Sooo much pooping

[daisymay]

Hi

 

I picked up my 2 merrydale crested on friday and put them in with y 'oldies' last night for the first time.

 

I'd noticed when I got them that their tail feathers looked a bit dirty but assumed it was down to the long journeys they'd all had and also that they are babies so maybe not looking at their best yet.....plus I'm new to chickens so don't really know what I'm looking at!!!

 

I was skimming through my chicken book (like I seem to do all the time! ) and noticed that it said greasy tail feathers can indicate mite/lice. I just wondered if anyone has any experience/advice about this. I have just been out and diatom'd the eglu/roosting bars and nesting box/straw with loads and loads of powder. I always put diatom on the roosting bars/nesting box so not sure if that would've killed any mites that the newies might have. They are very skittish at the moment and won't easily be caught. I am going to go and have a good look (well as good as I can) at them this evening and will dust them with the red mite powder I have on stand by.

 

Should I dowse all of them (old and new chickens) as a precaution?

 

How do I do it? Do I need to cover them all over or just in a specific area?

 

Am waiting for it to go dark and have got my husband on standby as the torch/powder man

 

Thanks in advance for all of your help!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Don't know if I can help much, I've no experience of lice or red mite (thankfully ). I believe dusting them should include under wings and round their vents. I would certainly do all your girls too - just to be safe. I use a big soft paintbrush to dust my girls periodically.

 

Sounds like you're doing the right thing in the eglu. I also put a good sprinkling of red mite powder in their nestbox when I clean it out.

[daisymay]

hi

 

thanks for that. have dusted them all. basically just covered them as best I could and rubbed it in with my hand. took special care to rub in around the vent and under the wings. Hope that will improve things...

 

One of the new girls has lots of pecked feathers (had them when she arrived) so had a look at think that they're starting to grow back.

 

I'll see if their tail feathers improve over the next few days...not helping with the wet weather though as all looked pretty grotty today!