Updated 7/Jun/2022
This article is dedicated to the first baby chick I lost to parasites before I learned how to treat them.
Immediate Dangers of Parasites are that they can usually kill a baby and a young chicken within a few days after symptoms are visible. It takes some diligence on the owners part to be aware of what parasites are around, but unfortunately sometimes owners will have to learn this after some of their first chickens have passed. One could research habitats where they live or ask other local members what risks there are. It takes even more diligence on the owners part to observe and know their chickens in a way that they can catch a parasite invasion within the three day window to save a young chickens life. Noticing the symptoms and eliminating the mites can immediately turn a mite infested chicken well within 24 hours, especially if extra steps are taken to replenish the lost nutrients. Within a week after treatments, chickens may noticeably begin to gain weight and grow again. But usually there is a 24 hour recovery period between treatment and recovery for a chicken that has been observed with symptoms within the infestation period. Late stage parasite infestations such as finding a chicken unable to eat and move and completely malnourished with clear watery diarreah may still be treatable, but a first time chicken owner may feel overwhelmed and be unsure of emergency nourishment. So an observant chicken owner can usually see symptoms and treat with the method laid out in this article, and the chicken should recover if the infestation is caught during the early stage symptoms display period.
Basic Deworming Prerequisite for Illnesses must be understood that most if not all illnesses can be confused with a simple worm infestation.
What Treatments are Not Covered in this article will not be discussing cleaning coops, immersion bathing, topical ointments such as ivermectin paste. An entire article could be written on ivermectin, and most people do not understand the medicine and consider it to be administered as you would any medicine measured in mass per kilogram. However the only thing to note about ivermectin is its ability to kill the mites via blood ingestion, hence the topical ivermectins are not covered, but one of the recommended medicines contains a low dose of ivermectin orally. Both rely on the ivermectin entering the blood of the chicken, and thus killing the mites feeding on the blood.
Application for <1 month baby
A baby chick that has a mite infestation is very high chance of dying if untreated for even two days. It is most important to monitor the baby chicks and look for the most earliest signs of infestation such as scratching of the face and missing feathers where they have scratched at their skin. Also their beds need to be the most hygienic and mite free compared to the adults who have learned to clean themselves.
Application for young 1 to 3 months
Young chicks generally under three months are also highly prone to quickly dying from mite infestations. They are generally still feathering and mites can quickly cause their development to halt and resulting in death in three days from symptoms appearing.
Application for adults >3 months
Adults that are full grown are highly resistent to the mites covered in this article. They generally have learned to dust bathe and clean themselves. They also have developed more cleaning habits and better claws to remove the itchy infestations. Nevertheless, they still may appreciate being examined and treated even if only out of precaution. Most adults in mite infested areas will have thousands of mites crawling around in their feathers, but they may not be attached to the skin and draining their blood.
Searching for Mites at Night can be done to demonstrate how infested are the adults. Using a high powered flashlight and shining it on the feathers will illuminate thousands of tiny white specs and if examined closely, they will be moving. This could also be done with a blacklight I assume, but I have never tried. A perfectly healthy adult can have thousands of mites crawling on them at night. Hopefully they have a dust bath available for the next day.
Possible Symptoms of mites are symptoms that the owner must look for. They can also be symptoms of other illnesses, but parasites are always the first thing to consider and treat.
Surefire Symptons of mites are found only by visually inpecting your chicken and seeing the infestation. Again adults may be covered in hundreds of thousands of mites and not considered infested if they are not feeding on the blood. Only when the mites are feeding on blood do they change color from white to red. So the only known surefire way is to see the red spots.
Top of head after scraping off mites and applying coconut oil as an antiseptic ointment.
Dirt around beak indicates scratching and the watery eye is due to lowered immune system indicative of second day infestation.
Infestation indicated by the orange cluster around the ear. This is after the insectacide was applied and some scraping done, blood spots are where the mites were removed. The rest of the mites should be removed and the area cleaned and coconut oil applied.
Inside of ear showing the orange infestations. Before scraping, the insectacide should be applied and be sure to dampen all of them. Be careful not to go inside the ear, a fine tip will be enough to apply the insecticide and scrape at the clusters.
Examining at the base of the feathers on the leg. There are several mite infestations and some scabbing visible by the orange color.
