Time of photo taken 2013 end of April or begining of May.
Found these first day or so when I introduced Polly ( now a Paulie, she is a roo roo rooster LOL ) to the original restless hens chickens. We took it slow and had some play time every day or so till I could get the girls to understand that she was not a poking/play toy.

When they were newbies around May 1st 2013

 

I added a polish grey chic and 2 ducklings

    After being away in Michigan with my son for ten days, I had to say goodbye to Leghorn, and hello to a flock covered in lice. Of course at first I had no idea what the heck was all over my hens bumms. I handle them frequently and always check my girls feathers and skin so it was a shock to see what looked like the end of q-tips at the base of the feathers.

    So after many web inquiries and reading for the last two days, I have discovered that my girls have the dreaded chicken body louse. So yes LICE..yuck! I have been researching and reading and devising the best course of action for my circumstances with a really old chicken coop, four original hens, and the newly added blue grey polish chicken and her two soul mates Pete and Repeat (still technically in the pullet stage, if my two pekin ducks have a pullet stage :). I added the three later after losing so many of my flock to a couple rough dog incidents. One dog was visiting my neighbor and the other was truly a starving lost dog whom found a meal in my favorite Rhode Island Red, rip Mohawk.


I was mildly comforted with the following concise summary of the chicken body louse,

Common Lice and Mites of Poultry - University of California ...

anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8162.pdf‎   2005

COMMON POULTRY LICE

 

[Lice are small (mostly between 1 and 6 mm [0.04 to 0.24 in] long), wingless, straw-

colored insects with a somewhat flattened appearance and in most cases an elongated

abdomen (the hindmost body segment). All poultry lice have chewing mouthparts

and feed on dry skin scales, scab tissue, and feather parts. They also feed on blood

when the host bird’s skin or feather quills are punctured. Lice are commonly found

on both the skin and feathers and can move from one bird to another when birds are

kept in close contact. The louse’s eggs

(nits)

usually are attached to the feathers.

Lice are ectoparasites and spend their entire life on an animal host. Most louse

species are host specific, meaning that they can feed on only one or a few closely

related species of animal hosts. Poultry lice cannot survive on humans or on our non-

bird domestic pets. In fact, a poultry louse generally completes its entire life cycle

from egg to adult on a single bird, and will die within a few days to a week if separat-

ed from a host. The number of lice on poultry tend to be greatest during the autumn

and winter.

Poultry lice are not known to transmit any avian pathogens, although some wild

bird lice are suspected of transmitting pathogens to their hosts. The presence of lice

frequently accompanies poor poultry health that is attributable to other causes, and is

especially harmful to young birds where high numbers of lice may cause sleep disrup-

tion. Effective self-grooming of poultry is an important means of reducing lice. Louse

populations are generally higher on birds with injured beaks or on those that have

had their beaks trimmed. Molting greatly reduces louse populations, and one effective

way to address a severe louse problem is to induce molting and then rapidly remove

nit-laden feathers from the poultry facility.

The two most common louse species affecting California poultry are the chicken

body louse

(Menacanthus stramineus)

and the shaft louse

(Menapon gallinae).

Adult

chicken body lice measure 3 to 3.5 mm (0.12 to 0.14 in) long while adult shaft lice

are about 2 mm (0.08 in) long. Adult chicken body lice are most prevalent around

the sparsely feathered vent, breast, and thigh regions. Eggs of the chicken body louse

are cemented in clusters to the base of feathers, especially around the vent.]

 

******BINGO******  We have a winner, this describes what I have seen on my hens.

 

I decided to dust them with 5% Sevin mixed with D.E. food grade. I put the dusting powder in a very large old pillow case and added my girls one by one. They were dusted heavily, maybe I got a little excited and over did it. I hope I didn't hurt my girls. I will need to repeat this every seven days for a total of three dusting's. I hope this will put an end to the scary brown creature scurrying around on my hen's vents.

I will update my blog with the results....first applicaton was July 18, 2013.

