Ok I've completed the chicken coop winter prep but now it's time for the duck coop.😩 Yes there's a big difference. 😩😩😩 But I was thinking through it all and I don't think anyone ever covers the small things like DE or diatomaceous earth and apple cider vinegar use during the summer versus the winter and I really don't think people really know what they're doing with it's use.
Diatomaceous earth is fossilized material that is made into a fine powder and it's effects are somewhat miraculous. It can kill small things such as mites , worms etc. It does this by cutting them up from the sharp microscopic edges but has no effect on larger animals. As a matter of fact you can put it in your animals food lightly to deworm them. Mind you lightly not because of some detrimental effect but because it can change the taste to the point they won't eat it.
You can also dust your particular animal to rid them of mites . A great idea especially with chickens is to put it where they dust bath and let them dust themselves.
The next great use for DE is moisture control. Because it is such a dry material it will control moisture in the coop to a point. Now once it gets wet that's pretty much it. But if you out it in the chicken coop it works two fold , moisture and pest control.
One warning about DE is if inhaled it can cause a number of respiratory issues. Hence the reason if you're putting it into your coop make sure and put it under a layer of hay. Chickens in particular are prone to respiratory illness and should be removed from the area when applying the DE. .
Also your lungs doesn't like DE either so when handling or applying DE you need to have respiratory protection. Trust me you don't want that in your lungs it can really cause some damage.
Next up which I'm going to try to keep short while explaining is the use of apple cider vinegar with your chickens.
Now apple cider vinegar has two main purposes and that is deworming and immune boosting in your chickens and ducks , by the way works with other animals also.
The immune boosting is only effective if you use the apple cider vinegar with the mother. If that's not in the apple cider vinegar those probiotics aren't present and the immune boosting is not going to occur.
Next is the deworming effect , now this works by making the gut of the animal more acidic thereby making a inhospitable environment for the worms. This is a fine balance so just pouring the ACV in a bucket of water is not advisable. There can be serious consequences to too much ACV.
For one making their system too acidic can have some detrimental effects to their acid/base balance. By making their system more acidic their oxyhemoglobin curve will shift slightly to the right and make them much more prone to heat illness which is the very reason I'm more careful about utilizing ACV in the summer time. It can also cause their body to burn up oxygen quicker because of the right swing to the curve that they can easily become more oxygen starved and listless with very little effort.
So too much is bad not enough is ineffective. If you're going to use it the recommended dose is 1 tbsp per gallon of water.
One of the other things rarely mentioned is the use of calcium especially during the winter months. Now their intake of calcium they can usually get during the summer months with all of the grubs and worms that are available are greatly decreased so calcium needs to be supplemented . No matter the source of the supplement it needs to be added. Calcium has a very important role in the krebbs cycle and can have nasty consequences when hypocalcemia is present ( low calcium) . And these chickens and ducks are laying eggs and dumping large amounts of calcium every day. So supplemental calcium is a must . There muscles , bones , organs and body processes are dependent on calcium.
So there's my winter checklist for you that does alter slightly from the normal summer months. I hope that was helpful. 👨🌾😁🐓🦆
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