4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[looby loo]

Hi,

Has anyone had any experience of quill mites? I'm fairly sure that's what they are - broken feathers and dark gray powdery deposits at the base of the quills. I've had a look on the parasite page and it says they are rare and that infected birds may need to be culled. Apart from the skin around the affected patch being red there doesn't seem to be any obvious signs of discomfort, Elsie is eating and drinking well and generally seems her usual perky self.

Any advice would be gratefully received as I can't seem to find much info on the web.

 

Looby loo

Elsie

Lily

RIP

Millie

[Gallina]

Quill mites are the same as feather mites: you will find more if you search for that phrase.

 

I think it's a bit drastic culling the hens: why not cull the mites? Do you use Diatom?

 

My young hens seem to give off a powdery grey deposit which lands in the Eglu nesting box; but I don't think that they have mites.

[Egluntyne]

Ivermectin *not licensed for poultry in UK* should sort them out.

 

There is an egg withdrawal period.

 

Have a look **here**

[looby loo]

Thanks for the advice. I thought quill mites were different to feather mites in that they burrow into the quill and live inside it thus making it more difficult to eradicate them. I have been using diatoms but this doesn't seem to work. I would certainly not resort to culling, it just seemed such a drastic piece of advice for a condition that doesn't seem to be causing many problems! I will try ivermectin next.

So thanks once again for the info.

 

Looby Loo

[Gallina]

I don't really know much about quill mites and feather mites, but I got the impression from a search that they were the same thing, but that some quill/feather mites go inside the feather, and some don't.

 

But now I have done another search that indicates there may be a difference. I hope you get rid of them, anyway.