Solitary chicken - need advice

[The Dogmother]

Let me know if you need any Avipro - I have tons too.

[tom123]

Thank you all for your lovely comments however, I am extremely upset as have realised what the problem is. My hens went to stay with my friend last week as my hen house had a big leak. She had a spare house and run which they stayed in. At the weekend I brought them home however never thought to put dose them with red mite powder. This morning I was cleaning and disenfecting the house and found a pile of red mite in the corner I have just read up about it and it says it can cause death with symptoms like pale combs, no eggs, lethargic etc.

 

It was my fault and now they are dead

[Chucky Mama]

Tom, there is absolutely no way that you should blame yourself. I know that you must be feeling really awful now, you have had terrible morning. My thoughts go out to you but please don't blame yourself.

[WitchHazel]

Tom, there is no way you should be blaming yourself. Whatever has happened, it wasn't deliberate.

 

I know red mite are horrible things, but I'm really shocked that the Girls declined so quickly!

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Tom please don't blame yourself, you have found out what the problem is and can now make moves to rectify it.........unfortunately it's too late for the girls but you know it may not be an infectious disease which could move to the rest of the flock provided you treat it.

 

I would check with your friend...they may be unaware that they have red mite if the coop they used is a spare & not used very often.

 

More {{hugs}} are needed I think

 

Sha x

[The Dogmother]

Oh Tom Please don't blame yourself, it really isn't your fault.

 

Let your friend know that the have red mite so that they can get sorted. Strip down your housing, jet wash it all and soak in Poultry Shield, then powder with Diatom when it is dry.

[Tweety]

Don't know what to say Tom - you must feel awful, but you had no reason to suspect red mite and, I must say, I had no idea that they could cause death so quickly. At least you can do something to protect your other girls now. I'm so sorry about what has happened.

[Chickvic]

Tom, I am so sorry to hear about your girls

[Daphne]

Tom, I've just caught up with this - can't believe whats happened to you. Follow the good advice and read up/talk to vet about how to bring your remaining girls around. I must say I am surprised too at the speed they've declined. I hope the mods may be helping you via PMs. We are all sending you our good wishes - ask Nan for a cuddle; its horrid coping on your own.

[mostin]

So sorry to read about your awful day tom , please try not to beat yourself up about it. Follow Claret and all the other mods advice and accept all the virtual hugs we are all sending you. you'll get no judgement from any of us, it was too quick for you to see.

[Egluntyne]

It isn't your fault Tom. You mustn't blame yourself.

 

At least you know what the problem is now, and can take appropriate action.

[The Dogmother]

Make sure that any other chooks get plenty of protein to counteract the anaemia caused by red mites.

 

There will be a lot of them somewhere in that housing to cause them to be that poorly. Take care when cleaning it and make sure that you take your clothes off outside and put them in a hot wash before having a hot shower yourself. Red mites can live in hooman housess too

 

Sunlight kills them, so if you can leave your housing open to the light, it will help a lot.

[Couperwife]

oh Tom, what a rubbish time you are having

 

do not blame yourself, you didnt put the red mite in the hen house! (neither did your friend) they are just nasty little critters that get where they can

 

(((hugs)))

 

cathy

x

[smanners]

Just caught up with this........... so very sorry to hear about your girls

I agree with everyone else you cannot blame yourself ........sadly red mite are a down side of chicken keeping and at least you know about them now and can redress the problem.

take care

Sophie

[Lizzie]

Just been reading this - Tom, totally agree with everybody else that you cannot and must not blame yourself for this. I had absolutely no idea that chooks would decline this quickly. Its been a terrible experience for you but try not to be sad - just focus on getting the others back to strength. Good luck and very best wishes

 

Liz

[xScrunchee]

So sorry to read about your girls

[Plum]

Hi Tom, how's Lucy did she make it? I've been so hoping for you that she's picking up.

[Olly]

So sorry to hear about it, must have been a major infestation of red mite - but why on earth would you suspect it, please don't blame yourself. I had no idea it could bring a chicken down that quickly, that's a warning for us all.

 

I hope you can sort the problem out now. This could happen to any of us, it's terribly sad but it wasn't your fault.

[Patricia W]

Just caught up with this Tom. So sorry. But you could not have foreseen this. Let us know how you are. We're all thinking of you

 

Tricia

[tom123]

Hi guys Lucy is fighting strong again back to her normal self I opened the rabbit hutch up this morning and out she flew onto my shoulder clucking away

 

We are going away from Monday for 2 weeks so she is going to stay with another friend in the rabbit hutch and hopefully we have fought the red mites. We have dusted it all, disinfected everything and blowtorch it all but are still finding a few patches will have to keep going.

 

Thanks for all your lovely comments and I hope this is the end of it. I hope people learn from my experience and take extra care now.

 

Thanks

Tom

[Olly]

Very glad to hear that, sounds as if you've identified the problem correctly. It's a very timely warning to all of us - as far as I know my girls have never had redmite, but it just shows it can happen at any time.

 

Sorry that you had to find out such a hard way, but it may well have alerted some other forum readers to a potential problem so thanks for letting us know. Have a good holiday, you must need one now!

[mostin]

So glad Lucy is feeling better.

 

If she new how many of us were pulling for her she would be as strong as an ox .

[Staffordmum]

So sorry to hear about it, must have been a major infestation of red mite - but why on earth would you suspect it, please don't blame yourself. I had no idea it could bring a chicken down that quickly, that's a warning for us all.

 

I hope you can sort the problem out now. This could happen to any of us, it's terribly sad but it wasn't your fault.

 

I agree with Olly and was discussing this in the car with OH yesterday (he must get REALLY fed up with me - thank goodness for the Forum! ).

 

If nothing else, this serves as a warning to us all. I too had no idea it could strike with such speed ...

 

Kind rgds,

 

Pat & Steve

[Plum]

Thanks Tom, so glad Lucy made it. xx

[The Dogmother]

I have been thinking about this over the weekend and doing some research; please don't worry folks - a hen would only die from red mite if they had an underlying health problem in the first place. So a chook that had say a chest infection, or a heavy load of worms might just be poorly enough to succumb. A healthy bird should be able to shrug it off without too much problem.

 

Soooo, keep your girlies in tip-top condition, check them and the housing regularly and stock up on Flubenvet