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

[doncasiz]

Hi, Have been reading up on the forum gathering information in readiness for my beautiful girls arriving....it has taken me 3 long years to convice my husband that chickens would be great in our garden and fresh eggs the best!!! Now I feel that I am letting my chooks down and everything has gone wrong as I am sure that at least one has red mite and lice. I have 3 girls a hybrid, a sussex and a marran. I have been able to handle all chickens and they have become very tame and have let me coat them in something beginning with d..... earth powder that I purchased from Omlet. I have dusted the hybrid really well and rubbed into her skin tonight as I could see tiny red mites around her vent area. She has feather loss to her bottom area and is getting quite thin although is eating and drinking and active otherwise, her waffle is still red and upright. I am really gutted about this as am strict with hygiene and clean the dropping tray daily and the whole eglu weekly with poultry shield and a dusting of the anti-mite powder, I can see no signs of the mites in the eglu but will take it all apart tomorrow and clean. Please can anyone suggest anything else I can do to help, I really don't want to loose any of my chooks as have really grown extremely fond of them as have my children and I know they and I would be devastated. My Maran has also been broody for the past 4 weeks despite me turfing her off the nest everyday and closing the door to make her stay out. She is getting increasingly annoyed with me and will peck me to tell me off....I thought this would have passed by now any advice gladly appreciated...have also had her sitting on a cooler pack and tried letting her fly to circulate the air....no luck....still broody and preventing anyone else using the convieniances!!!

 

Thanks...In hope of help!!!

Donna

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Hi Donna and welcome to the forum . Sorry to hear about your mite and lice problem . Don't feel too bad, they are rife at the moment.

 

http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=44213&hilit=red+mite

 

A quick search on the forum for red mite will give you loads of info on how to deal with it .

[Olly]

Welcome to the forum, and as ANH says, don't feel bad about it - this year has been really bad for red mites.

 

You will need to clean the Eglu really thoroughly as well as dusting the girls, and keep on doing it because you need to break the cycle, otherwise you may find you're getting rid of the mites but not the eggs and they're just hatching again.

 

Have a look here for advice about broody hens. Sometimes there's nothing you can do but wait for her to snap out of it.

 

Your hens sound lovely, and I'm sure you'll get over this, chicken-keeping is a steep learning curve and we've all had challenges at different times. Keep looking on here, you'll get lots of advice and tips.

[doncasiz]

Thank-you so much for your replies and really helpful info...I will try out a brick in the nest at night for old grump knickers broody and look into further treatment for my other chook. Thanks again!

[Hen Watch]

Donna, you are not letting your chooks down. Fighting the mite is a constant battle and you are doing all the right things.

 

If your chooks have a dustbath, chuck in some Louse Powder or the DE that you've got and they then get the benefit of extra dusting in addition to you directly applying it to them.

 

Can't help with broody hen advice as I've not experienced it. But ...... don't laugh, but here is my extra nestbox top tip for if your other girls need to lay whilst she's hogging the nestbox. Ceramic oven dish.

 

Ta da......

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I didn't have much time on Tuesday hence my brief response to your post .

 

Have you read this about broody hens?

 

I've used a puppy crate successfully twice. You can get them from Ebay for about £20.