[Jacob-list] sheep, goats & chickens

[Paul and Kate Survis]

Chickens do work wonders on the flys... and free roaming chickens are great,
but they are really hard on gardens...A six foot fence will contain the
heavier chickens, but clipping wings is neccesary to keep the smaller ones
confined.  I do love Buff Orpington, but am also partial to Black
Austrolops, and Barred Rock.  We also have Rhode Islands, but they are
lighter and better fliers!! I know the chickens are eating the flies, but
are they also eating worm eggs, to help keep down that parasite problem??
They have really cleaned up the lambing pature nicely.  It would be nice to
think it is also somewhat worm free.
Kate Barrett
Ruby Peak Jacobs
-----Original Message-----
From: Aaron and Abigail Brown <blotham at sigecom.net>
To: JacobSheep <jacob-list at jacobsheep.com>
Date: Sunday, June 11, 2000 10:14 AM
Subject: Re: [Jacob-list] sheep, goats & chickens


>This year we had our worst 'fly strike', but it happened with one of our
>collies. Collies have thick coats and undercoats. While feeding this
>particular dog, King, I noticed that there were lots of flies around his
>hind quarter.
>Upon closer examination there were millions of fly eggs laid in his coat
and
>under coat. I tried to rinse them out with water but there were too many
for
>this, I had to resort to scissors and cut his hair down to the skin. As I
>did this, the area infected kept enlarging as I found new areas with eggs
>laid. I found 4 small areas were maggots had hatched next to his skin.  I
>had caught it just in time before the maggots could do any damage. It was
>all started from a 'hot spot' that he had near his rear end and had been
>chewing in that area, making it moist and susceptible to the flies. He
might
>have looked funny for a while but it certainly saved his life.
>
>We have enjoyed everyone's comments on chickens and sheep running together.
>Having purchased new chicks this spring and receiving freebies from some
>friends, we are considering running a couple or three with the sheep.
>
>Thanks for all the interesting posts.
>
>Aaron & Abigail Brown
>Shiloh Farms
>Indiana
>
>--------------------------------------------------------
>
>I built a chicken coop in the main paddock with the sheep. They have their
>roosts, feed thing, and water thing in there, so that's where they sleep.
>(sorry for the technical chicken terms,...just try to follow along  :-)  )
>Although they cruise around together, I've yet to see any poop on fleece,
>and there seems to be plenty for them to do other than goof around with the
>hay. I feed grain in a trough I built in the"Sheep the Modern Way" book,
and
>I have to turn that on it's side after grain time, as the chickens will
>roost on that and poop in it. Other than that, everyone gets along great,
>flys are minimal, and I hope I never see flystrike,..ugh, maggots are
>horrible!!!
>
>Troy Allen
>Drover's Oaks Farm
>Derry New Hampshire
>
>> One thing no one has mentioned with the chickens used for fly control is
>> the poop problem.  Don't the sheep get their fleeces dirty living with
>> chickens?  I'm really tempted to move our chickens in with the sheep
after
>> reading all the comments, but I don't want to sacrifice the fleece
quality
>> for a few less flies.
>
>
>
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