lerryn Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 I've been given lots of advice but thought i'd ask you lot.... Had my 2 chucks for a couple of months now. Keep them on the lawn, moving every couple of days. Do i need red mite dust, garlic powder, vinager in the water! I just feed them layers mash & s"Ooops, word censored!"s & give them tap water... they have made their own dust baths around the garden. Do I really need anything else? & whats this about garlic stops their poo smelling so much? Any advice would be appriciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xChicken04x Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 Hiya, You dont need these things but they are handy to have. You dont need a dust bath if the chickens have made there own. You dont need to add apple cider vinegar to there drink either, its just a little vitimain supliment (like humans have vitimain tablets) The garlic powder (the stuff from horse shops, not the stuff from your local Sainsburys) stops the poo smelling (so i've heard, but i've never tried it) What you are doing sounds fine, people have kept chickens for hundreds of years and never had the stuff we do now, so i think you will be Ok. However i would make sure you have lice powder and red mite powder just incase your chickens get any "vistiors" hope this helps xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lerryn Posted September 4, 2007 Author Share Posted September 4, 2007 Thanks a lot... do you get lice powder & red mite stuff from "horse" shops too... wouldnt know where to start, but will get googling! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xChicken04x Posted September 4, 2007 Share Posted September 4, 2007 Hiya, i dont know if you can get lice or mite powder from hosey shops but you can buy it from the omlet website here is a link for you: http://www.omlet.co.uk/shop/shop.php?cat=Chicken%20Extras&sub=health hope this helps! xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arowland17 Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 we put garlic powder in their water and their poop doesn't smell hardly at all so it must be doing something - they also like the water a lot more with it in too, only need a pinch in the glug - we found it helpful when we had them on grass as they seemed to make an awful mess (have them on hemcore now) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 You get the lice and mite powder at "horsey" shops. Garlic powder (not garlic salt!) does stop the poo ponging. Strong apple cider vinegar(the robust cloudy sort...not the culinary type) helps make the environment in the gut hostile to parasites. None vital...all useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 I definitely recommend using garlic powder, it makes the poo a lot less smelly ... but you're right, you don't NEED any of these things. It's easy to get carried away with buying extras (well, when you're ordering online you might as well justify the delivery charge!) I would get Diatom or similar to use when you clean the Eglu, just to deter any mites, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
