insects

Hello friends. We moved to an 18 acre hobby farm in the past year. I have three chickens (hens) for eggs. We have noticed a few mice in the garage, and have been considering introducing a barn cat to manage that situation. However, in the summer we have tons of crickets ( I mean tons! ) and...

On several occasions now I’ve spotted a bug of some sort scampering between my hen’s feathers! It’s larger than what I would expect any kind of mite to be - about the length of a fingernail. It was dark coloured. And it was FAST. Zoomed away when I tried to flick it off. I’ve not seen any on my...

Apologies in advance to anyone who gets itchy from reading this, I got itchy writing it! I’ve recently noticed tiny bugs that make their way onto me every time I go out to the coop, and I can’t figure out that they are. They’re fast but I haven’t seen them jump. They’re so small that I can’t...

I blended my baby quails a feed with the following ingredients into small/fine bits: 1. Manna Pro Organic Starter Crumble Complete Feed - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I41XZP4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This wasn't enough protein, so I created my own formula and...

I know they are part of the food chain, but I just want them to stay far away from me. In Florida it was the giant flying cockroaches and huge spiders. If you have poultry, then you likely know about mites and lice. Mosquitoes and ticks are the ones that torment us most in VA. Tell me which...

I’m always on the lookout for curious little insects while I’m tending my flower garden or raised beds. I love seeing bugs I’ve never seen before, and I love searching online in an effort to identify them. I’d love to see your insect finds as well! Here are a few that I’ve seen in the last week...

I have been trying to make free-range keeping of birds around my yard, plus keep them from going after plantings in immediate vicinity of the house. The mowed yard is roughly 3 acres and I currently have 7 juvenile chickens, two hens and a rooster plus a small number of chicks. The birds roost...

I have have my girls for a little over a year now, they have a small coop and a large run. Recently I have noticed that there are loads of small black ants in the coop as well as flies, wasps, and others in fewer numbers. The ants almost seem to be living in the walls of the coop and I have no...

Apologies in advance for the long post, but my hope is to provide as much detail as possible, and get some suggestions for at-home remedies (or those that can be administered at home) to try and save my favorite bird! My 1.5-year-old Barred Rock, Raven, has had some runnier-than-normal poops...

Here in north Florida we have a lot of rain and a lot of bugs. So I wanted to share what we have done to help keep the mosquitoes, gnats, and flies out of our coop and run. Mosquitoes netting! It is a bit of a pain to roll it up to let the girls out and to collect the eggs as this mesh will rip...

Hello! I have 6 hens about 10 months old. All are laying daily, but one hen, Lois, has been missing her neck feathers for about 1.5-2 months now. At first I thought uneven molting or pecking order, but neither seem to be the case. I’ve been adding calcium to their diet but no change. Recently...

I am popularly called as Uncle Mel live in Winter Garden Florida. I just got an opportunity to use 1 acre land for free from my daughter. I have presently planted 20 banana plants, 5 mango plants and some vegetables. I am thinking of raising chicken to get rid of insects and egg production. I...

We have what I think are Locust (hop & fly up to about ten feet high for shot distances, making a snapping sound) on our property, which I'd like to feed to the girls. Any ideas how I might go about catching them? I don't think a cricket trap would work. They're not sworming, so it's not like...

Hello! Just went out into my duck coop and was checking on my injured duck when I felt something biting my ankles...I looked down to see these tiny black insects all over my feet & ankles! I now have tiny red bites on my feet and am wondering what these little creeps are. Are they fleas...

I pulled the family travel trailer out way far away from my poultry today. Stuck a bug bomb in there and ran. Thousands of bugs! O m G! Hollywood could make a horror movie from it. It is a nice camper and we take care of it. Haven't used it a 3 years so the insect world had squatters rights. So...

Went out tonite to put my girls to bed and...ANTS. They seemed only out the outside, but I don't want them taking over inside as well. We did just have a massive storm come thru, but I'm concerned. We've had a huge problem with ants through the property this year, and I really don't want...