# A few more questions...



## Koux33 (Mar 9, 2017)

My chicks have been home now for almost a week, and it seems like I just keep coming up with more questions every day! 

1. The chicks are not vaccinated, and I didn't get medicated feed (newbie mistake, I'll get the medicated feed next time!). I have a ton of the non-medicated chick feed that I don't want to waste, and I already have Corid. Should I dose them with Corid as a preventative measure, or just watch them closely?

2. I currently have them in a wire cage with a tray underneath, lined with paper towels that I change multiple times a day. As they get older, can I stop the paper towels and let them walk on the wire bottom cage? Will that hurt their little feet? Pine shavings and sand wouldn't work in this cage unless I built a floor or used a different brooder altogether.

3. I already have the coop, no chickens in it yet. I went out there to clean weeds out today and noticed a bunch of tiny flies/gnats and mite-looking creatures crawling all over the walls and ceiling. I don't feel comfortable putting chickens in there until the buggies are gone. What should I treat the coop with? If we use a normal insecticide, will it be safe to put the chickens in there in a few weeks, or do we need to get a "chicken safe" one? All the threads I see are about treating the birds from pests, but I don't know how to go about treating the actual coop.

4. Currently there is a little "doorway" in the coop to get to the nest boxes, and it has a little floor in between the boxes. It's made of 1/4" hardware cloth which just collects the poop, and is annoying to clean. can I just take it out? Then they'll have have 2 entrances to the next boxes, one from the front and one from below. I'll try to get a pic of it in a little bit if that's hard to visualize.

Thanks for the help guys!


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## Koux33 (Mar 9, 2017)

Here's a visual of the coop and "nesting room", just for reference. One angle is from the outside "egg hatch", the other is from the inside of the coop.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I haven't used medicated chick feed in many years and have not lost any to cocci. But I did keep things like Corrid around just in case. You don't treat until you see an issue. As long as you are vigilant you have plenty of time to treat without losses.

I don't like keeping the birds on wire. From what I've read it can cause foot problems. 

You can spray it with Sevin or dust it with Sevin. Since you have time before they go in it can kill the bugs and become safe for them. Or you can use permethrin sprays. Those would have to be reapplied several times since the active ingredient dissipates fairly quickly.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

BTW, how many chicks? The coop part looks like it's 4X3 or 12 square feet. Which means it's only big enough for 3 large fowl if the feeder and waterer are not taking up any floor space.

And keep asking. All of us have a slightly different take on things so you can see the big picture and use whatever works best for you.


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## Koux33 (Mar 9, 2017)

robin416 said:


> BTW, how many chicks? The coop part looks like it's 4X3 or 12 square feet. Which means it's only big enough for 3 large fowl if the feeder and waterer are not taking up any floor space.
> 
> And keep asking. All of us have a slightly different take on things so you can see the big picture and use whatever works best for you.


I have 3 chicks, and hanging feeder/waterers. I know it's not very big, but it's all we have for now. That's why we only got 3. I want to build a nicer one eventually that can fit a whole flock, but we just moved into a new house 2 weeks ago. It's a "fixer upper" so we're going to be concentrating on renovating the house for a while before we get around to building a new coop.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

High five to you for getting just the three. You don't know how many times folks get 15 birds and when things go wrong they can't figure out why. 

I get the house thing. I'm thinking now if we should start taking bets on when you say to heck with the human house and get to work on the bigger coop because three birds is just not enough. 

It never is. 

For anyone.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Hi. How exciting! Depending on what kind of predators you have, think about the strength everything should be. I have one little coop with a wire floor. I covered with plywood, or my latest is a tarp, hoping I can pull the tarp out for easy cleaning.

I don't use medicated feed. I do keep Corid on hand and treat if one looks sick, standing in one spot fluffed up, etc. To spray inside the coop, I use any livestock spray, and let dry.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Karen, from the looks of the construction, I don't think this is one of those kit coops. I see too many 2X4's on the inside. Whoever this was copied one of the kits but built it sturdy.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Plus she could do like I did, put hot wire around the bottom and let the predators scream when their noses touch the hot wire. It's such a satisfying thing to hear. Try to get my birds? I'm not going to make it easy for them.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

You mentioned bugs in the coop. Other than gnats and flies, the mite looking bugs could be wood mites. Chicken mites need a host to survive.
In any case, as a quick fix; you can mix bleach water in a sprayer and liberally spray the inside of the coop really well. The liquid will get in tiny cracks and kill whatever bugs inhabit it including poultry mites/lice. It will air dry in no time.
Then when you have time, you can purchase a premise spray with a 30 day residual such as Revap ec or Permethrin 10% or even Malathion which has a half life at around 15 days after application.
Permethrin poultry dust also works well, whether dusting coops or birds especially in winter when external parasites are more active because birds roost closer together when it's cold or they stay inside the coop during extreme cold or foul weather.
I've used Permethrin 10% liquid concentrate and Permethrin poultry dust with success. Also used Malathion a couple of times years ago with success. I used to use Sevin dust, but to my complete surprise it didnt work against a minor lice problem I was dealing with about 1.5 year ago. The Permethrin took care of them.
Here's a link to help you identify external parasites in poultry with description of each parasite. If you see these pests, you'll need a magnifying glass or microscope to ID them.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig140
One thing I forgot to mention: Lice have 6 legs, mites have 8 legs. Lice are white in color or off white in color and they move quickly. Mites look like pepper, are black or red in color. Mites move slowly or not at all, they are too busy sucking blood.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Buy yourself and chickens Permethrin II spray.You can spray the chickens,coop,pen,your house and even your dog but not cats.The spray is much easier to control than powder,powder is very messy and goes everywhere.It's the only bug spray I use,it kills all bugs and leaves a residual that lasts up to 30 days.The fumes do not bother my exotic birds like Raid does.A bottle lasts a long time.I save the powder for the garden.I've used both and the spray is,by far,the superior product.I will never dust my flock again.


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## Steven Villa (Jul 7, 2018)

True!!


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