Recent content by Ameraucanster

Please research "depluming mites" on BYC. You cannot see them because they stay beneath the skin at the shaft of the feather. They drive the chickens insane. First the chickens peck themselves at the base of the tail and, when blood shows, they peck each other. It looks like cannibalism but it...

When I started with chickens 3 years ago I bought pine shavings from a differenct feed store. Within hours of putting them down I noticed the chicks, about 4 weeks old, starting to show signs of bleeding at the base of their tails. What it turned out to be was depluming mites. They live at the...