Clipped wings and red mites

[JoanneB]

Hi, I'm fairly new to hen keeping. I did keep them a few years ago but kids got in the way but now I've more time have had 4 hens again. Love it!
The hens do spend time in the run but at weekends and evenings I let them free range in the garden. My question is should I clip their wings. There is a 6ft fence around the garden but they make me nervous by hopping on top of the run for example then stretching up their necks as if eyeing up the top of the fence!
My second question is red mite powder for dusting the actual hens. We did have a small problem with red mite last time so we use to regularly powder the hens. Also this time I have purchased a plastic recyclable hen coop. I went to buy mite powder from our local corn stores the other day and I was overwhelmed with choice so I was wondering if anyone could advise me on which is the best.
Sat in my garden now watching my ladies wandering round. Love it.

 

[rick]

Hi Joanne,
They are great to watch though it is usually them getting up to mischief and jumping up to eat your garden plants. We have mint in a tall pot and it has been shaved all round the sides!
I'm not sure that there is a definitive/right answer for either question but ...
Not saying that clipping wings is never necessary but you can quite easily put them off trying for the top of the fence. When they are stretching their necks up and waving their heads around they are trying to judge whether the object is safe to land on (and are very cautious over judging it right.). They would never go for landing on a washing line so my solution is to suspend a length of washing line just in front of the top of the fence. Clipped flight feathers do grow back but they look so good when they are intact.
RM I've studied in great detail! They are actually fascinating little creatures though they are a chickens worst nightmare so they have to go! This is just my opinion but there is so much commercial pushing of bad ideas out there that has little or negative effect - it drives me mad! Firstly, Mite powder is invariably based on diatomaceous earth whatever the brand. DE works against mites and lice by mechanically scratching away the protective waxy coat they have that prevents them drying out. It also acts as a sort of mop to soak up the lipids. It works particularly well on their leg joints (imagine walking a long way with sand inside the neck of your wellies!) The problem with DE is that the mite can react to it and become 'immune' and that happens when they are not quite killed and can still breed with tolerable amounts of it scattered around. Everyone scatters it everywhere like it is Shake'n'Vac, if it doesn't kill the RM within one generation (its not a chemical insecticide) then it pretty much makes them stronger.
I could ramble on for hours ... The answer is mite proof perches and DE can play a role in that but many coops dont physically lend themselves to its use. Grill type perches, for example, are impossible to protect.
You never dust the hens with it for RM - it will do nothing to protect them. DE can be used to discourage lice, because they live on the bird (a good top soil dust bath works just as well), but RM dont live on the bird, they live in the coop and walk to the chickens in the night to feed and then leave by the morning.
But you have a plastic coop and the benefit of them is you can strip it down easily to clean. What you really need is to know is if RM have moved in and know that as soon as possible. They dont always show up or, at least, it can be many years before they do but when they do you need to know immediately so you can strip the thing down and give it the thorough clean it is designed for. So you put an ideal RM house that is easy to inspect every time you are in there right next to the perches. A couple of pieces of clean plywood, one of them with elastic bands round each end and then the other on top is a perfect RM colony home and they wont be able to resist it. That way you know for sure when they are not around and can blitz them as soon as they are.
I hope that helps. RM are a really complex issue and the solution is as varied as the amount of different coops and set ups that are out there. I have found RM in our roost for the second time after a space of 3 years. Our roost is unusual because we dont have a coop They are open air perches in a covered and sheltered run) and, after re-doing the anti RM perches (I got a bit lackadaisical with keeping them up to spec when they had been wiped out last time but did know within a week when they re-appeared) they have disappeared again. It will be 9 months before I can drop the guard but the chickens are not getting bitten in the night, are having a restful sleep, and that is the important thing.

 

[JoanneB]

Thanks for the information. Much appreciated. I will put a piece of wood with an elastic band in the coop as you suggest. Although I have only had the hens for 1 week I have already removed the easily removable plastic roasting bar twice and given it a quick jet wash. As you suggest being alert remains the key! So I will take Boris's advice and stay alert.
As for the wing clipping, I will leave it for now, maybe I'm just a litt nervous with everything being new.
Thanks again

 

[Marigold]

Young hybrid egg laying pullets are more inclined to fly up than older birds but they usually settle down once they’re well in lay and when they have an idea about where their territory ends. If you have leghorns or leghorn hybrids they will be more inclined to be airborne, so it largely depends on the breed, what sort are yours?
Clipped feathers will only grow out when the hen has her first moult and sheds the stumps, which won’t be until her second Autumn when she stops laying and gets new plumage. Feathers only grow once, from a particular follicle, they’re not like hair that just goes on getting longer. I only did it once and actually the hen seemed to have difficulty moulting the stumps when the time came at last. I think it does spoil their appearance so unless you have a real problem, I would leave them alone.

