minxabroad
In the Brooder
- Apr 22, 2018
- 15
- 9
- 26
Hi everyone- this is a bit long, sorry- a little down today because my only hen, who I have had for 10 1/2 years, died. I am feeling very guilty and am looking for info from anyone very knowledgeable about mites.
Her name was Dot. She was an Appenzeller hen so she had a fluffy "hat". She has always had issues with mites in her "hat". I am assuming they were mites. They were very tiny and not lice. She rarely seemed to be able to be 100% rid of them there though she was free of them on her body. We used to use DE and a louse/mite powder - we would sprinkle it in the hat and gently rub it in. That usually had a good effect for awhile but eventually they would come back.
I tried several times to wash the hat and really see if I could completely sort the problem but she was so terribly stressed by the washing that I thought she would die so it was not something I could do regularly. I always checked her for mites on her body and never found any.
For quite a long while she has been unwell but as she was so old and I could find nothing obviously wrong with her I assumed it was down to her age. Her once red face became pale too.
Recently she seemed to be getting worse. I worked the powder into the hat and checked her over thinking that her pale face meant she could have mites or even worms. I found some mites around her vent, not a lot but they were there. I sprinkled the powder around the area and worked it in a bit and I also put some on the floor of her house (plastic house). I looked under her wings and around her body and didn't see any others.
I bought a product called Harkers. It eradicates mites and most worms from pigeons but is supposed to work on chickens too even though it is not sold for chickens. I asked lots of questions about it beforehand and it seemed like just what I needed to make sure I had done all I could for Dot. I also bought her some vitamin and mineral drops for her water. With the Harkin drops the directions were to use 2 drops on a pigeon. I asked the man at the shop about how much to use on her because she is very skinny and he said just use the two drops. I used two drops the first day but the following day I gave her an extra drop.
She seemed a bit perkier the next morning and I thought maybe it was something to do with these products I bought for her but then she went right downhill again. For a few days or so she had spent a lot of time sitting still, not moving and with her head hung down. Yesterday she was all hunched up, head hung over, looking like she would not last the night. I don't know if she was sleeping or semi-conscious but she just "slept" in her box on a soft, clean blanket for hours, shallow breathing, not moving, unable to hold her head up. I cuddled her and assumed she would not make it through the night however she did, and she hung on most of today until early evening when she finally died.
I took her outside to bury her but I wanted to keep a few little feathers and while I was pushing the fluffy feathers around I discovered a sight that made me feel sick with guilt. It was an area, about 3 inches wide of thick mites on her body. They seemed to be in this one area and then almost before my eyes some appeared on her face-I have never seen any, ever on her face before.
I am feeling awful, that perhaps I did not check well enough. I have always read that mites like a warm part of the body and that I should check the vent area and under the wings. I know I always checked there well and never saw any but I am second guessing myself now . Could I really have missed that area every time I checked her? It seems unlikely and yet there they were.
Do mites congregate in one area? Do they rapidly multiply? If so could they multiply a lot in one day or two? Maybe because she was unwell they were able to do so as she was hardly moving? Can they just appear when a hen has died? Can they live in a plastic chicken house? I never saw any. I did look. I just feel so awful about it. I said to my husband many times that her face, which used to be so red, was now so pale and that was usually a sign on mites but I just couldn't find any.... He often said it was perhaps her great age but I don't know. Can anyone help please by answering some of my questions? May thanks in advance.
Her name was Dot. She was an Appenzeller hen so she had a fluffy "hat". She has always had issues with mites in her "hat". I am assuming they were mites. They were very tiny and not lice. She rarely seemed to be able to be 100% rid of them there though she was free of them on her body. We used to use DE and a louse/mite powder - we would sprinkle it in the hat and gently rub it in. That usually had a good effect for awhile but eventually they would come back.
I tried several times to wash the hat and really see if I could completely sort the problem but she was so terribly stressed by the washing that I thought she would die so it was not something I could do regularly. I always checked her for mites on her body and never found any.
For quite a long while she has been unwell but as she was so old and I could find nothing obviously wrong with her I assumed it was down to her age. Her once red face became pale too.
Recently she seemed to be getting worse. I worked the powder into the hat and checked her over thinking that her pale face meant she could have mites or even worms. I found some mites around her vent, not a lot but they were there. I sprinkled the powder around the area and worked it in a bit and I also put some on the floor of her house (plastic house). I looked under her wings and around her body and didn't see any others.
I bought a product called Harkers. It eradicates mites and most worms from pigeons but is supposed to work on chickens too even though it is not sold for chickens. I asked lots of questions about it beforehand and it seemed like just what I needed to make sure I had done all I could for Dot. I also bought her some vitamin and mineral drops for her water. With the Harkin drops the directions were to use 2 drops on a pigeon. I asked the man at the shop about how much to use on her because she is very skinny and he said just use the two drops. I used two drops the first day but the following day I gave her an extra drop.
She seemed a bit perkier the next morning and I thought maybe it was something to do with these products I bought for her but then she went right downhill again. For a few days or so she had spent a lot of time sitting still, not moving and with her head hung down. Yesterday she was all hunched up, head hung over, looking like she would not last the night. I don't know if she was sleeping or semi-conscious but she just "slept" in her box on a soft, clean blanket for hours, shallow breathing, not moving, unable to hold her head up. I cuddled her and assumed she would not make it through the night however she did, and she hung on most of today until early evening when she finally died.
I took her outside to bury her but I wanted to keep a few little feathers and while I was pushing the fluffy feathers around I discovered a sight that made me feel sick with guilt. It was an area, about 3 inches wide of thick mites on her body. They seemed to be in this one area and then almost before my eyes some appeared on her face-I have never seen any, ever on her face before.
I am feeling awful, that perhaps I did not check well enough. I have always read that mites like a warm part of the body and that I should check the vent area and under the wings. I know I always checked there well and never saw any but I am second guessing myself now . Could I really have missed that area every time I checked her? It seems unlikely and yet there they were.
Do mites congregate in one area? Do they rapidly multiply? If so could they multiply a lot in one day or two? Maybe because she was unwell they were able to do so as she was hardly moving? Can they just appear when a hen has died? Can they live in a plastic chicken house? I never saw any. I did look. I just feel so awful about it. I said to my husband many times that her face, which used to be so red, was now so pale and that was usually a sign on mites but I just couldn't find any.... He often said it was perhaps her great age but I don't know. Can anyone help please by answering some of my questions? May thanks in advance.
I'm sorry I can't answer your specific questions about mites. But I did not know a chicken could live as long as ten years! So you should know you gave your sweet girl a very good life and could not have loved her more than you did. Bless you for that! 
