Poorly chicken

[Egluntyne]

I wouldn't touch the infested coop with a bargepole.

 

Have you a shed or garage where the hens can live for a week or two whilst you give them a period of quarantine (essential in my opinion) , and at the same time, treat them for mites?

[Happy chickens!]

Thanks - sound sensible advice to say no, but really don't feel I can, so...

 

Put new girls in the storage area which is about 30 feet away from my girls, keep isolated, treat them with the strongest chemicals for the mite and be very careful about cross contamination. I don't have to have the wooden coop - I feel I can say no to that at least! You think about 2 weeks should do it?

 

I have a large covered cat litter tray I can put to use as a nesting box, do you think they would be ok in large cardboard box with ikea type shoe stand to roost on? The storage area is covered, but a bit draughty as weld mesh on 3 sides. Will have to figure some housing out for the short term, as will need to manage intros when mite free; will cross that bridge when I get to it.

[Happy chickens!]

Have spoken to my vet and ordered the drops (Invermectrin sp?) for the new girls and she says the egg withdrawal period is 6 weeks as it's not licensed for poultry. She's fairly confident that it will get on top of any mites, though may take 2 treatments.

 

There's no wooden bits other than the frames to the weld mesh in the temporary housing and will spray manically with poultry shield to be on safe side. Already have large tub of diatom so can liberally dust everywhere and have red mite powder too, but I think will order some Johnson's spray as well, just to be on safe side.

 

Any other ideas? (other than getting men in white coats to lock me up I mean!) Keep itching the more I read about red mite.

[The Dogmother]

Bear in mind that Poultry Shield and Diatom are good deterrents, but don't kill the mites.

[Jools]

Absolutely do not take the infested house! That's just asking for trouble.

 

If you take the hens, house them in cardboard boxes in the garage overnight and then burn them the next day (boxes not hens lol) and use a new box the next night.

 

Poultry shield is recommended for the treatment of mites and their eggs on houses, but you need to repeat it regularly to make sure you get all the little blighters. Diatom can be used on both the house and birds.

 

It shouldn't take long to rid the new hens of red mite if you don't take the house as they don't tend to live on the hen, but better safe than sorry. Good luck

[The Dogmother]

If you spray then hens liberally every couple of days with the Johnsons anti-mite spray or the nettex one, then that ought to put paid to any mites clinging to the birds.

 

Whatever you end up using on the temporary housing, make sure that it contains Permethrin as that is proven to kill lice and mites.

[Jug]

Hi peeps,

 

I am a newbie at keeping hens, just thought I would chime in with my experiences of these 'orrible little critters! (the mites that is)

 

I noticed an infestation about 7 weeks ago of little white bugs when I cleaned out the coop, I knew it wasn't good but didn't think it was red mite. I cleaned and sprayed with mite and lice killer and kept changing the bedding etc but it kept getting worse, and I noticed some of the critters were red or brown.

 

I went and bought some of the smoke bomb things and tried that, it seemed to kill a lot of them off but they were back in a couple of days...this meant war! I joined this forum and had a good read and then I bought a pressure washer, more smoke bombs, mite kill spray (concentrated), creocote and red mite powder (diatom).

 

When I took apart the coop to treat it I saw that they were living in the roof more than anywhere else, it is a tongue and groove construction coop with a sheet of ply on the inside of the roof and nest box...I took off the roof and lid and burnt them and made some new ones out of a sheet of mdf (no cracks or crevices in it) as it is under a roof outside, out of the rain.

 

I did the insecticide bomb first, killed the ones in there, then pressure washed for ages in all the joins and crannies. I let that dry and then gave the whole coop a good soaking with mite kill spray. Next I creocoted the outside and underneath and the roof panels, making sure I got all the cracks and crevices.

