How to Get Rid of Ticks!

       Last week my husband was bitten by something that left a red ring on his arm. A pin point in the center of the ring caused some concern that the bite may have the lingering effects of some mysterious outbreak.

       The event reminded me of the season we had a sudden population explosion of ticks. We had long before given up farm animals to work other jobs. It was just us and our dog, Amos. All of us had to do body checks every time we went outdoors collecting ticks and putting them in jars with alcohol swabs.

       We did not want to spray poisons around the homestead for many reasons – we didn’t want to track poison in the house, test our sensitivities, or kill other creatures. For the same reason we did not want to spread chemicals on our bodies and tamper with our first line of defense, our skin.

       We mentioned this conundrum in conversation with our 90 year old elder who smiled wisely at us and suggested we get a couple of chickens. It turns out that ticks and their eggs are like candy to chickens. This information was not mentioned in any of our new world research.

       We purchased four young Rock Island Red hens and prepared a small shelter for them with all the comforts of a chicken home, then just let them do their job. They rustled around in the grass during the day, clucking gossip with each other and dutifully returned to their little straw bedded cabin for the evening. We felt a sense of calmness coming back as we watched these beautiful little birds join our family interactions. They ate vigorously and we kept our promise to care for them.

       We had left the country life behind to join a world where we were too busy, we thought, to manage the care of land and animals. Yet the sweetness of our shared bond with these chickens brought back a feeling of belonging that was also left behind. Within days the ticks disappeared. We enjoyed a comfortable summer that year. Now we live where chickens are forbidden. Too bad. We learned a special lesson then that all of us are in a constant state of conscientious balance as we try to tread lightly on this earth.

       As for the chickens, we gave them to farm friends for the winter knowing that the next year would be safely bite free by the good work of our Tick Swat Team.

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be writing in more often, so please check back soon.

Happy summer,

Helene