Help please, severe weight loss?, mites?

[chickypets]

Hi

Background info: I have two hens, one is a large White Sussex previously always a solid wee girl. A few months ago I added an ex battery hen from a friend. This wee bird was quite happy at start, then started rapidly loosing weight, wormed all of them, and then discovered she was infested with brown mites. Tried to treat her with mite treatment special food etc, but she died . Treated my two hens for mites and trimmed affected feathers etc.
Both my hens are now moulting and have been for past month.

My problem is that my white sussex who has always been super healthy still has mites around vent and a few in feathers, have done another treatment of hens and coop.

BUT I am REALLY worried now because she has lost a LOT of weight. I can clearly feel her breast bone and put my fingers either side of it (it's awful and feels like a carcus)

Is it the mites???

She is happy enough, about 3.5 years old, eats well, but the weight is freaking me out!! Should I worm her again? Really don't want to see the slow decline over a number of weeks like the other wee hen. :-( she was just a little skeleton and light as a feather when she died, I couldn't get any weight back on.

She is a much loved pet.

Advice please!!!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Mites require a retreatment at 7 days, also tossing bedding and nesting materials so there will not be a reservoir where they hide and survive.

You may even need to do another one at 14 days for a severe infestation.

I use Poultry dust (permethrin) from the feed store - also comes in liquid you can dilute to spray coop. I put it in an old sock and dust everywhere but the face- esp. vent and under wings, abdomen and back. Take shower afterward and wear mask, long sleeves etc.

It is something that I have dealt with repeatedly and you must do the retreatment to win. One time I didn't change nesting material and they were right back.

Mites kill chickens.

 

[chickypets]

Thanks for your advice, also after treatments what is the fastest way for her to put weight back on.
Supplements?
Extra special foods?
High protein or fat?
Thanks

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Thanks for your advice, also after treatments what is the fastest way for her to put weight back on.
Supplements?
Extra special foods?
High protein or fat?
Thanks

Also I would make sure that the worms are really gone, if that was a problem for them. Some wormers only kill one type of worm, for example. Also wormers require repeating to break the life cycle - some vets will do a fecal test for cocci/worms/bacteria if you bring the poo. False negatives are possible on the worm test.

You may want to investigate what type of worms the wormer kills- to see if it gets all of them- just a suggestion.

Scrambled eggs are always good for chickens. I am not sure how else to put weight back on a chicken other than good regular food.

I am not sure what is wrong with your chicken but I hope this helps!

 

[chickypets]

I now have a weekly plan of attack, for the next few weeks, thanks for the advice about the regular attack on the mites ( for some reason I previously thought one treatment would fix it, maybe like adding flea treatment to dogs?) . Thorough clean and treatment complete this week. The hens are enjoying their extra scrambled eggs for breakfast every couple of days, they are eating well and so I'm altogether feeling much better about the whole situation.