2 day old chicks and mummy hen has Red Mite!!! How quickly should I act?

[Gardencottager]

I’ve got a first time mummy hen with three chicks that are two days old. I’ve just been in to remove the unhatched eggs and realised they had red mite on them. Obviously I need to take some action but I’m not sure what?

I’m worried about distressing the hen too much as this is her first time and she gets quite stressed when I go near her and the chicks. Is there a risk of causing her to abandon the chicks/do something stupid if I stress her out with dusting her down with DE or some other mite killing powder?

Which products are effective and safe to use near young chicks?

I’ve got an Eglu coming in two days - is it ok to leave things until then and move them to a clean coop or should I try and move her and chicks out of their current shed, spray it down and put them back later? I don’t really have a proper place to put them but could maybe find a box or something big enough. How quickly can red mite harm the young chicks?

Any thoughts or experiences of moving hens and chicks or dealing with red mite much appreciated, thank you

 

[Folly's place]

DE isn't good for anyone to inhale, and fairly poor at killing those mites anyway, but maybe try some?
Ivermectin has been evaluated in poultry, and it does last in the eggs for a while. Definitely not a 'technical oversight'! You have to decide if eating small amounts in her eggs matters to you, and if selling her eggs, any problem with a person allergic will come back on you.
It's a lovely product, and easy to use, and it's a shame, but I haven't used it on my birds in a long time.
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Ivermectin works great, but it's not approved for use on poultry in the USA. Look up your rules about products before you use them!
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Treat mama and her bedding today! Use permethrin dust or spray (are you in the USA?) because those mites are bad for both, and can kill birds of any age. Treating each chick probably won't be necessary, if you get the hen and environment.
Mary

 

[Perris]

Thank you for your response. I’m in the UK but I’ll look into permethrin. I’ve also seen there is an Ivermectin spot on treatment that can be used on birds, similar to flea treating the dog or cat, has anyone heard of/used that? Looks like that might be less stressful for the hen than dusting her in powder?

It's usually sold for use on pigeons here in the UK; off label use 4 drops on the back of the neck for the broody and 1 on each of the chicks. As you say, she's not laying while she's broody, so the egg withdrawal period will have long passed before she starts laying again. You might find this useful
https://www.yorkshireanimalwelfare.co.uk/post/mites-and-lice-in-poultry-and-how-to-treat-them-here

 

[Folly's place]

It's part of the concern over issues with low doses of medications causing drug resistance when the drug is actually needed, and because there are some individuals allergic to it.
The regulations regarding medications used in livestock are a lot tighter than they were years ago, and that's a good thing. What individuals do at home may be another thing, but being aware is also good.
Mary

 

[Gardencottager]

Thanks, I don’t think it’s technically approved over here either but as I understand that was more of a technical oversight in that it was never tested on chickens as a meat/egg producing animal so no valid info on withdrawal times. But it is approved for use in cage birds and parrots because it’s been tested on them

The only thing I’ve got available to use today is diatomaceous earth, if I put that on the hen will it be bad for the chicks breathing as they have to snuggle into her feathers so are going to breath it in?

 

[Folly's place]

The Ivermectin resides in her egg yolks, so will be there anyway. Maybe not a problem for you, but it will be there later.
Mary

 

[Perris]

Ok thanks for that info. And it would be ok to use a tiny bit on the chicks? That’d be good to protect them as well.

Should i discard her first 7 eggs then when she does lay again? Even if it’s a while after the treatment?

The dose is 2 drops for an adult pigeon, so adjust in proportion to your chicks' size vis-a-vis a pigeon.
Re: discarding treated hen's eggs, Ivermectin is given to humans to treat e.g. scabies, (see https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drug/ivermectin.html )
so I can't imagine it is really a problem. It is just that it has not yet been licensed for use as a veterinary medicine for chickens.

 

[Perris]

The regulations regarding medications used in livestock are a lot tighter than they were years ago, and that's a good thing. What individuals do at home may be another thing, but being aware is also good.

absolutely. I am shocked by how many different antibiotics get recommended on this site and how easy it is to get hold of them there. Here all need a prescription from a vet.