Rick's excellent post about red mite only omits one important point, and that’s the danger of inhaling dry diatom dust. It will have the same abrasive effect in your lungs as it does on the red mite and is highly carcinogenic. And of course it’s equally harmful to the hens, who are prone to bronchial problems anyway. I think Rick recommends making it into a slurry and painting it on to perch ends etc to avoid inhalation. It’s dangerous stuff. Only use with extreme care, in small amounts in targeted areas, and wear a mask, rather than regular sprinkling as as a routine dusting.

 

[JoanneB]

Thanks for the info.
I have decided not to clip the hens wings as I to have decided that they might settle down given time, although I do have a Cheshire Blue which I believe is a leg horn hybrid (I admit I'm no expert). I also have a Bluebell, a Speckledy and a Nero.
I was going to post about the dustbath as well, I've made one out of a deep litter tray and top soil which I had positioned under the coop in the shade but they appeared not to be using it so I was wondering if I should position it in the sun, however upon letting them out of the run today 2 of the hens shook releasing great clouds of dust so bathing has obviously taken place ?

 

[rick]

Its amazing how much soil they can get under their feathers isn't it! We would love to see your flock if you can work out how to post a picture.

 

[bigyetiman]

I have only had one or two hens that have flown up high, then it was just a quick look around, and hey look where I have got, then came down, once they are older, too many exciting things within necking stretching reach for them to bother with getting airborne.
If I have to use DE I make it into a paste, We have a walk in coop which is easy to clean and removable perches which we take out and scrub. The smaller coop we can dismantle easily and once a month, during the summer it is dismantled and scrubbed, not so easy in winter for drying.
I have found red mite in the tiniest of cracks on a perch on close inspection, you daren't let your guard down for a moment, or look without glasses on at our age.
Good idea re the elastic bands, my friend swears by double sided tape, at perch ends as they will stick to it.
Great advice from Rick, you wont go wrong following that.

 

[JoanneB]

Thanks for all the advice. Much appreciated. I've tried to upload a picture of my ladies but it says the image is too large unfortunately.

 

[Marigold]

If you upload a photo taken on your phone you will probably get a chance to reduce the size to Medium, which should work. If using a camera on high resolution that produces a very large file, you may need to download a free image reduction app which will reduce your file to either 400X600 or 600X400, depending on whether you want portrait or landscape. Do have a go - I know this forum software isn’t the easiest but once you have the hang of it, it’s quite simple really. Even I can do it!
If you click on Preview once you’ve uploaded the file and placed it inline, you can see the result above the original post, before you Send it live.

 

[JoanneB]

Hopefully these will work. Pictures of my girls as requested.

 

[Margaid]

Looking good!

 

[Marigold]

Lovely pics! Thank you! So glad you got the hang of the software!

 

[Icemaiden]

The Cheshire Blue looks interesting. She looks like a cross between a white leghorn & an arucana?

 

[bigyetiman]

Lovely pictures. The first three are like some of my hens, one of my bluebells was a real character, she started off bottom of the pecking order and fought her way to the top and was like Darth Vader with attitude, and lived to the ripe old age of 6. Nero is like our "button" who bounds around like a coiled spring we should have called her "Tigger" The Speckedly we have had lots of those, lovely and placid and good layers

 

[JoanneB]

Thanks for all your lovely comments and advice. I believe the Cheshire Blue is a cross between a leghorn and an arucana and fingers crossed it will lay blue eggs. They are all settling in nicely now and my 2 dogs are getting to know their place at the bottom of the pecking order. ? I also have a guinea pig which I let free roam around the garden when I am around but I must say the hens are very aggressive towards him and have even pecked out some fur so I have started putting him in his outdoor run if he is out at the same time as the ladies.

 

[Marigold]

Oh yes, protect the guinea pig, or the hens will literally kill and eat him! They love to hunt small furries!

 

[Sandrine]

Aww they are beautiful! ?
Talking of dismantling the coop to combat red mite... I have just had to dismantle and jetwash my eglu cube! I thought mites didn't like plastic coops, but seem to like ours... But that's the great thing about plastic coops, so much easier to clean and eradicate the pests! We used to have a wooden coop before this one, and I used to get so frustrated every time they seem showed up... It was so difficult to get access to all the nooks and crannies (however you spell it!).

 

[dianefairhall]

What lovely hens! Are they laying yet?