Examining around the vent there are also orange dots visible and they should be either treated, removed, or the safest optio coconut oil applied.
Applying insecticide is done using the end of a broken wooden barbecue skewer. A toothpick also will work.
The wooden stick gets dipped in the chemical, and the chemical is applied to the orange infested areas. A toothpick also works and allows for precise application where eyes, ears, and mouth are involved. The chemical absolutely can not be ingested in the mouth or eyes. If working around the mouth and eyes, water to flush must be kept near in case of accidental exposure.
After the orange clusters are scraped away, the area is left bloody and raw sometimes. Coconut oil works wonders to soothe and comfort, as well as acts as an antiseptic for the bleeding area. It will also kill mites by suffocating them.
Searching a Chicken for Mites is the process of looking for the red spots. Searching for mites on a chickens body requires patience until you know what to look for. Until you see the marked red and orangish clusters of feeding mites, you may not be parting the feathers deep enough. Starting with the head is the easiest as they tend to hide at the base of non fleshy areas like the comb and beak. The chicken will not be able to scratch certain areas as a young baby, hence the build up of mud and dirt that tends to occur as he is scratching and unable to reach the infestation. The mites turn red when they are feeding, and a cluster can number from one to dozens. Even a single red mite is usually visible if you look correctly.
Chemical Treatments and Alternatives are available and depend entirely on what you can find in your locale. In this article I am using a specialized product that is designed to be applied directly to the skin or used as a bath. It is a toxic chemical that smells like paint thinner, and gets diluted at the rate of 1 drop to 3 mL of water roughly. Because this treatment relies on using a wooden skewer or toothpick to scrape away the mite clusters, it is entirely possible to do this procedure with any number of alternate chemicals, or even just plain water. I would suggest coconut oil in place of the chemical, but Dawn soap would also be worthy of a try. Coconut oil alone is also highly of not equally effective to the insecticide.
Cipermethrin for external parasites is the chemical insecticide used to destroy the mite clusters. However coconut oil alone would work and makes scraping away the clusters easy.
Cypermethrin is the chemical used in this article, but coconut oil is an equal alternative. Dawn dish soap and water would also be useful for scraping away the mite clusters.
Skin Treatment is the scraping away of the mite clusters using a wooden skewer or toothpick. A toothbrush can also be useful of the clusters are on the top of the head or neck. Skin treatment combined with giving an oral medicine is the quickest way to halt the mite infestation. You dont have to wait for the drug to enter the blood, and you also dont have to scrape off every single mite. Both treatments combined eliminate the problem entirely. Babies less than 1 month need to consider using the alternatives like coconut oil, as the chemicals are much more likely to cause a small chick harm if exposed to the toxic.
Oral medication treatment is administering an antiparasite medication that targets external parasites, usually containing ivermectin. This is a safe medication for all ages, although the dose is very small.
Two different oral medications with differing compositions. Notice ivermectin dose is very small, only 5% of the medicine, yet it is effective for external parasites. Ivermectin is a special type of medicine that works in very tiny doses. Reference not cited.
Dosage for this medicine is for either drops or treated water. Treating the water is only recommended in controlled cages where the only source of water is treated.
Notice the claim is that it is 100% effective. This is mostly true, the medicine will eliminate internal worms and external mites if given in a single dose and it is extremely reliable.
Combined treatment is giving both the skin treatment and the oral medication at the same time. Babies should be treated with coconut oil and the mites removed.
Environmental Factors to consider in determining if you have a mite problem and the cause. It is not a good practoce to rely on repeated doses of medication to keep treating your chickens. My experience is that once a chicken reaches adulthood usually over 3 months, they do not need retreated for mites. I cam not alter my environment nor spray my habitat, so I rely on building coops and roosts that are away from infested areas. Hope this article helps some owners save their chickens lives.
Mites global habitat
Mites seasonal patterns
Mites habitat in your coops
Coop floors and Walls
Roosting
Dust Baths dry and sunny
This article is dedicated to the first baby chick I lost to parasites before I learned how to treat them.
