Well my goal is to dress off the males in the fall but from what I have read you are not alone on the sexing problem. But I also have read that Guinea fowl can be difficult to winter over getting mean when you keep them in the coop and not liking snow. Knowing nothing about them I figured I would start both types because I know the New Hampshire hens will do well here.
So at the moment it is a big experiment but I am pretty sure I can sell any excess eggs.
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Well my plan is to run the light from 6am till 8pm so they have consistant light all winter. So at 3am the chickens will be sound asleep.
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Thought this was fun! Perhaps the same idea with a gasifier schematic would be good for an Argos shirt.
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Thatās cool, people could even make personal ones to there builds so they would all be different that would be complicated but sounds fun.
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Hey all, Iāve been busy doing spring work up on my land. The weather has been weird again, a very late and delayed spring, and then a jump right into summer conditions. We literally went from frost and the odd snowflake to 30C the other day and no apparent risk of frost till the fall over a span of about 4 days. It makes it hard on the trees, they should be fully leafed out by now, but are just starting. Some species seem to catch up (heat unit and day length driven), others seem to count days, which leads to leaves getting frozen off in the fall. We are also courting drought yearly now in western Canada, and seeing very erratic turns of weather. Last year it was very dry in places, causing a general shortage of hay, and then it wouldnāt stop raining in the fall, causing loss of a good portion of potato acres, and leaving farmers to finish combining in the winter or early spring while the ground was still frozen.
My land is surface dry, fire risk dry, but below moisture is fine to start off. Actually makes no spray tilling and harrowing effective.
So thatās my weather report.
I would like to pick peopleās brains on this one. Southern Manitoba produces a yearly bumper crop of woodticks. The deer tick has now moved into southern Manitoba, but hasnāt reached my land yet. However, the āold fashionedā non disease carrying ticks are rough on dogs etc. Iāve just been picking my hound clean, the tally will probably end up around 150 again. I know they have the drops or pills to give to dogs, but Iām not super keen on that, as anything that makes their entire body toxic canāt be very healthy. Plus some dogs get seizures they say.
So. Does anyone have a lead on an effective tick repellent that isnāt some nasty chemical / pharmaceutical?
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Well I am going for Guinea fowl to fill the ecological void. They are the only effective natrual method of tick control I have heard of. For humans garlic seems to help the ticks donāt bite me before I find them walking around but I donāt think dogs like garlic too well.
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I hear garlic is actually toxic to dogs. Humans are actually able to consume and enjoy things toxic to most mammals, alcohol, avocado, etc.
I also hear many favourable reports about guineas, but I think I would need about 2,000 to make a dent in this populationā¦ 
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Well Guinea fowl eat their weight in ticks every single day so if you need 20,000 lbs of ticks per day consumed I donāt think I want to visit and I have plenty of ticks here. That daily weight thing made me think Guinea where worth trying I will know in a few weeks I guess when they get to go outside.
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Garry,
Only manual tick pick here, but I know some people spray coconut oil on their dogs. Also, they say a boiled and reduced solution of thyme and lemon works. Never tried neither though.
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Interesting. Iāll give those suggestions a try. I certainly have the woodticks to run the experiments with.
I had tried some other essential oils before, eucalyptus oil, and something else, but I think the dog just figured I was torturing him, I didnāt notice any real effect on the ticks.
The simplest way to experiment would be to gather a bunch of ticks and see if anything truly repels or confuses them. Entomologists drag a white towel through the grass to gather ticks, sounds effective. Also sounds like the basis for some memorable practical jokes in a workplace or homeā¦ 
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Maybe you can put a wedding dress with a long train on your dogs and let that collect the ticks instead of the dog. 
If nothing else the video will be highly entertaining.
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I think itās a remarkable question, coming from a user of woodgasā¦
Ever considered to use wood vinegar ?
It does help here, it might help at the other side of the globe as well ?
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Who would have thought, that woodticks would be a globally unifying experience?
Iāll have to do some R&D while there is still plenty of research material. Our ticks end in early - mid Julyā¦
One thing that occurs to me triggered by your suggestion, Koen, is how about the liquid smoke flavouring? It is a related product to wood vinegar, available in stores. And dogs donāt seem bothered by the smell of smoke.
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Wait till the smaller deer ticks make it up that way. They donāt go away until the ground freezes again.
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The deer ticks are said to be around Brandon now. Thatās a sign to me itās time to move further north.
Although, with the pace of climate change I think they will be on my land within a decade.
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Well given the temps my brother reports from Fairbanks I decided getting Guinea fowl and AC was better than moving north. He seems to get both colder and hotter weather than I get here in New Hampshire. guess those long days and endless nights come at a costā¦
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I have never found a tick here in western Washington.
Mild winters and summers, frequent light rains must keep them away.
I lived in western Oregon until age 19 and only saw a few ticks, usually on a deer after a successful hunt.
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Thatās extraordinary good luck. Apparently something needed to complete their life cycle isnāt there. There are ticks specific to moose and deer, people rarely encounter them unless hunting like you say. Apparently we have about 15 species of ticks here, but only 2 bother people.
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They say up here, that the litle bitty ticks (deer ticks) spread ālimesā desease. TomC
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Yes you are correct the deer ticks are the ones you need to watch out for and why I am raising Guinea fowl I have them everywhere for the last decade they have been worse every year
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