Category Archives: pest control

Digging up Grubs

Posted on April 28, 2016 by jkmcintyre
[caption id="attachment_2728" align="alignnone" width="2448"]Photo Mar 30, 4 09 14 PM Enter Grubs dug from the overwintered veggie garden[/caption]

Preparing the street beds for spring planting I first pulled the winter plants (kale, cilantro), hoed the weedlets, and mixed in complete organic fertilizer (COF). During this process, I unearthed nearly 40 large grubs of varying designs.

Happy happy day for the hens.

Is there a professional or amateur entomologist out there who can help me identify these guys? What do they become? Continue reading →

Posted in animal behaviour, bugs, chickens, pest control, spring, vegetable garden | Tagged | Leave a comment

Neem oil to control chicken lice – a.k.a. I am such a geek

Posted on February 3, 2014 by jkmcintyre

Yesterday was sunny and ‘warm’ (45 F), so rather than watch the Superbowl, we treated our chickens for lice. After talking with fellow members of the Seattle Farm Co-op, I opted for the soapy bath with neem oil treatment in … Continue reading →

Posted in chicken coop / run, chickens, education, geek, pest control, Scientific, Sustainability, update | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

Horror oh Horror

Posted on January 30, 2014 by jkmcintyre

What’s the only thing better than internal parasites? External parasites! Our hen Blanca has a bad case of chicken lice. I have learned a lot about lice in the past few days researching the problem. 1 – Chicken lice do … Continue reading →

Posted in bugs, chickens, pest control, winter | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Best Fruit Fly Remedy

Posted on September 9, 2013 by jkmcintyre

Fruit flies can be a bother at other times of the year, but rarely are they as bad as during harvest season when fresh fruits wait for processing on counters and in boxes around the kitchen. For a week now, … Continue reading →

Posted in animal behaviour, bugs, Food preservation, fruit, pest control | Tagged , , | 2 Comments