Chicken and herb.

 

No, it's not what u'r thinking... I'm referring to our "free range" pet chickens. I eventually found a new young Pekin hen advertised and rushed over to get the last one. She's a little red mix and looks like a "boshoender". She will be fondly known as Katrientjie ;)

 

So Friday, just after Katrien's arrival, the "in-laws" came to visit and I proudly picked up our older little black Pekin hen to show of her soft, fluffy feathers. 5 Min later my skin was crawling with the speedy migration of a few hundred minute little lice - yuck!! When I checked in on our new arrival and after a hilarious little chicken chase around the coop and imminent escape to the outside, I checked on Hettie to see if I can see the lice on her. Boy! Could I see them - her whole face and body was teeming with these little buggers! It was actually disgusting how I have neglected her needs.

 

So, Saturday morning at the crack of dawn, I jumped out of bed to search for organic remedies for these little pests: Consulted my chicken book and all I could find was the conventional wisdom of lice powder (which will surely not be organic) and a few other ideas but no solutions. I decided that I will do a proper scrub down of the entire coop with a strong herbal spray (yet-to-be-determined), put a few drops Apple Cider Vinegar (organic and unfiltered) in the drinking water and provide a suitable sand-pit for dust baths plus some oyster shell grit. I will possibly also have to reconsider what I feed her because I see she doesn't eat all her food and I don't like wasting! I made up my own mix before, but will have to figure out what is best to feed the 2 of them, especially since Katrientjie is a little younger and probably needs more protein.

 

In my chicken book I also read that they like to eat straight wheat while laying, so I might add some of that to the mix as well for good measure.

 

So next task: what herbal/organic measures will be needed for la chookinas? I will most certainly have to clean up their nesting material. I thought about getting some more clean straw and oathay from the stables, but then realised that all the bales at the yard are exposed to the stinky chickens... and I certainly don't want any disease to spread! So, on Monday I will shred up some old paper (one of the most therapeutic rituals) at work and use that for bedding from now on. I might spoil her with some lucerne or hay at some other stage - but right now it's desperate measures. Those buggers have to get out!!

 

My second consultant was my favourite Margeret Robert's herbal book. Ahhh Margaret - her books and enthusiasm for herbal gardening and organic solutions always inspire me. I almost can't wait to find someone with a fever to give yarrow, lemon balm, elder flower and ginger and it makes my palms itch to find some more stinging nettle weeds for my compost pile :) She has so many excellent ideas and there's such a variety of useful herbs and weeds at our disposal...for the moment I will concentrate on the things I have an abundance of in the garden.

 

I thought of trying the following spray (hopefully insect-repelling) of sage, rue, myrtle and catmint and then I will scatter some sprigs of rose geranium, lavender, feverfew and lemon verbena all over the top floor of the coop. I could also try some wilde als (artemesia).

 

I hope that for now that will do the trick!

 

So then, note pad and to do list out - my tasks for the next week:

Spring-clean entire coop: scrub with water + baking soda, rinse and spray organic apple-cider vinegar (ACV) + a few drops Tea tree oil (TTO) - every week!

Disinfect water feeder + ACV in drinking water

Provide grit + sand/dust bath 

Provide different food types (+ wheat) in separate dishes - to see what the chicken actually eats up and what to leave out.

 

 

Hmmm, chickens are actually hard work!

 

All I had time for before brunch with the in-laws was to clean out all the Lousy straw bedding and scatter some of the herbs. I will only be able to get new shredded paper bedding on Monday and I couldn't just leave the place empty - so I placed some rose geranium and lavender in the nest box - Hettie loved it! She looked so cute, even a live chicken goes well with herbs :) I think I might actually start a new trend and nest my birds down with some dried lavender in future :) it looks so lovely after all and I luckily have LOADS of lavender all over the garden :)

 

Then it was off to brunch and some disinfecting later... it took time to figure out what all I could use that is safe, natural and 'organic'. For an initial bugg-cleanse I made a mild infusion of sage, chamomile and rose geranium to which I added 10 mL of ACV and 5 drops TTO. The girls didn't enjoy their bath too much, but realised I wasn't going to drown them and settled soon enough. Luckily the sun was shining and Hettie could dry during a stroll in the garden. Katrien had to stay in the run, she's still WAY too wild and excitable.

 

I sincerely hope to report back with a success story on the infestation control in a few weeks time and in the interim I will have to find an organic deworming solution as well.