Immediate Dangers of Parasites are that they can usually kill a baby and a young chicken within a few days after symptoms are visible. It takes some diligence on the owners part to be aware of what parasites are around, but unfortunately sometimes owners will have to learn this after some of their first chickens have passed. One could research habitats where they live or ask other local members what risks there are. It takes even more diligence on the owners part to observe and know their chickens in a way that they can catch a parasite invasion within the three day window to save a young chickens life. Noticing the symptoms and eliminating the mites can immediately turn a mite infested chicken well within 24 hours, especially if extra steps are taken to replenish the lost nutrients. Within a week after treatments, chickens may noticeably begin to gain weight and grow again. But usually there is a 24 hour recovery period between treatment and recovery for a chicken that has been observed with symptoms within the infestation period. Late stage parasite infestations such as finding a chicken unable to eat and move and completely malnourished with clear watery diarreah may still be treatable, but a first time chicken owner may feel overwhelmed and be unsure of emergency nourishment. So an observant chicken owner can usually see symptoms and treat with the method laid out in this article, and the chicken should recover if the infestation is caught during the early stage symptoms display period.
Basic Deworming Prerequisite for Illnesses must be understood that most if not all illnesses can be confused with a simple worm infestation.
What Treatments are Not Covered in this article will not be discussing cleaning coops, immersion bathing, topical ointments such as ivermectin paste. An entire article could be written on ivermectin, and most people do not understand the medicine and consider it to be administered as you would any medicine measured in mass per kilogram. However the only thing to note about ivermectin is its ability to kill the mites via blood ingestion, hence the topical ivermectins are not covered, but one of the recommended medicines contains a low dose of ivermectin orally. Both rely on the ivermectin entering the blood of the chicken, and thus killing the mites feeding on the blood.
Application for <1 month baby
A baby chick that has a mite infestation is very high chance of dying if untreated for even two days. It is most important to monitor the baby chicks and look for the most earliest signs of infestation such as scratching of the face and missing feathers where they have scratched at their skin. Also their beds need to be the most hygienic and mite free compared to the adults who have learned to clean themselves.
Application for young 1 to 3 months
Young chicks generally under three months are also highly prone to quickly dying from mite infestations. They are generally still feathering and mites can quickly cause their development to halt and resulting in death in three days from symptoms appearing.
Application for adults >3 months
Adults that are full grown are highly resistent to the mites covered in this article. They generally have learned to dust bathe and clean themselves. They also have developed more cleaning habits and better claws to remove the itchy infestations. Nevertheless, they still may appreciate being examined and treated even if only out of precaution. Most adults in mite infested areas will have thousands of mites crawling around in their feathers, but they may not be attached to the skin and draining their blood.
Searching for Mites at Night can be done to demonstrate how infested are the adults. Using a high powered flashlight and shining it on the feathers will illuminate thousands of tiny white specs and if examined closely, they will be moving. This could also be done with a blacklight I assume, but I have never tried. A perfectly healthy adult can have thousands of mites crawling on them at night. Hopefully they have a dust bath available for the next day.
Possible Symptoms of mites are symptoms that the owner must look for. They can also be symptoms of other illnesses, but parasites are always the first thing to consider and treat.
- Slow growth compared to siblings
- Feathers growing faster than body
- Oversized Feathers
- Sluggish and Low Energy
- Weak peeping or weak cries
- Closing eyes and bowing head
- Dirt on face around eyes and nose
- Watery eyes
- Dirty beak from mucous and scratching
- Stands still when approached
- May seek you out the owner
- Skinny and not gaining weight
- Very light weight or low body mass
- You the owner itch after holding chicken
Surefire Symptons of mites are found only by visually inpecting your chicken and seeing the infestation. Again adults may be covered in hundreds of thousands of mites and not considered infested if they are not feeding on the blood. Only when the mites are feeding on blood do they change color from white to red. So the only known surefire way is to see the red spots.
- Red and orange clusters around...
- Beak
- Top of Head
- Eyes
- Ears
- Ear Holes inside
- Chin under beak
- Neck back and front
- Under wings
- Legs back and front
- Base of feather growth
- Vent
- Abdomen
Top of head after scraping off mites and applying coconut oil as an antiseptic ointment.
Dirt around beak indicates scratching and the watery eye is due to lowered immune system indicative of second day infestation.
Infestation indicated by the orange cluster around the ear. This is after the insectacide was applied and some scraping done, blood spots are where the mites were removed. The rest of the mites should be removed and the area cleaned and coconut oil applied.
