Heavy Mite Infestation on Rooster

[DuckDolly001]

Hello-

I have a rooster who has a leg problem. He injured it this past year and we spent roughly $500 in vet bills getting the wound healed. With that being said, he has major problems with the leg and hobbles around. Because of that, I rarely see him dust bathe...he seems to like to just hang out in the coop.

We recently came back from vacation than traveled a lot for the holidays. I noticed him not getting on the roost, finally when I noticed him shaking his head a lot I noticed he had a heavy mite infestation. I immediately separated him from my other chickens and gave him a bath with Permethrin concentrate in the water. He was literally covered in them. The Permethrin bath seemed to work and kill so many...but I know there is no way I got all of them and will have to treat again for hatched ones. My only worry is, he's been very lethargic. I've gone out in the morning and they are crawling around his face. Again this morning I immediately lightly dusted around his face with Permethrin powder and then made sure he drank some water with electrolytes.

My main concern is I don't want him to suffer if I'm fighting a losing battle with such a heavy infestation. The past couple of mornings, once I got him up and he drank some water, and I killed more mites with the spray, he seemed to get a second wind and was hobbling around crowing and went to have his breakfast, and became very active. But the past 2 mornings he has looked horrible when I first go into his coop.

After 2 days in a row of treating him with Permethrin I'm afraid to treat again until I wait about 5-7 days for any hatching eggs. I'm worried I might be poisoning him if I treat him daily with spray or powder (I imagine the skin absorbs the chemicals even). Or can I treat him daily with the Permethrin powder?

I don't want to prolong his suffering if its about impossible I will be able to get rid of the HEAVY infestation. If its a losing battle I'm fighting, I'd rather take him to the vet to be put to sleep then have him suffer as I attempt to rid him of them. But if there is a chance I can, then I'll fight the battle. I mean I've already invested a $500 vet bill into the rooster so its worth my time fighting a battle I might win. I have learned if I can rid him of them then I will have to just start spraying and dusting him every couple of weeks or bathing him since he doesn't seem capable of doing it well himself.

Has anyone been successful ridding one of their chickens with a heavy infestation? How did you do it? What did you use? What was your treatment regimen? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[1goose2ducks]

I use Spinoza mixed with water in a spray bottle. It is actually a edible pesticide for your garden. I’m saying to eat it I spray one spray under each wing.two sprays at the base of the tail and one spray behind the head. (On the Lang neck feathers) hope this helps. Also spray as much as you think is needed in and around the coop. I spray my whole flock once every two months and I haven’t had another infestation. Best of luck

 

[1goose2ducks]

Spinosad sorry not Spinoza

 

[JedJackson]

He's becoming re-infested because the mites are still in the coop and on your other birds. Put him and all your birds in temporary cages away from their coops and then spray everything down. Burn or bag the litter from the floors and nest boxes. Spray them, spray a lot of their roosts, get walls, floor and ceilings, basically everywhere. Spray or dust all of your birds before returning them to their coops (you will have a wait period if used pyrtehrum based products.) Once they are returned, spray down the temporary cages. If you use a spinosad based product, you likely won't have a wait time to re-introduce them to their coops after spraying. Spinosad based products are organic and non-toxic, but are comparatively expensive. Above all, read and follow the directions of any product you use.

 

[Folly's place]

As JJ said, you need to treat everyone and everything!
Either spinosad (expensive!) or permethrin spray work great, but you'll need to get everyone treated. It's easiest at night when they are roosting, using a small light to help keep them quiet.
Then clean out the coop, throw the bedding far away, and powder or spray the floor before adding new bedding. Spray every inch of the coop including the walls and roosts.
I had three nice hens die years ago, before I realized that mites were killing them! Get this managed before any of your birds die!
Mary

 

[theroosternamedrooster]

Hello-

I have a rooster who has a leg problem. He injured it this past year and we spent roughly $500 in vet bills getting the wound healed. With that being said, he has major problems with the leg and hobbles around. Because of that, I rarely see him dust bathe...he seems to like to just hang out in the coop.

We recently came back from vacation than traveled a lot for the holidays. I noticed him not getting on the roost, finally when I noticed him shaking his head a lot I noticed he had a heavy mite infestation. I immediately separated him from my other chickens and gave him a bath with Permethrin concentrate in the water. He was literally covered in them. The Permethrin bath seemed to work and kill so many...but I know there is no way I got all of them and will have to treat again for hatched ones. My only worry is, he's been very lethargic. I've gone out in the morning and they are crawling around his face. Again this morning I immediately lightly dusted around his face with Permethrin powder and then made sure he drank some water with electrolytes.

My main concern is I don't want him to suffer if I'm fighting a losing battle with such a heavy infestation. The past couple of mornings, once I got him up and he drank some water, and I killed more mites with the spray, he seemed to get a second wind and was hobbling around crowing and went to have his breakfast, and became very active. But the past 2 mornings he has looked horrible when I first go into his coop.

After 2 days in a row of treating him with Permethrin I'm afraid to treat again until I wait about 5-7 days for any hatching eggs. I'm worried I might be poisoning him if I treat him daily with spray or powder (I imagine the skin absorbs the chemicals even). Or can I treat him daily with the Permethrin powder?

I don't want to prolong his suffering if its about impossible I will be able to get rid of the HEAVY infestation. If its a losing battle I'm fighting, I'd rather take him to the vet to be put to sleep then have him suffer as I attempt to rid him of them. But if there is a chance I can, then I'll fight the battle. I mean I've already invested a $500 vet bill into the rooster so its worth my time fighting a battle I might win. I have learned if I can rid him of them then I will have to just start spraying and dusting him every couple of weeks or bathing him since he doesn't seem capable of doing it well himself.

Has anyone been successful ridding one of their chickens with a heavy infestation? How did you do it? What did you use? What was your treatment regimen? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

I submitted a post about how I eradicated my rooster’s mite problem, maybe check it out in case you want it as a reference. This sawyer spray has been a life saver. You can spray it liberally everywhere (clothes, bedding, i spray his roost and the door frames and furniture), let it dry for 2 hours, and no mites will touch it. So, if you continue doing what you are doing with the mites on his body, the new ones that might venture onto him hopefully won’t. Another thing that helped was coating his legs and comb in petroleum jelly before he went to sleep. It’s surprising how many tiny (baby?) mites were around the crevices of his face and comb. Also - if you’ve got a steamer - steam EVERYTHING. I went as far as steaming the walls, particularly by his roost.