A little advice needed please

[daveyboy72]

Hi I am quite new to keeping chickens and have raised 2 roosters and 3 hens from chicks, I recently had to get rid of the roosters due to complaints from the neighbours, however the predicament I am now in one of the hens has two eggs she has been keeping warm for 2 weeks now and since checking one of them is fertile and has a chick forming inside. At the same time as checking with torchlight I have also noticed red mites on the hen. Problem is how can I treat the red more problem without risking harm to the egg/chick?? I purchased some pestene powder yesterday and lightly sprinkled it around the nest however 10 minutes later removed all of the nesting material after reading on here it can be harmful. How harmful are the mites to chicks? How harmful is the powder to chicks?

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC - thanks for joining us. I've never had to treat for mites, but maybe you could do a search, using the search box.

All the best
CT

 

[drumstick diva]

I'm really stumped on that. I don't know what you could use that wouldn't hurt the chicks. Maybe you could post on the "Emergencies, diseases, injuries, cures " thread.

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, daveyboy, and

! Pleased you joined our community! I hope you are able to determine a treatment. Best wishes and thanks for joining BYC!

 

[N F C]

You could ask over on the Predator & Pest forum to see what they recommend:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/13/predators-and-pests

Best of luck to you!

 

[CuzChickens]

Hello, and welcome to Backyard chickens! I am so glad that you joined us, and I hope you will make yourself at home here and enjoy it as much as I have!

~Cuz

 

[Teila]

G’Day from down under daveyboy72

Welcome!

I use Pestene and have used it on the nest of a broody with good hatch rates and no deformities. When the chicks are hatched there is still residual Pestene in the nest and again, nothing out of the ordinary with the chicks.

I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun.

If you would like to share pictures and stories of your flock, you have come to the right place. BYC’ers never tire of these and do not back away slowly or commence eye rolling when the photo album or home videos come out

 

[minihorse927]

The mites can be deadly to the chicks and the hen. I have used Permethrin powder for mites and lice on broody hens without issues. I even sprinkled a little in the bedding to cut down the reinfestation.

Beat wishes for you and your broody!