# Chicken Garden Plant Suggestions Please



## Texasgirl (Feb 19, 2013)

Our Rhode Island Red chicks are about 2 ½ weeks old and the coop is almost done. The area is rocky, but there is an area with some shallow soil which is pretty alkaline. I want to set up a chicken garden so they can free range during the day. Any suggestions on plants I should be planting for the chickens?


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## Texasgirl (Feb 19, 2013)

Okay, what plants should I NOT plant because they are harmful to the chickens?


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## ellis36 (Mar 25, 2013)

I’m thinking that well-fed chickens probably won’t eat plants poisonous to them. 

Green, leafy salad-type vegetables of most types are usually welcome. The same stuff humans eat. Mine seem to enjoy kale, turnip greens, tomatoes, berries, clover, tender grasses.

Your problem might be what will grow in your soil.

I’m not familiar with that area of the country so I’m of no help in that regard.


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## haley4217 (Dec 30, 2012)

Texasgirl said:


> Our Rhode Island Red chicks are about 2 ½ weeks old and the coop is almost done. The area is rocky, but there is an area with some shallow soil which is pretty alkaline. I want to set up a chicken garden so they can free range during the day. Any suggestions on plants I should be planting for the chickens?


Chickens in a garden is usually a problem of what you don't want them eating, cause you want to eat it. First, they will scrounge the garden for bigs first in my experience. My flock of 13 free ranges in the garden almost everyday during the growing season. No self respecting grasshopper will come within a mile of the garden.  So, you are going to benefit from most garden pest control. Only two things that they don't care for is ants and squash bugs.

They will tear through fresh baby squash, love to peck tomatoes to get to the seedy pulp and generally like bell peppers. What I plant to share with my chicks is corn, bush type cherry tomatoes and most root type vegetables. They will spend days in the corn rows staying out of the sheath and ambushing bugs. When the corn is picked, when I have to trim a cob because of a worm they get the worm and the trimmed off cob. Cherry tomatoes provide shade and again ambush locations for the bugs. They don't bother picking cherry tomatoes as much as large tomatoes, but they will eat them occasionally. Root vegetables give them green tops to eat without harming the root growth. Mine prefer beet greens and sweet potato greens.

Garden is greatly going to benefit from the chicken poop.


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## 4windhounds (8 mo ago)

I thought I would start my new run with pasture grasses as their footpaths through a maze of delicious chickenness. Here's a checklist I made for myself but am happy to share.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Something is wrong. It won't open. Can you just copy and paste it here?


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## 4windhounds (8 mo ago)

Here ya go:

























That should do it!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

That's one heck of a list. What are you planning to plant out of that list? And understand, they will totally destroy many of those plants. 

I saw alfalfa, a friend of mine sprouted some for her birds. They wouldn't touch it. Milk is supposed to be a no no for chickens.


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## 4windhounds (8 mo ago)

Thanks Robin. Yeah, I have read MANY things that chickens do and don't like but I'll try them out and see for myself. Small quantities shouldn't be their undoing. And yogurt is great . . .so milk ought to be fine. Maybe I am wrong on this, I do not know . . .yet. I'll report back. Are their chicken nutritionists out there?

This conversation reminds me of a dog that ate all the gifts under our Christmas tree (at table height!) and _she_ was unchanged (_ I wasn't_, though, especially when I learned the gifts were See's Candy!). Our house smelled so divine while I was so distressed, but we both made it through with flying colors. I suspect the birds will eat what they like and avoid what is not allowed in their evolutionary code. What do you think?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

They do seem to know what's OK to munch on and what they should leave alone. At least when they're adults. One of my chicks took a poke at a colorful caterpillar. It couldn't run away fast enough afterwards. 

I've read so many topics about how to protect plants from the devastation of chickens. It seems those that survive the best are those that are more shrubbery. They can't dig them up like they do with so many other smaller plants.


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## 4windhounds (8 mo ago)

Oh the peepers chewing it down to nothing. yeah. I have some ideas about that and that'll have to wait for pictures down the line. In the interim, there are cloches, grazing boxes, throwing squash onto the ground and garlands of food, fodder, etc. Success on this problem will capture most of my attention, I'm sure, Oh, and growing extra stuff outside the run that will fall into the run (berries and mulberry/serviceberry tree. Espalier vines that are facing the outside might only expose the fruit. We'll see. Ask me in 6 months!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Yes, to all of it. I thought you were going to grow stuff from that massive list and then just turn the birds loose in it. If you want your garden tilled just turn a flock of chickens loose in it. 

OK, here's the obvious question. Are you going to stay put to enjoy all of that hard work? If you hit the road again moving with birds can be complicated.


