, but MILLIONS (no JOKE!) of lice on this bird! I was FREAKED OUT! They were so bad, her vent area where they've been feasting was raw and bloody. So for last night I tossed on some DE, but knew I was going to need something stronger on her.

So, I donned the gloves, grabbed the sevin dust, and dusted the crap out of this bird. Vent, under her wings, her abdomen, her back.....I avoided her head as I figured she'd be grooming herself later and that would be enough to get the bugs off her nose and head. So I put her back in her cage and make a grab for him. He wasn't as easy!

Immediately he starts flapping his wings, screaming his head off, and trying to lunge away from me. I grab the sevin, and while holding him firmly under my arm, I dust his arse. I set down the sevin and I'm trying to rub it under his wings and around his vent (the lice are just dying and dropping off at this point), and he's flapping like mad. Well, his flapping succeeded in sending Sevin Dust flying through the air.............and right into my SWOLLEN EYE!

LEMME TELL YA! Sevin in a swollen poison ivy eye does NOT feel good!

So I tighten my grip on the little bugger, threaten him, finish rubbing the Sevin on him and toss him back in the cage. He continues scolding me as I'm putting up my gloves and the sevin. I give him my best evil eye look out of my ONE good eye, and I warn him, "Just you wait! I get to do this again in a couple days, and you're not gonna like me!"

:gig

My eye is fine. I used a little water to rinse it, but boy, I wasn't happy with him!

I plan to dust them again in a few days, especially him, because his feathers around his vent area were loaded in eggs.

Guess I'll be dusting everyone tonight when they go to roost just to be safe.

Wondering if the lice is why I'm not getting enough eggs??? :hu
 

Dace

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Oh boy...sick kids, little one cutting teeth and poison ivy? Yikes girl....you need a break!

Good luck and I hope that everyone is on the mend soon!
 

keljonma

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I was going to post the jewelweed link, but see Reinbeau has already. It is great stuff. I also like the Poison Ivy Relief that Becca mentioned too. Burts Bees has poison ivy soap that is good also. (DH attracts poison ivy like dandelions attract honeybees. :D so I think we have tried every remedy known to man!)

While funny reading, I am sure the dusting of your Wheaten Ameracaunas was not fun at the time. Poor birds. We never had that problem, but always had the DE in the pool.

Yes, if lice, then no eggs.


edited for typos
 

Quail_Antwerp

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keljonma said:
I was going to post the jewelweed link, but see Reinbeau has already. It is great stuff. I also like the Poison Ivy Relief that Becca mentioned too. Burts Bees has poison ivy soap that is good also. (DH attracts poison ivy like dandelions attract honeybees. :D so I think we have tried every remedy known to man!)

While funny reading, I am sure the dusting of your Wheaten Ameracaunas was not fun at the time. Poor birds. We never had that problem, but always had the DE in the pool.

Yes, if lice, then no eggs.


edited for typos
The free ranging birds have access to the pool, buy my little Ameracaunas do not. As bad as they have the lice, I think they must have had it when I brought them hom. I didn't give any thought to checking them for bugs when I brought them home, excited as I was to have got them.
 

keljonma

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Quail_Antwerp said:
The free ranging birds have access to the pool, buy my little Ameracaunas do not. As bad as they have the lice, I think they must have had it when I brought them hom. I didn't give any thought to checking them for bugs when I brought them home, excited as I was to have got them.
AH, I had forgotten they were in the cage in front of Polk's area. It wouldn't hurt, and would probably help, to dust their cage as well.
 

Quail_Antwerp

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Yep, I was thinking about dusting their cage, too.

Also trying to think of what kind of little pan I could put in there with some pine shavings and DE for their own little dust bath.
 

keljonma

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I used to use a kitty litter type container for chicks in the house. But I think that would be too big for their space. How about a large not too deep bowl of some sort?
 

Quail_Antwerp

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My eye is still irritated. Ernie just asked me a little while ago if I could possibly have pink eye. Since my eye isn't red, and I still have the poison ivy on my eyelid, I told him I doubt it's pink eye.

The kids are all better, and the baby finally (YAY!) has that tooth cutting through.

I looked through my Ameracauna's feathers yesterday, and found NO lice on them, not even any trace of eggs! I was happy for that.

Rode with Becca today while she picked up some new chickens. I was good and didn't get ANY chickens....Hmmm I must be sick???? :gig

Nah, he just wasn't selling anything I wanted.

We're trying to get the place tightened up for winter. Tomorrow we start on a portable wood box for our winter supply of wood. I'll show pics (as soon as I find the USB cord to my camera!) and I plan to work on an A-Frame chicken house for my Quail Antwerp d'Anvers.
 

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