We have a 6 Acre smallholding in Powys, Mid Wales. We specialise in rare breed sheep (Castlemilk Moorits) for breeding, meat and fleeces and raise Cream Legbar chickens as well as offering a home for rescued commercial hens when we can. We grow our own vegetables and sell Cream Legbar and Olive Egger hatching eggs. This channel is intended to help you raise your own livestock, poultry and vegetables and share some of our successes (and failures) with you so can learn from our experience of running a smallholding.
I really enjoy the ambience of your farm. Wow!! I’m an old man just beginning with some chicks. But I’m anticipating the first time challenges of this coming Autumn
I’m very glad to have run into your presentation. I’m brand new to this and I have four silky bantams. I’m thinking that they are into their fourth week. A lot of the people I talk to you say don’t take them out of the Bruder until they’re fully feathered at 6 to 8 weeks. Here’s the deal… My chicks look a lot like your chicks do feathered wise. Do you have any experience with silkies? What do you think? 😊
My chicks hatched about 2 weeks 4 days ago. Still in the brooder. it's currently 90 degrees days and about 70 degree nights. do you think it would it be okay to put the chick/en outside in a few days? Looks similar to your as far as the feathering goes
I'm beyond DONE, but my FAITH is strong but it has been so damn difficult. Living with this problem for SOOO long, and they are not just on my skin, but also under my skin. My feet are so bad, I can barely walk. Had an exterminator come out, and they told us to rid ourselves of any and all bird's nests or birds in the house or around it. I live in a very old house. Probably going to have to move out --😢😢
I did this one year while building a proper home for my chickens. Protecting the sides of the tunnel is essential. I put a metre high thick fabric border all around. Chickens still managed to jump up and scratch the plastic above it. Then the cat tried climbing it, sticking claws in everywhere. Probably wouldn't risk it again, because we have foxes and pine martens that could easily get inside.
That's brilliant! I also squirt used engine oil into the crevices, which they drown in, so combined with the sticky tape would be the end of it for sure. Thank you so much for sharing this video.❤👍
Paint the inside of your hen house (a few coats) and caulk up the seams/gaps/holes in the walls and floor. Use an exterior paint that will hold up to moisture. I also have used a clear coat waterproofing sealant in the US called FlexSeal - never had a mite issue in 7 years.
Worth a try, we have mites pretty bad right now, I know we have red mites, had them 3 years ago but also wondering if we have something else. There are bugs on me when I collect the eggs but it’s hot here. Last time I used PSP 2x and still had them after treating the coop and all the birds, it’s exhausting.
May I ask, your ex battery hens - do you keep them for eggs and breeding or do you eventually eat your chickens as well as the eggs? Also how do you go about collecting eggs for eating making sure they haven’t started to develop?
Those aren't red mites . We call them bluebugs. Sprays pens with mix of diesel and used motor oil. They are like a tick. They can deplete the blood in the chickens and kill them
That's what I thought too based on the description of their feeding habits etc... fowl ticks aka blue bugs. Hard to tell from the pics though. Horrid, can definitely lead to anemia
I've heard that Orange oil kills them , but it has to get on them. Hard to spray effectively on all the nooks and crannies. Another good tip I got for prevention of fowl ticks is to caulk every seam/ joint which I'm going to do with the coop we're currently building. Then paint over all the surfaces
I liberally sprinkle DE in nesting boxes and take a handful and rub on perch. Ive tried various sprays ....50/50 bleach. .... pure white vinegar. ....cooking oil - still have mites :) The only very effective remedy is 1ml of I ver me ctin dripped on back of each chooks neck. Sadly its banned here in NZ incase ppl use it instead of the P hyser option :) But dble sided tape as a detector is a great idea. Cheers. ps. whats the pink stuff ?
You can still get that particular pour on for cattle in N.Z. (off label use for poultry) it was just the human version that was banned as it proved to be excellent in dealing with a certain human virus, but the powers that be didn't want that to happen as then their jab wouldn't have been required.
My chicks are 6 weeks old and are pretty big, I live on Long Island the weather during the day is high 70s and weather at night has been 55-60s do u think they can go outisde?
I think so yes. As I say in the video, its all about how feathered they are. They should be fine at 6 weeks. Try it and keep an eyes on them. As long as they have the ability to snuggle up together at night they should be fine. Let me know how they get on xxxxx
@@thesmallholdingdiaries7833 It's something I definitely recommend! For us it wasn't really a choice, one of our missing hens just popped up out of nowhere with 8 chicks, another was brooding a nest of eggs in a very hard to reach spot, so we let her be and she ended up hatching another 10. So far, we've only lost 1 chicken, and 1 toe (to a mouse). The first 8 chicks are 8 weeks old now and the other 10 are around 4-ish weeks. The hens teach them how to find food and keep them warm, which is all I could really ask for! My only issue with hen brooding is that you have to keep them in an enclosed space (so the chicks don't get lost, drown in water, etc.) and also make sure all the chicks are with mum at night. Apart from that, its been so hands off that I fully trust the hens to take care of their chicks.
They may do. Its a size thing not an age thing. Bigger birds tend to bully the smaller ones but you could try my method of introducing new chickens to a flock. It's another video on this channel. Basically you keep them next to each other (they can see each other but can't physically touch) for a week or 2 until they get used to each other then let them mix. There will always be issues as they try to find the new pecking order and there will always be someone at the bottom but thats nature I'm afraid.
@@thesmallholdingdiaries7833 Yes I just tried that after two days of being next to each others and it was instant attack and feathers everywhere. I'll wait a while and next time its the garden hose for the bullies!
