How can I find my old pictures?

[AndyRoo]

Hello all,

One of our older hybrids has a really messy bum, which almost looks like when she's going to the loo, bits are getting caught; I also noticed she'd lost a lot of feathers round the area and it was quite pink. Can anyone think what this might be? Or is it just a case of giving her a bath?

She seems in otherwise perfect health: eating and drinking normally, she isn't lethargic, and her tail feathers are up and perky.

Any suggestions would be helpful as I haven't seen this on any of my hens before.

Thanks,

Andy

[Beantree]

As you say, first thing is to wash her bottom feathers as fly strike is always a risk. A messy bottom can be an indication of worms. When was the last treatment with Flubenvet? Another possibility is poor digestive flora so put Avipro Avian in their drinking water for a few days. The alternative is to mix the emergency dose, one measure to 100mL and give 5 mL by syringe fo a few days and discard the remainder.

[AndyRoo]

3 hours ago, Beantree said:

As you say, first thing is to wash her bottom feathers as fly strike is always a risk. A messy bottom can be an indication of worms. When was the last treatment with Flubenvet? Another possibility is poor digestive flora so put Avipro Avian in their drinking water for a few days. The alternative is to mix the emergency dose, one measure to 100mL and give 5 mL by syringe fo a few days and discard the remainder.

I checked their droppings for worms earlier, and so far as I can tell, that's not it. They only got wormed a few months back, so I'd hope it's not the case anyway!!

I'll give her a bath and see if there's any other signs of irritation.

[Cat tails]

You will only see worms in their poo without a microscope when their worm load is very high. So don’t count on that.

[The Dogmother]

1 hour ago, Cat tails said:

You will only see worms in their poo without a microscope when their worm load is very high. So don’t count on that.

Absolutely! test quarterly (Westgate Labs) and worm if necessary. If oyu haven't wormed before, then worm once (7 days, nothing else to eat and kepe them int he run) then leave 3 weeks and worm again. As per manufacturer's instructions. That will give you a base level to go from. The worming is pretty strong magic, so I always dose their water with nettex herbal gut conditioner to support the gut flora.

[AndyRoo]

Okay, so we gave her a good washing off and, so far as I can tell, she only appears to have personal hygiene issues. Round her vent was very, very messy, so we did the best we could to clean her in a saline bath. She did, however, have a bum that was red-raw and even more feather loss that I thought originally.

I've checked the whole flock for red mites, and I can't find a single trace of any, so I'm not sure it's that either. Any other ideas, or should I just stop worrying?

She's been given a spraying with the violet spray and some anti-peck feather spraying, but I'm a bit out of ideas other than keeping her clean and protected from bullying.

[Cat tails]

Red mite don’t live on hens, but only feed on them at night. So you’ll need to check the house too.

Maybe send a poo sample to get it checked for worms or other parasites?

[The Dogmother]

Look around the vent on all the birds - this is what you're looking for...either brown or black critters on the skin at the base of the the feathers, and eggs glued to the feather shaft.

I take it that you haven't checked them regularly or have a preventative regime in place.

 

[AndyRoo]

1 hour ago, Cat tails said:

Red mite don’t live on hens, but only feed on them at night. So you’ll need to check the house too.

Maybe send a poo sample to get it checked for worms or other parasites?

I checked the Eglu too, and couldn't see any mites. I've always used mite powder, though. Checked their dust bath too on the off chance I could see anything in there, but there was nothing I could see.

I'll have to see if any of the vets round here can do any sampling.

[AndyRoo]

1 hour ago, The Dogmother said:

Look around the vent on all the birds - this is what you're looking for...either brown or black critters on the skin at the base of the the feathers, and eggs glued to the feather shaft.

I take it that you haven't checked them regularly or have a preventative regime in place.

 

There wasn't anything like that I could see on any of them. No visible mites or lice.

We use mite powder every time we do a change, and they get wormed regularly (which I appreciate is a separate issue). Is there something else you can do for mites / lice?

[The Dogmother]

8 minutes ago, AndyRoo said:

I'll have to see if any of the vets round here can do any sampling.

Check out Westgate Labs - fast and reasonably priced for worm results.

2 minutes ago, AndyRoo said:

We use mite powder every time we do a change, and they get wormed regularly (which I appreciate is a separate issue). Is there something else you can do for mites / lice?

Some chicken-savvy vets will prescribe (off-licence) an Ivermectin spot-on for lice and mites. Just like for cats and dogs.

[AndyRoo]

1 minute ago, The Dogmother said:

Check out Westgate Labs - fast and reasonably priced for worm results.

Some chicken-savvy vets will prescribe (off-licence) an Ivermectin spot-on for lice and mites. Just like for cats and dogs.

Oh, ok. I might ask our regular vet for his advice then - maybe we can just get some spot-on. Would it be the same stuff as for the cats, or is it different?

