alisonclair Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Hello I adoped 5 ex-bats in September. Needless to say they were all pretty bald. Anyway, slowly but surely they have settled into their new life on my allotment and seem to be doing well. There is just one of them (Nora Batty) who I am a little worried about. While she is fine in herself as far as I can tell, the feathers on her back are still not looking good. No new feathers have come through, and they look a bit mangled and dirty. She also has a very small bald patch that has appeared. I discounted the thought of mites a while back, thinking that surely all the others would have them too. But now I am not sure. I treat their house with red mite powder every month. Could she have some other sort of feather mite? If so, what treatment is there available? I rang the ex-bat careline, and they recommended Net-tex products. That and changing them back to ex-bat pellets (which incidentally I only changed to layers pellets about six weeks ago). Can anyone help? Thanks Alison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 I'd give them all more protein - meal worms or chick crumbs are good for this. Their protein reserves are likely to be very low after laying all those eggs. Treat for mites with a preventative product such as Ivomec Eprinex (not licensed for use on chickens in the UK, but available from your vet), and spray with either Johnsons anti-mite spray, or NetTex's total mite Kill spray (neither licensed for use on poultry in the UK). If her feathers have been repeatedly pulled out, then the actual follicles may have been damaged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