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## 4windhounds (8 mo ago)

Hah! I will be planting all kinds of stuff (mostly food) in the lower 40 where sheep have been lovingly mowing the existing greenery (bless their furry black noses). Fertilizer! This acreage is destined to become an all organic and no-till permaculture gardening project should I live forever. French fruit walls, food forest, and a ton of raised hügelkultur beds should give all of us plenty of groceries! My girls will have the time of their little chicken lives, right? And in their large enclosed-on-3-sides run, I plan to get a thick carpet of pasture grasses and plant some chicken edibles here and there and in containers at different heights they'll have to jump onto (for exercise). 

Oh, and I have this to share. It's a simple and brilliant idea I saw online (sorry I can't credit the inventor out there) of the trays--that ordinarily hold germination pots--turned upside down to have another life as grazing boxes. Really cool. So that may protect plantings and they can be staked down or moved or whatever. I will have a foddering system for them too. A misting system is on the list for late spring, but there will be shaded areas.

And yes, I plan to live there until the next wave of having to move comes to me. I figure a decade plus will feel like a short time given how busy I'll be. And hubby want goats and who could leave goats? I don't think the girls will outlive the goats. Just a guess. 

Okay, back to the joys of the last few boxes (can you hear the screams?).


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

The pics are going to be so much fun to look at. 

Ten years is a decent run for being in one place. By that time you can have the goats trained to ride in the back of a truck and put your birds in cages to keep them company.

Oh that wasn't on you list of how to decide where to move. Does the area allow livestock? When we moved here I didn't want to be anywhere near commercial chicken houses.


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## Roffey (Aug 24, 2019)

I don’t let my chickens in the garden cause they make a huge mess but they’ll eat almost anything that we don’t LOL


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

@Roffey Anyone that has had chickens knows better. It's always fun, well not really fun, but tickling when someone says their birds are destroying their plants and how do they stop them.


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## Lillith (10 mo ago)

I actually haven't had a whole lot of trouble with chickens destroying plants...it's them kicking my lovely mulch out of the garden beds that's the problem! I have to blow it back in with a leaf blower or rake it back into place at least twice a week! They do help with grasshoppers and aphids, though...


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Yeah, they'll certainly rearrange mulch if you have it. Your mulch is probably protecting the plant roots from all that digging.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

They are just assisting with the landscaping.


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## 4windhounds (8 mo ago)

This area is so rural that trees haven't found it. Wait....I have a picture somewhere,








Its unincorporated and anything but roosters is allowed. So stay tuned. Busy ordering some structures as there is no wood or supplies on the land and my tools won't arrive for a few months anyway. I am wholly indulging myself.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Wait, no roosters? How can that be? There's nothing there. 

I don't think I could do the no trees thing. It's one of the reasons we didn't buy cheap land around here that had been clear cut. No trees.


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## 4windhounds (8 mo ago)

Laws regarding roosters seem to apply in many places . . . even in the great outdoors, I guess. Maybe it's because of backyard breeders that, historically, create so many problems for everybody. Don't know and that won't bother me.

Now with the trees . . .I agree with you completely! I had wanted a FORESTED property but what I wanted ended up with a domino effect of other problems. In many places you cannot remove trees or can't get approval for certain varieties. So, to solve that momentous problem, I'll be buying large pines and some color (maples at least) and a bunch of seedlings too. Gotta have SHADE and COLOR and all the rest of what I want. And I know this is gonna take more time than I would like, but it'll keep me in one spot a long time and busy, busy, busy.

Add to that: after paying for the movers for what amounts to a spanking new tiny home, I think I will donate everything I own to a charity or sell furnishings with the house if I ever move again! GOD ALMIGHTY it was expensive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NEVER AGAIN! They have you film all your belongings and call back with a quote and you get the dates set up, etc. and feel super great only to have the price tripled, the request for tips for the workers (they were stars, I will say that), man it was incredible! Okay, I'll shut up on that before my computer fumes over.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

How very strange. I've never heard of there being any restrictions on roosters out in the wilds. If you have next door neighbors, yes. Something just isn't right with that. 

Movers are not for the faint of heart when it comes to the expense. Especially reputable ones. Almost all of my moves were done by me or us, after meeting the hubs. The others were done by his company.


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## 4windhounds (8 mo ago)

Yeah. I think we hear rules of the city but not the county on the roosters.
And when my hub's company moved us they pack us, moved, stored, and unpacked us and even set up our TV! Ahhh, those were the days. Not this time


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

LOL It's all on you this time? I was so used to moving on my own it's never been that big of deal to me. But it sure was nice to have movers that few times we moved around with his company.


