AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

I have only used the lime once and to be honest did not think it was that great still had to worm all the fowl and still found eathworms in the soil 3 months latter a little sceptical on how well it works or perhaps it needs to be applied heavy?

The benefits of using hydrated lime and garden lime(Aglime) around poultry.
I put this together for anyone who might be interested in using lime in your poultry yards. I have been using this practice for many years and I have found that from my experience with lime, it has been of great benefit to me for many reasons. I use hydrated lime as a type of disinfectant,a sanitizer. I use it to make and keep a dry environment in which bacteria does not seem to want to live in. I have very little problems with illness in my birds and I believe the lime is the reason why.
Hydrated lime is a general insect repellent for pests.
Garden lime I use to kill flies,maggots,mosquito larva, lice and all creepy crawlies. I use both types of lime depending on the circumstances in my yard and in my pens.I use lime every 2 weeks and it doesn't hurt the birds. There is a difference in the two types of lime,both in the content of the lime and the processes the lime is put through.

- Flies.If I have wet ground in my yards from rain it will attracts flies and they bother the poultry. I use garden lime or aglime in this case to stop the flies from breeding. It stops the flies laying there eggs in the moisture and then hatching which could then creates an even bigger problem.The sand fly and the horse fly,(march fly) are the worst as they cause irritation to your poultry. Lime also sweetens the ground where it is wet. The ground goes stagnant or rotten in smell especially mixed with poultry manure so the lime counteracts this.

- Hydrated Lime spread around your poultry pens will repell stick fleas, lice and mites from hanging around.Spread hydrated lime over the soil in your pen and let the birds dust bath in it. If you have concrete floors then spread it around the pen as even though the poultry cant dust bath in it,it will still deter pests.If they have a sand pit for a dust bath,then put it in the sand pit with dirt or whatever they have in it to bath in. It also deters Slater beetles and other bugs that carry worm eggs that can infest your birds. If you have these pests in your pen already use garden lime to kill them the first time you do this. Then follow on with hydrated lime in 2 weeks time and continue every 2 weeks or so with hydrated lime
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- If you have long grass or wet areas after rain that mosquitoes can breed in, like drains throw some garden lime around those areas and that will help to stop the mosquitoes from breeding. Mosquitoes carry many problems and can make birds and humans very sick. This is an easy way to help control them. After floods and heavy down pours where water sits on the ground for sometime, use your garden lime to help with bad odours or sour ground.

- If you have a hen setting on eggs just dust her lightly with lime when you set her, eggs and all. This way if something happens and she breaks an egg then the flies wont blow her and the flies wont breed. She wont have a problem with lice and she will stay settled on her eggs well.

- You can whitewash your timber in your pens with a mix of garden lime and water. This will stop all insects from living on the timber or wanting to hide in the pen. Do this regularly and it will help eliminate problems before they occur.

- You can use hydrated lime in your litter as well to keep it smelling fresh and to keep any bacteria from living in the litter.It also controls the smell of ammonia by changing the ph balance in the litter.
I hope this is of some use
Yvonne
poultryonthegwydir