KT

>
>
>Here on the East coast Ticks carry Lyme Disease. If not caught in time it
>can be chronic and somewhat debilitating. If caught in time, it take a MONTH
>course of Antibiotic treatment which might work. The bigger ticks don't
>carry it, it's the miniscule Deer tick, which is just a little bigger than
>thie period at the end of this sentance.
>

We have Lyme disease and deer ticks here, too. For all of you who have
never seen a deer tick, don't worry...you *can* see them. They are
tiny, but chiggers are smaller. But even when we didn't know about Lyme
disease, we checked regularly for ticks. It's just a fact of life
around here. Go out in the grass or the woods, come in, check for
ticks. Usually, they haven't bitten you, unless when you were outside
you were lying in the grass for hours or something. In all my years
I've never seen one fall out of a tree like my mother used to tell me
(cover your hair!), but they would often be brushed on to my leg or my
socks when walking through high grass or brush. They do like to bite in
your hair, but seems to me it takes them a long time to get there, and
you catch them crawling.

We eliminated a lot of tick problems when we started using Frontline on
the dogs. Well worth the money. If you want your yard tick-free, keep
some chickens out in it.

Tuck

Kinkade

>> If you want your yard tick-free, keep some chickens out in it. >>

Chickens will keep out almost all bugs, they eat them (If they are free range).

Rebecca


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Sharon Rudd

Chickens eat EVERYYTHING including flowers and
veggies, too. And sctach up the roots. I have ben
told that guinies will eat the ticks, too. However, my
SIL has dozens of free-range guinies, and still has
ticks. She also has dogs....lots of dogs. (in
Louisia, close to Arkansas). The dogs keep the guinies
from getting too over-populated. Her gardens are
fenced. She has cattle, pigs, horse, etc. The cattle
get dipped. Dogs get something (she breeds St
Bernards).

Also...chickens get mites, just as bothersome as ticks
:-( and West Nile (they are a good sentinale animal)

We have chickens...penned. The dogs, owls, hawks,
coons, etc. eat them if they are loose.


I had ticks when I had loose chickens in the Fl
panhandle :-( before the chickens were all consumed by
other wildlife.

This is just my experience with chickens and ticks.
But it may save you some bother to try something else
instead.

Sharon of the Swamp...who feels embarressed if I need
to buy eggs
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> >> If you want your yard tick-free, keep some
> chickens out in it. >>
>
> Chickens will keep out almost all bugs, they eat
> them (If they are free range).
>
> Rebecca


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Sharon Rudd

> I've never seen one fall out of a tree like my
> mother used to tell me

Oh yes, they DO! Personal experience.

And they can survive in a sort of dormant, but alert
state, for hours, days, weeks, YEARS waiting,in place,
for a blood meal (OH YUCK! THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
EVERYTHING NASTY by Joy Masoff).

They survive controlled burns very nicely, too.

My personal theory is that there are less wild
critters for them to plague, so they just waite around
for anything. The wild critters are MORE bothered
than they used to be, becuase the parasitic critters
are more concentrated. But then, I am told by old,
old-timers that it has always been a misery. And the
mosquitoes and other flies used to be worse, too.

Sharon of the Swamp

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Thanks for all the chicken chat!
A chicken tractor is a way to get the benefit of bug removal yet keeps them
protected.
~Elissa Cleaveland
"It is nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction
have
not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry." A. Einstein

Sharon Rudd

Yes, unless you live in a heavily wooded, not flat
area. Your chicken, tractor is a good fertilizer
applicator, too, if you have a cleared, flat area.

Sharon of the Swamp


--- ElissaJC@... wrote:
> Thanks for all the chicken chat!
> A chicken tractor is a way to get the benefit of
> bug removal yet keeps them
> protected.
> ~Elissa Cleaveland
> "It is nothing short of a miracle that the modern
> methods of instruction
> have
> not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of
> inquiry." A. Einstein
>
>
>
>


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Yes, unless you live in a heavily wooded, not flat
area.>>
LOL True! I was thinkning more in the fallow beds and between rows.
Next year we'll start with Chickens and i am sooo looking forward to them.
I'm still planning and debating. Know any good chicken lists?
~Elissa Cleaveland
"It is nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction
have
not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry." A. Einstein

Nancy Wooton

on 5/21/02 9:30 AM, ElissaJC@... at ElissaJC@...
wrote:

> Next year we'll start with Chickens and i am sooo looking forward to them.
> I'm still planning and debating. Know any good chicken lists?

I *had* to google "chicken tractor" (inquiring minds want to know) and found

http://www.eggbay.com/

I think there's a poultry web ring; I'm sure there are discussion lists!

One of the links was to an article on chicken tractors at a site called
"mymeals.com" which I am bookmarking!

Nancy

Sharon Rudd

> Next year we'll start with Chickens and i am sooo
> looking forward to them.
> I'm still planning and debating. Know any good
> chicken lists?
> ~Elissa Cleaveland

Your homesteading list :-)

Sharon of the Swamp

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