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## 4windhounds (8 mo ago)

It's all on us. It's just the phenomenal cost.
This is the strangest move for us ever.
But enough of that and me. Onward to chickens.
I'm thinking I'd like to try RI whites and American Rangers.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Neither of which I had so I can't even lend a hand on their personalities. I don't think I've read of anyone saying the are particularly human friendly but I also haven't read that they're flighty.


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## 4windhounds (8 mo ago)

Okay, thanks. I have some ROOM to try out different breeds, don't I?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

You certainly do. Or you could do like so many have done, let's get a couple of these and how about three of those and some of that over there. About like making a dozen mixed donuts. 

They make wonderful lawn ornaments that way.


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## 4windhounds (8 mo ago)

You read my mind!
The Background In These Photos Is Much Funnier Than The Front

https://www.wackojaco.com/en/recreated-instagram-celebrityaly=native_one


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I'm still reading the first link. Haven't even looked at the second yet. That first one was fun. Not sure I can do much with the second since I'm not on Instagram.


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## 4windhounds (8 mo ago)

Those links hit my funny bone for sure!
You don't have to have an acct with anything to view them; I don't even have Facebook!
And really, I'm usually too busy for the time it takes to connect with the world, if you know what I mean. Okay, this site is my one extravagance.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Bored Panda is another one that is fun to read. I keep forgetting about it though.


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## 4windhounds (8 mo ago)

Ooooh, I LOVE Borded Panda! We're just animal lovers here! And You Tube has a ton of captivating animal shows. I'm currently binge watching "Wild at Heart" which is about a family that relocates to Africa. He's a vet. It's so incredible to see how big those giraffes and elephants really are. And wildebeests! That move would really be a M O V E but I'd do it! I should have gone to vet school or cooking school but both were just so far out of my budget that it was totally unthinkable! At least with cooking you can do it at your own pace and in any way you want to do it at home. I've been collecting quantity EGG recipes no end!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I couldn't be a vet. The part of having to put an animal down just destroys me whether it's mine or not. 

I do see some of the Youtube vids. I try not to watch a ton of them or I wouldn't leave the couch and my computer.


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## 4windhounds (8 mo ago)

Yes, pet death is a spirit killer.


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## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

Texasgirl said:


> Our Rhode Island Red chicks are about 2 ½ weeks old and the coop is almost done. The area is rocky, but there is an area with some shallow soil which is pretty alkaline. I want to set up a chicken garden so they can free range during the day. Any suggestions on plants I should be planting for the chickens?


Tomatoes plants look at them it’s like their own food generator


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## 4windhounds (8 mo ago)

Man, a bird's eye view!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

lovely_chooks said:


> Tomatoes plants look at them it’s like their own food generator
> View attachment 45387


Girl, check them for mites. It also looks like they have fowl pox. 

And if your folks don't mind losing those tomatoes, let them have at it. You should see what they do with watermelon.


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## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

robin416 said:


> Girl, check them for mites. It also looks like they have fowl pox.
> 
> And if your folks don't mind losing those tomatoes, let them have at it. You should see what they do with watermelon.


Wdym their comb was bitten by a mink it’s just dry blood also what should I do about fowl pox?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Iodine is about the only thing you can do to try and dry it up. It's a virus so there isn't a ton that can be done.

And no, she was not bitten by a mink. Check them for mites.


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## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

robin416 said:


> Iodine is about the only thing you can do to try and dry it up. It's a virus so there isn't a ton that can be done.
> 
> And no, she was not bitten by a mink. Check them for mites.


Mites where, on the comb?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Unless that is actually dirt, check their heads and under their tails.


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## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

robin416 said:


> Unless that is actually dirt, check their heads and under their tails.


It looks like a blood clot. Idk what happened but when a mink came their combs bleeding


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## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

robin416 said:


> Unless that is actually dirt, check their heads and under their tails.


I saw mites on buttercup oh no


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

You are really stuck on those minks. Unless you have water right outside your back door and lots of forest you don't have a mink problem. 

What would you do without us? Do you remember how you treated them last time?


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## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

robin416 said:


> You are really stuck on those minks. Unless you have water right outside your back door and lots of forest you don't have a mink problem.
> 
> What would you do without us? Do you remember how you treated them last time?


Well without u guys I probably wouldn’t even know but anyways I put DE powder on their head where the mites are I think the mites r gone now.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

That won't do it. Remember you used some sort of garlic concoction on them last year and it worked. 

So, I did a little digging for you about what is available to use on your birds where you live. You were right, there isn't much out there. Only one came up that I would trust, Ivermectin. I know you went round and round with your parents about this but it's the most effective, easiest way to deal with them. And a bottle will last you a long time. 

If you can talk them into it get the pour on. You can get it at the feed store or order it online. 

If I need to talk to them have them reach out to me and I'll explain.


