No Pledge Required In Chicken Dusting

As I noted in my last blog, we are about a year into owning chickens, and we are learning as we go from a mentor who raises free-range chickens.  I belong to a few chicken keeping forums and I learn alot from them as well.  It was in one of these forums that a discussion ensued about "dusting" chickens.

Dusting chickens? Does that require a cloth?



A chicken giving itself a dust bath.

 In fact, chickens dust themselves often as part of their daily ritual.  Our chickens find a great spot in our barn that has loads of sawdust on the floor (leaving gaping "a-chicken-has-been-here" holes we later have to refill with our shovel), or they will just climb into our sawdust pile, and throw dust on themselves.  Dusting provides many benefits.  Mostly, it smothers parasites.  So in a way, chickens are cleaning themselves. 

However, it is important to make sure chickens are parasite free.  They do get chicken lice (which are different from the regular lice you and I know) and mites (those little red spidery things).  In order to do this you have to pick up a chicken and examine it by pulling back some feathers in various spots.

Diatomaceous Earth is a natural and non-toxic way of getting rid of almost any parasite predators.  DE is something I already use in my garden to dust my plants (as I do not want to use any pesticides on my fruits or vegetables) and the FOOD GRADE (this is important...there is a commercial grade and a food grade...you want the food grade) version can be used as a horse dewormer feed-through, and, now, for chicken dusting as well.  I also use DE in the coop by dusting the sawdust there and along the floor boards and edges where bugs can hide.  DE breaks down the outside shell of insects and ultimately kills them.  No insect is exempt.  This is why DE can be a real help to organic garden growth.



So easy a child can do it!

 We don't normally pick up our chickens.  My grandson was visiting last summer and he  had obtained loads of experience in chicken pick up by helping his Dad, who at the time worked for The Lands at Hillside, a non-profit reconstruction of a natural farm habitat in Dallas, PA.  So Andrew simply went up to one of our hens, grabbed it and held it and then asked "Do you guys pick up your chickens?"  We stood there aghast because it was so easy that even a 10 year old could do it and we really hadn't been lifting them.  We told ourselves we were establishing a "trust" relationship with our chickens, one where they could be assured that when we approached they had nothing to be afraid of.  Hmmmmm.....

To be honest, it is apparent we have been negligent in teaching our chickens to be held.  That was never so apparent as the night I decided to dust them.

First I watched this video on YouTube.  It is a great video.  I hope you will watch it.  You will see how CALM the hen is that is being dusted.  You will see towards the end the rooster is somewhat agitated by the fact that his hen is being bothered, but is simply cluck clucking around and walking back and forth.  These are all very important to note.  I also noted the hen's flaying leg get caught in the woman's shirt at one point and I chastised her silently for not keeping a good hold, thinking all the while that I would not have let that happen.

Then I watched this video.  In this version the British gentleman holds his chickens upside down by their feet to dust them.  I love the name "How To Powder A Chicken" and how he quite calmly in his british accent says "sometimes they struggle."  It's like "ho hum...are there scones with that tea?"  Same tone of voice.

I just want to note here that it is amazing how many videos of chicken legs being covered in bread crumbs and herbs you will find when you query "dusting chickens."  Hellllllooooooo!  Some of us are raising them for eggs ya' know!

Okay, so two videos under my belt, I felt, how hard could this be?

I'm about to tell you.

First, I wisely put on a light flannel shirt that was sitting on top of our dryer since January.  It is Paul's.  Although it was a relatively warm day, I was doing this in the early evening, and I wanted to be protected.  This was probably the wisest thing I did.

When  you read the DE labels it talks about things like not inhaling the dust, not getting the dust in your eyes.  I've always been careful when handling it even though it is non-toxic.  But, as you have seen in viewing the videos, the folks featured took no precautions against handling or breathing in the dust.  And, since the chickens ultimately would be, in my mind, as calm as they were in that video, I would be able to just dig in with my hands and rub that dust on them without incident.  They say God protects fools and drunks.  This is probably very true.

Out to the barn, where I get my "operation" set up. DE readily at hand, I go for my first chicken.  This is Jenny.  Jenny has had an injured wing since our neighbor's dog took it upon herself to come up and chase our chickens.  She was an easy catch and really didn't put up much of a struggle.  I held her wings and held her close to me just as you saw in the video.  I rubbed the DE over her.  We have her separated in a dog crate right now so that the other chickens do not pick on her until her wing fully heals, so back in the crate she went and I felt encouraged by how easy that was.



A chicken running at full tilt!

 Then I had to dust Screech, our rooster, and Henny, our other hen.  They had been walking about the barn, so Paul helped me "corral" them.  First Henny was captured in our feed room where she desperately tried to hide behind every container we own.  Chickens can really move out when they want to.  They are fast little buggers.  When I finally grabbed her, you would think we were cutting off limbs one at a time.  She made the most ungodly racket!  Screech was so perturbed by the fact that I was causing HIS hen so much anguish by simply picking her up, he began to squawk loudly and continuously, and flap his wings.  Henny decided this was a good opportunity to peck me.  I was undaunted.  I moved with her toward the DE bag and felt a great deal of satisfaction rubbing that dust all over her while she continued her loud and obnoxious chicken oratory.  When she was done and I put her down, she pecked me again just for good measure and ran off toward Screech. 

We corraled Screech behind a large piece of plywood we used as a barrier to keep him in a corner.  If I thought Henny was loud, Screech was even louder.  One thing they needed to tell you in these videos was to buy and wear a set of ear plugs.  If I ever make a video on dusting chickens, you can bet that will be in there.  "If you don't handle your chickens often, you may want to purchase and wear a set of ear plugs.  Sometimes they struggle.  Sometimes they scream bloody murder.  Are there any scones with that tea?"  I'll try to be just as calm and unsuspecting in my video as the folks were in the videos I watched.  I won't say things like:  "You will have to CHASE DOWN your chickens running at full tilt, corner them with whatever you find, and be prepared to be pecked.  You will have to put up with 90 DECIBEL squawking."

Screech, the WIMP, protested through the entire session, which only lasted about a minute.  Finally he was done too.  He and Henny IMMEDIATELY went to the safety of their coop to get away from me.  WHAT WAS THIS TRAVESTY THAT JUST OCCURRED!  HOW DARE WE PICK THEM UP!

Finally, I had to dust the two new hens, who live in one of our stalls for the time being.  I closed myself in with them and then proceeded, somewhat Larry, Moe and Curly style, to capture first one, and then the other.  Neither one of them pecked me, to which I was astounded because they really don't know me as well, and, in fact, the second hen, once caught, was pretty calm about the dusting process.  I'll bet she's been handled by our chicken mentor!



I'm sure this conversation went on in our coop after
we left for the night!

 Unfortunately (or fortunately for me) we had no camera.  Once completed, I took stock in my appearance.  I was covered in white dust from top to bottom.  I was pretty sure I ate some.  In fact, if I stayed this way, no insects would land on me for 3-6 months.  I was completely covered in sweat thanks to the flannel shirt and the chicken dashing.  Oh yeah, sign me up to make that video.  Maybe we can even send it to Ellen.  We can title it:  WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN "POWDERING" CHICKENS.

All I know is this.  Our chickens are going to be picked up regularly from now on.  They don't need to be dusted for 3-6 months, but you can bet the next time will be smoother.

I went out the next day and they all ran away from me.  So much for months of trust.  Get ready ladies and Screech.  Your chicken world is changing.

Aaaarrrrrooooo!