Inside of ear showing the orange infestations. Before scraping, the insectacide should be applied and be sure to dampen all of them. Be careful not to go inside the ear, a fine tip will be enough to apply the insecticide and scrape at the clusters.
Examining at the base of the feathers on the leg. There are several mite infestations and some scabbing visible by the orange color.
Examining around the vent there are also orange dots visible and they should be either treated, removed, or the safest optio coconut oil applied.
Applying insecticide is done using the end of a broken wooden barbecue skewer. A toothpick also will work.
The wooden stick gets dipped in the chemical, and the chemical is applied to the orange infested areas. A toothpick also works and allows for precise application where eyes, ears, and mouth are involved. The chemical absolutely can not be ingested in the mouth or eyes. If working around the mouth and eyes, water to flush must be kept near in case of accidental exposure.
After the orange clusters are scraped away, the area is left bloody and raw sometimes. Coconut oil works wonders to soothe and comfort, as well as acts as an antiseptic for the bleeding area. It will also kill mites by suffocating them.
Searching a Chicken for Mites is the process of looking for the red spots. Searching for mites on a chickens body requires patience until you know what to look for. Until you see the marked red and orangish clusters of feeding mites, you may not be parting the feathers deep enough. Starting with the head is the easiest as they tend to hide at the base of non fleshy areas like the comb and beak. The chicken will not be able to scratch certain areas as a young baby, hence the build up of mud and dirt that tends to occur as he is scratching and unable to reach the infestation. The mites turn red when they are feeding, and a cluster can number from one to dozens. Even a single red mite is usually visible if you look correctly.
Chemical Treatments and Alternatives are available and depend entirely on what you can find in your locale. In this article I am using a specialized product that is designed to be applied directly to the skin or used as a bath. It is a toxic chemical that smells like paint thinner, and gets diluted at the rate of 1 drop to 3 mL of water roughly. Because this treatment relies on using a wooden skewer or toothpick to scrape away the mite clusters, it is entirely possible to do this procedure with any number of alternate chemicals, or even just plain water. I would suggest coconut oil in place of the chemical, but Dawn soap would also be worthy of a try. Coconut oil alone is also highly of not equally effective to the insecticide.
Cipermethrin for external parasites is the chemical insecticide used to destroy the mite clusters. However coconut oil alone would work and makes scraping away the clusters easy.
Cypermethrin is the chemical used in this article, but coconut oil is an equal alternative. Dawn dish soap and water would also be useful for scraping away the mite clusters.
Skin Treatment is the scraping away of the mite clusters using a wooden skewer or toothpick. A toothbrush can also be useful of the clusters are on the top of the head or neck. Skin treatment combined with giving an oral medicine is the quickest way to halt the mite infestation. You dont have to wait for the drug to enter the blood, and you also dont have to scrape off every single mite. Both treatments combined eliminate the problem entirely. Babies less than 1 month need to consider using the alternatives like coconut oil, as the chemicals are much more likely to cause a small chick harm if exposed to the toxic.
Oral medication treatment is administering an antiparasite medication that targets external parasites, usually containing ivermectin. This is a safe medication for all ages, although the dose is very small.
Two different oral medications with differing compositions. Notice ivermectin dose is very small, only 5% of the medicine, yet it is effective for external parasites. Ivermectin is a special type of medicine that works in very tiny doses. Reference not cited.
Dosage for this medicine is for either drops or treated water. Treating the water is only recommended in controlled cages where the only source of water is treated.
Notice the claim is that it is 100% effective. This is mostly true, the medicine will eliminate internal worms and external mites if given in a single dose and it is extremely reliable.
Combined treatment is giving both the skin treatment and the oral medication at the same time. Babies should be treated with coconut oil and the mites removed.
Environmental Factors to consider in determining if you have a mite problem and the cause. It is not a good practoce to rely on repeated doses of medication to keep treating your chickens. My experience is that once a chicken reaches adulthood usually over 3 months, they do not need retreated for mites. I cam not alter my environment nor spray my habitat, so I rely on building coops and roosts that are away from infested areas. Hope this article helps some owners save their chickens lives.
Mites global habitat
Mites seasonal patterns
Mites habitat in your coops
Coop floors and Walls
Roosting
Dust Baths dry and sunny