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## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

robin416 said:


> That won't do it. Remember you used some sort of garlic concoction on them last year and it worked.
> 
> So, I did a little digging for you about what is available to use on your birds where you live. You were right, there isn't much out there. Only one came up that I would trust, Ivermectin. I know you went round and round with your parents about this but it's the most effective, easiest way to deal with them. And a bottle will last you a long time.
> 
> ...


Oh I still have the garlic thing but I’m not sure if I can put it on her head. Also about that ivermectin I don’t know where to get that online it’s not on Amazon. My parents can get it but we don’t use other websites than Amazon since we have free shipping and it comes in 2 days. 

I think buttercup is being weird she’s moulting but she’s thirsty and water is right in front of her like she won’t drink it she drinks water from the dirt maybe she has trouble seeing??


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Is there a difference between Amazon in CA and the US? Because I just looked and it's on Amazon.

Amazon.com : ivermectin pour on


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## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

robin416 said:


> Is there a difference between Amazon in CA and the US? Because I just looked and it's on Amazon.
> 
> Amazon.com : ivermectin pour on


Yeah there is a difference. It’s not on Canada Amazon.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Where do you get your feed at? They should have it there since it's used for all sorts of livestock.

If you don't come with a solution the mites will kill the girls. You can get baby shampoo and bathe them in that. It will kill the mites that are currently on them but that's only a temporary solution.


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## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

robin416 said:


> Where do you get your feed at? They should have it there since it's used for all sorts of livestock.
> 
> If you don't come with a solution the mites will kill the girls. You can get baby shampoo and bathe them in that. It will kill the mites that are currently on them but that's only a temporary solution.


I used my hand and picked them off I don’t see anymore.. also my feed store only has feed nothing else and it’s far away.. I don’t think I should bathe them it’s so cold they are moulting.


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## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

I found this


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## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

Omg I think buttercup has mites and fowl pox and her comb bleed… why does everything bad happen in September-October theh always get sick.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

That's a paste. It won't work. Sorry to say. It has to be the pour on. 

Do you have a vet? You might be able to get it from them without taking the birds in. 

Picking them off won't work. There are more and the eggs hatch that create more. Their coop area will need to be thoroughly cleaned. And treated. 

It's that time of year for some reason. Maybe their last hurrah before full on winter.


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## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

robin416 said:


> That's a paste. It won't work. Sorry to say. It has to be the pour on.
> 
> Do you have a vet? You might be able to get it from them without taking the birds in.
> 
> ...


Yeah I have a vet .. I’ll see.


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## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

Durvet 2253432 Permethrin-EC 10-Percent-qt Durvet 2253432 Permethrin-EC 10-Percent-qt + Free Shipping
Does this work?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Yes. If you can get that, get it. You'll have to make sure you apply it again within ten days. And use it to spray down their coop area and roost. It'll tell you how to mix it to apply to the birds and how to mix it to spray their coop area. 

If you have concerns about spraying their heads, wet a cotton ball with the permethrin and rub their heads with it. It had to make contact to kill them.


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## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

robin416 said:


> Yes. If you can get that, get it. You'll have to make sure you apply it again within ten days. And use it to spray down their coop area and roost. It'll tell you how to mix it to apply to the birds and how to mix it to spray their coop area.
> 
> If you have concerns about spraying their heads, wet a cotton ball with the permethrin and rub their heads with it. It had to make contact to kill them.


What’s the dosage? I’ll see if I can get it it’s just so expensive plus the shipping and normally it’s cheaper in the U.S


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Everything is cheaper in the US, always has been. 

Besides that, I already told it will tell you on the bottle how to mix it. I don't have any here so I can't relieve your curiosity on the numbers. But I've used it, it's effective. It doesn't make a mess of the birds like powders can. 

As long as it isn't left out to freeze, that bottle will last you a very long time. You could even develop routine for keeping them bug free by setting times of the year to treat them. And their coop area.


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## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

robin416 said:


> Everything is cheaper in the US, always has been.
> 
> Besides that, I already told it will tell you on the bottle how to mix it. I don't have any here so I can't relieve your curiosity on the numbers. But I've used it, it's effective. It doesn't make a mess of the birds like powders can.
> 
> As long as it isn't left out to freeze, that bottle will last you a very long time. You could even develop routine for keeping them bug free by setting times of the year to treat them. And their coop area.


Alright. It takes a couple weeks to arrive though.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

If it's the only option, do it now. You could bathe the girls in baby shampoo during that time. Use a blow dryer to help dry them. Believe it or not, they like being blow dried.


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## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

robin416 said:


> If it's the only option, do it now. You could bathe the girls in baby shampoo during that time. Use a blow dryer to help dry them. Believe it or not, they like being blow dried.


It’s too cold for a bath.


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