 

Now I have been spraying the mite kill spray every evening for a week and using mite powder in the coop and on the birds. So far I have not seen any more of them, I am hoping I have broken the egg cycle etc but will periodically treat for them even if I see nothing....I know it is a bit 'belt n braces' but I feel I have done all I can. I will let you guys know if they make a return.....

 

Cheers!

[The Dogmother]

Excellent work Jug!

 

Welcome to the forum, glad that we were able to help.

[Happy chickens!]

Touch wood, fingers crossed etc, I think the new girls are mite free. I couldn't see any signs of them when they arrived, but have treated with xeno from the vet, plus red mite powder and used total mite spray in the housing regularly (thanks for tip about poultry shield - I didn't know that doesn't kill mites) plus copious quantities of diatom. As no sign of mites on paper left under them at night either ie no red spots, am chancing starting the intros as the temporary housing isn't ideal. They're free ranging either side of netting for now. I've also used the mite kill on the cube and dusted the current flock with red mite powder just to be on the safe side too.

 

Any other advice? I do appreciate it very much, even if I can't always follow it.

[The Dogmother]

With the wet weather meaning there's less dry earth for them to bathe in, it's a good idea to put a dust bath in their run - mine have an old enamelled tub with wood ash and Diatom in it, but dry potting compost is fine. It's a natural mite and lice deterrent.

[Jools]

thanks for tip about poultry shield - I didn't know that doesn't kill mites

 

Just to clarify, Poultry Shield is specifically marketed as a red mite eradicator, which I assume means it kills them. I've lifted this straight from the Flytes of Fancy factsheet - downloadable in full from their website

 

"Poultry-Shield is a safe liquid concentrate, diluted before use, for spraying onto the Red Mite and their

eggs. It is essential that Poultry-Shield actually makes contact with the mite and their eggs. The reaction

on contact is the break up of the wax coating causing dehydration and death of the mite. Poultry-Shield

at the same time penetrates the protective coating of the mite eggs producing a similar reaction. The kill

time from contact of Poultry-Shield with the mite to eventual dehydration is approximately 48 hours."

 

Glad to hear you're winning the battle.

[Jools]

Both the Johnsons Anti-Mite Spray and the NetTex Total Mite Kill Spray can be used on chickens to kill lice.

 

Can I double check this please as I've just bought my first can of Total Mite Kill (aerosol spray) to zap Northern Fowl Mites on my LF. The directions on the can say "Do not spray directly onto animals", which of course I didn't read until I got home and I bought it specifically to spray directly onto my chickens.

 

Can I spray them with it or have I bought the wrong thing?? Cheers.

[Chucky Mama]

Are you sure that you don't have a spray intended for housing rather than the birds?

[Jools]

I thought I'd bought the right product, but reading the directions makes me not sure now.

 

It's this one

 

 

I knew it wasn't the concentrate or the pink ready mix liquid and this was the only other I could find (apart from the powder).

[Jools]

Anyone please???? Is this the one that people use on their birds? If it isn't, I really need to get something else asap.

 

Thanks.

[Jools]

I've contacted Net-tex direct and their response is "Do not use the spray on your poultry, only on the housing. Use Mite powder for use on the bird"

 

Just in case anyone else wanted to know.

[Happy chickens!]

I used the evo drops from the vet - but they were expensive but sounded best, if I'd had more time I might have tried this spray for the birds: http://www.regencypoultry.com/heathcare/redmite_and_Lice/colombine_mite_spray.htm

[Jools]

Thanks Happy Chickens, that's not one I've heard of before but I'll give it a go! Would you believe I ordered a load of stuff from Regency last week too ........ typical!! So far I've poultry shielded the house (even though NFM lives only on the bird) and ivermectined the chickens but I wanted to add a topical treatment to kill the little blighters quickly. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

For info, here's a picture of the results of Northern Fowl Mite from another forum, just in case anyone wonders what it looks like. It's usually around the vent area, so initially looks like a mucky bum, but closer inspection reveals otherwise!

