The not so glamorous side

of raising chickens that is. Last Thursday morning when I went out to clean and feed I noticed Betty had a couple small black dots on her comb. Friday morning when I went out to clean and feed I noticed all four of my girls had black colored dots (scabs) on their combs. What was going on! Something very contagious was happening with the girls. There were no signs of anything being wrong and then within 24 hours all my girls were showing signs of something... but what...

I was sure it more than pecking and after researching online I assumed it was mites. Mites are a common in fowl and are spread by wild animals and birds. Well we sure have wild animals in our area. Coyotes, rabbits, squirrel, bob cats and an occasional mountain lion not to mention all the birds.  They say it's not a "if" but "when" you will get hit with them.  These pest are sort of like fleas in that if there's one you know there are more except much worse they feed off blood like a tic and in extreme cases can kill their host.

I took a photo of Betty and Lucy's combs down to the feed store for confirmation. I then dusted the coop with human grade DE and the girls with an organic powder. I also painted vegetable oil over the wood and in the cracks prior dusting.

Good news is I caught it early and treated right away so I am hopeful we got it handled.  I guess one good thing that comes from obsessing over my animals is I pick up the little things early on.

Fast forward to today, the spots are all but gone and there are no new ones that have popped up.

Here they are enjoying some dandelions.

The girls are happy, healthy and the music man built a door so they can go into their play yard without my help.

Life is SO good.