# They are hungry this year!



## Balls004 (Feb 28, 2015)

We had a relatively mild winter, although it was wet and so far this spring has been unusually mild and wet, and we are getting ate up by ticks (brown deer mostly, haven't seen many "seed" ticks"). I normally spray our immediate yard with Bifenthrin which is a long acting insecticide, but delayed it due to a lot of clover blooms and I didn't want to harm the honeybees as much as possible. 

Anyone else having a bigger than normal problem with them this year? We can't take our horses out to the outlying pastures without us and them coming back covered with the critters. Other than spraying DEET all over daily, does anyone have any other recommendations? I hear that Lyme's Disease isn't any better than Shingles, and since I'm still recovering from that, I'd just as soon not have to do a full body inspection every night. I'm getting too old for that...


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## hashbrown (Sep 2, 2013)

Balls004 said:


> We had a relatively mild winter, although it was wet and so far this spring has been unusually mild and wet, and we are getting ate up by ticks (brown deer mostly, haven't seen many "seed" ticks"). I normally spray our immediate yard with Bifenthrin which is a long acting insecticide, but delayed it due to a lot of clover blooms and I didn't want to harm the honeybees as much as possible.
> 
> Anyone else having a bigger than normal problem with them this year? We can't take our horses out to the outlying pastures without us and them coming back covered with the critters. Other than spraying DEET all over daily, does anyone have any other recommendations? I hear that Lyme's Disease isn't any better than Shingles, and since I'm still recovering from that, I'd just as soon not have to do a full body inspection every night. I'm getting too old for that...


I don't think a cold or a mild winter have anything to do with tick numbers. It doesn't seem any different to me. We had a really cold winter last year and were ate up. A mild winter this year and we are ate up. We never see seed ticks here until late summer or early fall.


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## Country Living (Dec 15, 2009)

I had the foresight to get Guineas last year primarily to keep the predators away from the hens (or at least alert the hens to take cover). Guineas love ticks! We have too much acreage for the small flock of Guineas to get every tick; but, every one they eat is one less to get on us or the dogs. So far it appears they've kept the areas around the buildings tick-free. It's a different story out in the brushy areas and the pines and hardwoods. 

Guineas aren't for everyone. They're noisy. They're flighty. They go where they darn well please. We had to educate a couple of the city folks who have one of the nearby hunting leases (1) they're not pheasant, (2) they're not turkeys, and (3) they're not for target practice. It was all done in a nice way.... they had never seen Guineas before; but, the name was familiar. I heard the Guineas about 100 yards from their camp so I took their kids over to see them. It was an exciting time for them because they learned something that was really cool to tell their friends. 

Two days ago the Guineas were outside the pen that surrounds the coop. What caught my attention was they were in a group and appeared to be a bit curious about something on the ground so I wandered over. They had a rat snake cornered. I was surprised they didn't kill it. Suddenly it was gone. Maybe the snake was so happy it was still alive he skedaddled far and away.

The Guineas ran off a fox that came around the coop a few weeks ago. They lined up on the inside of the pen and screamed at the fox while the hens took cover in the coop. By the time I made it to the coop the fox was high-tailing it off to the woods. 

Didn't mean to hijack your thread. Just wanted to include Guineas in the tick solution. We don't spray for ticks and bugs anywhere on our ranch because of the bee and butterfly situation. Since we free range the Guineas and the hens, we're pretty much bug free around the buildings and the free fertilizer is just an added bonus. Except when I walk out on the porch and fail to notice a big old pile of poop.....


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## RevWC (Mar 28, 2011)

Try Picaridin products on yourself, safer than Deet. Cutter makes some and you can buy in your local market or wally.

http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/PicaridinGen.html


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## gabbyj310 (Oct 22, 2012)

My son now 46 had one of the first cases of Rocky Mountain Tick Fever,he almost died after running one of the highest temps at 107* he saw things not there(I had just lost a baby)anyway since I bought the mini farm,this was one of my dreaded fears..TICKS
I ask several "old time farmer" in the area what was the best way to "clean"up my yard from bug,ticks and critters...They ALL said Guineas are the best and duck by the pond.


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## Balls004 (Feb 28, 2015)

Country Living said:


> Guineas aren't for everyone. They're noisy. They're flighty. They go where they darn well please.


We had Guineas a long time ago too. I'll put up with the ticks before I go that route again. I could not stand the constant racket they made and I haven't gotten more tolerant in my old age, lol.

We do use Picaridin products, particularly on clothes and they work well. There are just so dang blamed many of them this year. Prepping has taken on a whole new meaning for us. Fortunately though, for whatever reason, the mosquitoes aren't exploding their population with as much water as we've had. Maybe the frequent rains have washed the larvae out of the low spots before they could hatch.


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## LilRedHen (Aug 28, 2011)

When I was a child, we visited my aunt a lot because her husband had cancer. One of her neighbors was a first cousin to the Wright brothers and he was always experimenting with something. My dad told me about talking to him and Mr. Wright showing him some ticks that he had kept in a little metal aspirin box for 9 years and they were still alive.


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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

Worst I've ever seen em round here this year. Ya get anywhere green an yer pluckin em off. Personally I use deet products cause it be what we've always used an works fer us. I've read there be some essential oils what work to, but they ain't long lived.


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