 

[rossco]

i got 2 chickens the other week thought they seemed a little docile i checked them and one of them has really bad lice its that bad there is lots of eggs at the base of the feathers i have spent the afternoon running round the garden and managed to put total mite kill on them all will this do the trick as one has them bad

[The Dogmother]

Thanks for your PM Rossco, I have replied to you.

 

You will need to ensure that you spray right onto the skin at the base of the feathers, mainly around the vent, under the wings and in the leg 'armpits'. Spray twice, a week apart to catch any hatching lice eggs.

[sari]

Just found 2 ( and I'm assuming the third will too, despite no evidence) of my girls have lice...One had a smallish ( golf ball) sized bald spot near her vent y'day..so I purple sprayed it, as she had obviously been pecked too. This morning her vent up to mid chest was pecked raw....gave her a gentle wash with some aromatherapy wash for cuts, and some more purple spray, when I saw orangey? straw coloured lice near her vent.Checked all the others too, and the Sussex had a couple, and a bit of irritation....I feel awful, but I check them weekly...and haven't seen anything. They won't use the dustbath I out out for them, and just do it in the Aubiose in a corner... They have all had a thorough dose with the DE, and I'm off to the local pet store for whatever I can ge that has been recommended further up....they are not off their food, and they have all laid today....even poor Florence with her bald bottom...

[The Dogmother]

If you're using DE, then see if you can pop some in the hole they've made in the Aubiose.

 

Good luck with treating them - it's the warmer weather.

[sari]

Thnks Claret...I just felt awful that Flo could be so sore that she would peck herself so bald over night...I do a proper check every week...obviously I missed them...So I've just ordered a big bag of DE.....I knwo my pet shop has *not licenced.,,,,etc* birdy stuff....so we'll see...

[The Dogmother]

A couple of mine had some the other week - I sprayed them all, used the preventative again and sprinkled Buz Busters louse powder all over the cube.

[Cloud9]

Thank goodness that I have come across this thread - I really ought to try to get on the forum more regularly - usually only get on here when I've got a problem with my girls

 

Today I noticed a few tiny white mite like critters around the eyes of three of my girls (I now have 4 as hubby rescued one). I went to the farm shop immediately round the corner and bought some louse powder on the recommendation of the lady there (she keeps hens). However, I have also noticed one of my girls has scaly leg and we've applied a liberal amount of vaseline on her legs on reading up on this on the net.

 

I am so upset as I haven't seen either of these on my hens before - my oldest girl is about 3+ (ish) now, although I did have some brown coloured lice (?) in the nest area last year which I treated with diatom and red mite powder (?) and I have also thoroughly disinfected my eglu today and did last year on seeing the lice/mites. I also bathed my girls in Johnson's flea shampoo I have for my dogs as I didn't have anything else to hand at the time.

 

Although I've kept hens for about 3 years now I am wondering if I am doing anything wrong?? I lost one hen as she was eggbound and didn't make it after seeing the vet to have it removed and I've had two others die - one just seemed to lose weight although she was still eating and the other I think had a stroke or something although the week before she was bringing up brown liquid type sick - she was not crop bound and when I asked several people who have chickens about it they didn't know what it was. I had syringe-fed her live yoghurt and oats and water and she had started to pick up before I found her unable to get up and one side of her seemed paralysed. (It just breaks my heart to think of these poor girls now).

 

I clean my eglu every week and, except in the extreme deep-freeze, wash it out thoroughly. I have the plastic roosting bars. They are bedded down on shredded paper and have newspaper under the bars. They are wormed regularly with flubenvet (I had used verm-x previously but changed due to several posts on here).

 

Am I missing something else I should be doing? Could this infestation have come from the newbie? She seemed in great condition when we rescued her.

 

Also can anyone tell me if hens' combs get more dry looking with age? I have applied vaseline to my girls wattles and combs during the bad weather to try to prevent frost bite.

 

Sorry for so many questions but I just feel that somehow I am to blame.

 

Ali