Any experience with Frontline on chickens with mites?

[LaLady]

All seven of my chickens have been showing signs of some sort of mite problem, though I have never seem or felt the bugs around. They have feather loss (bare butts, bare neck) as well as half broken feathers on their backs. I thought they were pecking on each other (though I never saw them do it), but they have been wearing "pinless peepers" for a month and the bald patches are getting worse on some of the hens. I have no roosters. They have been having these problems since mid winter. I'd like to get their feathers to grow in before next winter, or they'll freeze to death!

So I'm guessing it's some kind of mite, though I can't see the buggers. I read about feather mites, and I think that might be it. I've tried all the regular stuff -- DE, sevin dust, etc. and it hasn't had any effect. They eat a healthier diet than I do, tons of protein and nutrients. They have lots of room and are otherwise healthy. They aren't molting. They take dust baths in DE all the time.

So now it's time for the big guns, chemically speaking, I think..

I just bought a lot of Frontline Plus for my other animals.. I buy the Large Dog size and measure out the correct dosage for my cats and dogs. I read about a Frontline spray which is approved for chickens.. has anyone used it? Has anyone tried to use the regular Frontline (for cats and dogs, in the little tubes) for chickens? I'd love to make use of what I already have, if I can. But I don't know the dosage. And regular Frontline is slightly different from Frontline Plus.

 

[Brindlebtch]

Bumpity

 

[okcarla]

It probably wouldn't be a good idea. You might want to google search it some, but I did and found this article:

http://www.ansci.umn.edu/poultry/resources/alerts-pesticide-past.htm

But, then again, the more I searched, the more I found other people using it. Even a poultry chat room where a person said their vet recommended frontline and ivermectin to control parasites.

I've got a mite problem too in a few of my pens & need to dust with DE more often I suppose.

 

[BluegrassSeramas]

I had to get the spray for my ferrets, and you do like one spray per pound? I'd have to look b/c I dont use it in the winter, but I assume that you could do the same for chickens by weight.

Be careful, I hear that the concentrated dose for the dogs could possibly kill cats if over dosed...


Im not sure if it would get rid of mites, but I dust my birds and give them a drop of Cattle Ivermectin as directed by my vet..one drop on the skin for the small and in the mouth for the larger.
Think I can find some info....

http://www.bioportfolio.com/search/chicken_mite_ivermectin.html

http://www.geocities.com/chickenfarmerjoyce/diseaseinfo.html

SELENA18 SELENA18 is offline
Senior Member

FROM: http://www.thepoultrysite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3938&page=2

The Ivermectin can be given both orally OR drop on.

Drop on would be the easiest in my opinion as ivermectin is an oil based product and would float if put in water, so intake by the chickens would be dubious.

If you are going to put drops on the dosage is as supplied by Sandy - copied below

Quote:
Dosage directions>

Ivermectin for beef or sheep
Worms and external parasites
Sml bird – 4 drops
Med bird – 6 drops
Lge bird – 8 drops

OR if you are going to give the meds orally mix with water as below.

Quote:
10ml per gallon water

OR not mixed with water - given straight from the bottle at the below dose

Quote:
¼ cc can be given orally – large bird
Up to 7 drops for a bantam
Does not treat tapeworms or flukes

Have a look at this great Ivomec website - I'm sure this will clarify your queries.

I'm going out to get myself some soon as it does most internal & external parasites. How easy it that.

http://www.shilala.com/ivomec.html

 

[jnjross]

hmmm

frontline never did much for my cats, so i dunno.
for mites i used permthrein 10% (spelling) 1.5oz to 1gal spray.

de and permthien dust did nothing for them either. just the spray

 

[MRW]

Wow , I bought that stuff months ago but haven't had to use it yet, but I thought it was supposed to be put on the back of their necks like a dog or cat?

 

[LaLady]

I think I'm going to try the Ivermectin. My feed store has it. Without knowing the correct dosage or application, I guess I shouldn't use Frontline on the chickens (and I don't want to waste it if it's not going to work, as it's expensive!).

FYI: buying the Large Dog size Frontline, and measuring it out using a syringe, works great and saves me a ton of money (3 cats and one small dog). Per my vet, it's 100% safe to use the dog Frontline on cats. However, you can't use the cat Frontline on a dog (has an additional ingredient that dogs don't tolerate). I find it to be effective against fleas, but not great with ticks (that's why we have the chickens!).

 

[A1silkies]

I use Frontline plus for big dogs on my silky chickens. I use 2 to 3 drops one at the Crowne one in the middle of the back and one above the vent. Initially I use the front line on day one and day 15 and then if I see no mites I use it in six months just one time so I give it in the spring time and in the fall. I have had Excellent results getting rid of a long-standing problem with mites. Since using the frontline plus I have not seen so much as one mite on my chickens in a year. My vet also recommended frontline plus for large dogs for my chickens.

 

[Charm1704]

Frontline works just fine.....I use it when sand fleas get bad here....~Charm

 

[Ayem Cemani]

I have used Frontline on my Chickens for years and it is absolutely wonderful !. However it is expensive. A tip is to buy the very large Dog size and measure it out according to the weight of the chicken. The Dog Frontline is identical to the cat one, except for the size of the pipette. Eggs, still taste great !.

I have been thinking of trying out the Ivermectin, but this is purely from a cost perspective.