I checked them all quite thoroughly - as I periodically do just in case... but I can't see anything obvious. Some of them seem to be going through a mini-moult at the moment too - but the new feathers are all coming through as normal. I'll give them some vitamins and ACV in their water tomorrow too to give them a little boost.

[The Dogmother]

Don't use ACV if it's hot weather Andy - the heat combines with it and inhibits the uptake of calcium

[AndyRoo]

2 hours ago, The Dogmother said:

Don't use ACV if it's hot weather Andy - the heat combines with it and inhibits the uptake of calcium

Ah, ok. I didn't know that. I'll just add the vitamins then. 

[AndyRoo]

Ok - further update. I've gone out and double-checked again and while nothing was evident on the hens I checked yesterday, I discovered today in better light that at least one of the hens does appear to have mites or possibly lice. They looked like tiny little aphids wandering round by her bum - some looked slightly brown while the others looked slightly pale? Damn it!!

Other than getting the spot on, is there anything else I can do while I wait to take the hen to the vet? Can you get dusting powders? I always use mite powder in the Eglu, but should I strip it down and give it a go over with bleach or something?

[The Dogmother]

They will all have mites then Andy, so treat al of the flock. Powders aren't really worth doing TBH; more of it will end up in your lungs and theirs!

A poultry-savvy vet will prescribe (off licence) an Ivermectin spot-on (you can also buy them on the internet; Harkers) and a spray containing Permethrin to use on the skin where you see lice - spray twice, 3 days apart and repeat if they still have them. Once you get the spot-on organised quarterly, then they shouldn't have a problem, but always check. You will need to treat the housing weekly with nettex total mite kill pink spray and then powder with Buz Busters - that is probably part of your weekly routine though.

[AndyRoo]

15 minutes ago, The Dogmother said:

They will all have mites then Andy, so treat al of the flock. Powders aren't really worth doing TBH; more of it will end up in your lungs and theirs!

A poultry-savvy vet will prescribe (off licence) an Ivermectin spot-on (you can also buy them on the internet; Harkers) and a spray containing Permethrin to use on the skin where you see lice - spray twice, 3 days apart and repeat if they still have them. Once you get the spot-on organised quarterly, then they shouldn't have a problem, but always check. You will need to treat the housing weekly with nettex total mite kill pink spray and then powder with Buz Busters - that is probably part of your weekly routine though.

Apparently one of the vets at our local branch is a 'chicken person' - so hopefully he/she will be able to help. Going to try and take one of them along on Tuesday which was the earliest appointment they had. Rich and I have gone over the Eglu with a pressure hose, disinfected it up to the eyeballs and put down lots of powder.

We also very gently sat them in the dirt bath and carefully rubbed the DE into the feathers around their bums. They only protested a little. I was going to try and take photo evidence of the mites - but naturally when we went out to check the hen we saw them on, there was nothing there. We checked each one carefully - and nothing. And now I'm wondering if the hens are just trolling us. lol

[Cat tails]

I use Iverquantel for worming. It contains ivermectin and praziquantel. So not only worms, but protects them against lice, ticks, mites etc.

[AndyRoo]

5 minutes ago, Cat tails said:

I use Iverquantel for worming. It contains ivermectin and praziquantel. So not only worms, but protects them against lice, ticks, mites etc.

I'll have a look for that. I use Flubenvet at the moment.

[mullethunter]

I bought ivermectin from the internet to treat mine for scaly leg mites (not licenced)

[The Dogmother]

3 minutes ago, mullethunter said:

I bought ivermectin from the internet to treat mine for scaly leg mites (not licenced)

I have been using a cattle drench (again not licenced) called Ivomec Eprinex for years - as prescribed by my poultry vet. It means that my birds are lice and mite free, I almost never have to worm them and the housing is red mite-free too.

[AndyRoo]

2 hours ago, The Dogmother said:

I have been using a cattle drench (again not licenced) called Ivomec Eprinex for years - as prescribed by my poultry vet. It means that my birds are lice and mite free, I almost never have to worm them and the housing is red mite-free too.

Would I be right in thinking that this is not like Flubenvet where you can just buy it on the internet? It'd have to be prescribed?

[The Dogmother]

8 hours ago, AndyRoo said:

Would I be right in thinking that this is not like Flubenvet where you can just buy it on the internet? It'd have to be prescribed?

Yes, you're right Andy. A farm vet like mine would understand and probably prescribe it.

[AndyRoo]

7 hours ago, The Dogmother said:

Yes, you're right Andy. A farm vet like mine would understand and probably prescribe it.

Thanks. I'll wait and see what the vet says.

[AndyRoo]

Update from the vet: she thinks it's probably lice. Apparently they can't prescribe anything but Ivermectin - it's actually illegal in the UK to do so, and they can be struck off if they do it.

She's suggested just giving everything a very thorough clean (done), dusting the hens and their environment with diatomaceous earth (done), and adding vitamins to their water (done). If they haven't been sorted in a month, then they will prescribe Ivermectin and come out and do a 'home visit' just to check their environment for anything that might be exasperating their condition.