     Wow what an amazing day. I had to drive to Eugene for my Ford Foundation Opportunity Scholarship interview. Thank you to Bart, Barbara and Carolyn, you all were so very nice to listen to me blather on with excitement. I was so happy and nervous but mostly just deeply honored to even be at this point in my life and to have been chosen for an interview with an amazing and highly respected philanthropic foundation, such as your.         

***They are an amazing organization ***
If anyone Reads my blog ....and you are a college student or planning to go back to college.  And if you live in the Oregon or Northern California area please reach out to Ford Family Foundation.

Scholarship Office | (Map) 440 E. Broadway, Suite 200 | Eugene, OR 97401
Toll Free: (877) 864-2872 | Local: (541) 485-6211 | Fax: (541) 485-6223
For general questions: fordscholarships@tfff.org

*****Citing this source for below all quoted directly from their website
http://www.tfff.org/AboutUs/Background/tabid/97/itemid/129/Default.aspx ****



 

	Kenneth W. Ford 1908-1997
	Hallie E. Ford 1905-2007

DID YOU KNOW…

• The Ford Family Foundation is a private, independent foundation.
• Roseburg Forest Products Co., a family-owned company, continues to operate in over 80 communities throughout the United States. www.roseburg.com
• We are not affiliated with the Ford Motor Company or The Ford Foundation in New York.
• The Ford Institute for Community Building Select Books Program provides an inventory of carefully chosen books and resources at NO CHARGE.
  

directly from their website their core values and mission:

MISSION
Successful Citizens and Vital Rural Communities

CORE VALUES

Integrity	Promoting and acknowledging principled behavior
Stewardship	Responsibility to give back and accountability for resources and results
Respect	Valuing all individuals
Independence	Encouraging self-reliance and initiative
Community	Working together for positive change

VISION STATEMENT
By 2020 we will see across our region adaptive, self-reliant individuals and rural communities working together for positive change.

  What they do and who they serve:

The Ford Family Foundation Grant Programs make grants to public charities that predominantly benefit small communities in rural Oregon and Siskiyou County, California.

The Ford Institute for Community Building helps rural citizens in Oregon and Siskiyou County, California, create vital communities through training, small grants, and resources.

The Ford Family Foundation Scholarship Programs offer assistance to residents of rural and urban Oregon and Siskiyou County, California, to pursue higher education.

For our Grant Programs and the Ford Institute, we define “rural” as communities under 30,000 in population in Oregon and Siskiyou County, California, not adjacent to or part of a metropolitan area.

The Scholarship Programs offer assistance to residents of rural and urban Oregon and Siskiyou County, California.  

 They even have  a Ford Vitality Model:
  

Ford Vitality Model 

Organizations that strive to promote change benefit from a “theory of change” (a phrase used by evaluators) that describes how change occurs. The theory guides program development and provides questions for evaluation. Our theory starts and ends with the individual and shows why the two elements of our mission are important and how they are related


*****Citing this source for all above directly quoted and shared from their website
http://www.tfff.org/AboutUs/Background/tabid/97/itemid/129/Default.aspx ****

  

     The primary goal I set out to accomplish was to dive back into college full time, as a non-traditional student and a single mother of two sons still in school themselves. This decision was complex because I also set out to quit smoking just two months prior to the first term at Chemeketa Community College. The motivation there was that 2011 was the first year the entire campus went smoke free. It was a tremendous stride forward for the college and community and I wanted to lead and support the positive change. Again I knew my success in college academically needed no distractions and smoking would have been one of them. To begin the cold turkey removal of smoking in my life, after indulging for 25 years, was in and of itself one of the most daunting and ambitious tasks of my life. But my love for academics and drive and desire to succeed with college was all I needed to fuel the discipline required. I found that I met the challenge and even filled in the void with another ambitious undertaking and that was raising ten chicks to become hens. The rest is history after I created the Restless Hens Co-op and Blog that shares my story and their lives which is still a current project and the primary reason for my success. I wanted to reach out and share with others, the plan I instilled to succeed and all the details along the way.  I am blessed because the love my hen’s give me help me decompress from intense academic schedules and their eggs go out to the community to reduce the purchase of factory farmed chicken eggs.  My work ethic shows with the health and recovery of my hens, when they are stricken from time to time. My diligence is evident because not only was it my first time with barn yard critters but I also did all the research, planning and execution on my own, while handling my new academic load.

    I need to remind myself every once in a while that I use to be chained to the habit of smoking. After years of smoking I began to understand it was a chore that I could not ignore. A chore that would shorten my life. A chore that would hurt my children. A chore that would limit my hope for a fulfilling future. I thank God everyday because it will be three years on November  11, 2013 and I look forward to celebrating on that day. Maybe I should create a walk that can raise money for the many cancer foundation, to fight cancers caused by cigarettes. I will not forget the forces that came together to help me affect change, positive changes in my life that opened up more possibilities to make a difference in my life. It is my duty to share that we all possess the power within ourselves to make better choices, to create better futures and to help one another along the way.
    So my girls, my hens, my pets and my new passion have become the platform I will continue to use to share how my future unfolds. Maybe a walk or 5K that includes taking and showcasing your favorite pet to raise money and hope for those diagnosed with cancer.  

     Since I was honored last Saturday afternoon with the Soroptomist Women's Opportunity Scholarship, at two levels I was able to apply it to the purchase a car. My transportation was the one major obstacle holding me back from continuing at a different school in the fall. My two years at Chemeketa Community College is coming to a close I will need to rise up to the challenges of attending George Fox University in the fall of this year. It is only because of the incredible resources and incredible people at Chemeketa Community College that I have come this far. I participated in the disability program, the Trio program and the free tutoring facility and began to also participate by offering my time to other students like me who need a helping hand. So I shout out and thank everyone at CCC for their dedication and encouragement. It is unreal to me the blessings that have opened up as of late because of my hard work. Before my acceptance to GFU and my Soroptomist phone call from Lori Gilles I was uncertain, but still determined as I worked toward my goals and aspirations to become more than the shell of myself I have been living most of my life.

    I've lost four of my girls to dogs since Sunday afternoon, RIP Foghorn, Mohawk, Lucy Lynn and now yesterday Rhodie. They gave me love and affection and peace during the ups and downs of the last two years. I have great pictures and memories and they were the project that helped me Quit Smoking for ever. I have Ronnie, Leg Horn, Henny Penny, Sally Jean and Peggy Sue left and I think they miss their girlfriends. I hope to add more to my flock sometime this year. I'm thinking of rescuing some factory farm chickens or adding some unusual breeds but it takes time and preparation, so between applying for scholarships, volunteer work and the last of my spring studies I will attempt to add more chickens to my Restless Hens Flock. I will always cherish the experience of raising my 10 hens from day old baby chics.



http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/QuitSmoking/QuittingResources/Resources-for-Quitting-Smoking_UCM_307934_Article.jsp

for those who want to make the change ....go to HEARTORG for great resources.  

Chicken Egg Binding. Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, Prevention

As usual I love to share useful and professional websites that help me care for my hens.


The the-chicken-chick.com is a great resource. She shares great information

Jul 20, 2012

Chicken Egg Binding. Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, Prevention

If you are worried that your hen could be egg bound read her blog and  the following :

Additional reading and resources:

http://www.avianweb.com/Prolapse.htm

http://www.avianweb.com/eggbinding.html

*Anatomical illustrations and photo reproduced for educational purposes, courtesy of Jacquie Jacob, Tony Pescatore and Austin Cantor, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture. Copyright 2011. Educational programs of Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability, or national origin. Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, M. Scott Smith, Director, Land Grant Programs, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Lexington,and Kentucky State University, Frankfort. Copyright 2011 for materials developed by University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension. This publication may be reproduced in portions or its entirety for educational and nonprofit purposes only. Permitted users shall give credit to the author(s) and include this copyright notice. Publications are also available on the World Wide Web at www.ca.uky.edu. Issued 02-2011