Arizona Chickens

[City farm]

When it rains, it pours! Went out this morning for the morning feed, and one of my BJG pullets was hiding under a bush, with one eye closed. When I picked her up to check her out, that eye had bubbles in it. Usually a sign of some kind of respiratory infection, but she is not having any breathing difficulty, or nasal discharge.

How is your chicken?

 

[a little chiken]

wow sry to everyone that is having chicken issues.
I was asked by a friend how often I check for chicken pests like mites, lice and ticks and I thought I was doing a good job but I have lost about 12 birds from one pen in about 4 months and although all but 5 were from one breed I thought ok there has to be something else going on as all of my other coops the birds are fine. This is my grow out pen and I lost some due to an aunt invasion, some after a very bad monsoon rain that flooded everything but a couple I did not know what caused the issue and frankly still dont.
I took this breed as a project breed to help establish it and I have found that they are very difficult to work with. Not their attitude but they seem to die very easily. They are supposed to be heat resistant and ok I agree no major heat issues but every time it rains I lose one or two. I find that odd. My coops have roof's so they should not be drowning but I have no idea what is up.
Then I lost 3 SIAM but they were covered in ants. I put them out 2 days after a big storm and I have cleaned and dusted said coop with DE after each set of birds leaves it. I am not sure why after that storm we had a huge amount of piss ants that covered these chicks and I am guessing that is what came over them. the only other 2 I lost were roosters that were in there together with hens and seemed to get along (a bantam cochin and a silkie) and they passed after the flooded coops within a couple days of each other and they both were sneezing, and coughing with gooey eyes but no one else got it.
I started checking my birds more closely after talking to this friend and bringing home a rooster. although he did not go into any of the coops he was near them. I found what I think is lice on some of my birds. only about 4 birds but one had nits on its chin feathers and I found some crawling on the back and neck are. I was always taught to look under the wings and around the vent area of the chickens. So I have bought some poultry protector spray but I didnt have enough to do the whole lot of birds but I cleaned all my coops and put sown DE and dusted the 4 birds I found with these lice. I have been reading on what to use and their are so very many products and for every product there is someone that says not to use it. could the lice be the reason of the sporadic deaths of these birds? they do not seem to be infested as I only found maybe one per bird, 3 was the most I saw on one bird and only the one with nits on it.

what does everyone here use? powdered products or liquid? sprays or dips and why?

I have read not to use powder due to respiratory issues in fowl. but if you use dips and sprays how does that affect the birds? what would cause me to get lice all of a sudden? was it probably the rooster I took in or do they just show up?

Thank you in advance for your help.

so tired of looking at conflicting ideas, stories and articles, just want to help my birds and make them all happy again. **sigh***

 

[desertmarcy]

wow sry to everyone that is having chicken issues.
I was asked by a friend how often I check for chicken pests like mites, lice and ticks and I thought I was doing a good job but I have lost about 12 birds from one pen in about 4 months and although all but 5 were from one breed I thought ok there has to be something else going on as all of my other coops the birds are fine. This is my grow out pen and I lost some due to an aunt invasion, some after a very bad monsoon rain that flooded everything but a couple I did not know what caused the issue and frankly still dont.
I took this breed as a project breed to help establish it and I have found that they are very difficult to work with. Not their attitude but they seem to die very easily. They are supposed to be heat resistant and ok I agree no major heat issues but every time it rains I lose one or two. I find that odd. My coops have roof's so they should not be drowning but I have no idea what is up.
Then I lost 3 SIAM but they were covered in ants. I put them out 2 days after a big storm and I have cleaned and dusted said coop with DE after each set of birds leaves it. I am not sure why after that storm we had a huge amount of piss ants that covered these chicks and I am guessing that is what came over them. the only other 2 I lost were roosters that were in there together with hens and seemed to get along (a bantam cochin and a silkie) and they passed after the flooded coops within a couple days of each other and they both were sneezing, and coughing with gooey eyes but no one else got it.
I started checking my birds more closely after talking to this friend and bringing home a rooster. although he did not go into any of the coops he was near them. I found what I think is lice on some of my birds. only about 4 birds but one had nits on its chin feathers and I found some crawling on the back and neck are. I was always taught to look under the wings and around the vent area of the chickens. So I have bought some poultry protector spray but I didnt have enough to do the whole lot of birds but I cleaned all my coops and put sown DE and dusted the 4 birds I found with these lice. I have been reading on what to use and their are so very many products and for every product there is someone that says not to use it. could the lice be the reason of the sporadic deaths of these birds? they do not seem to be infested as I only found maybe one per bird, 3 was the most I saw on one bird and only the one with nits on it.

what does everyone here use? powdered products or liquid? sprays or dips and why?

I have read not to use powder due to respiratory issues in fowl. but if you use dips and sprays how does that affect the birds? what would cause me to get lice all of a sudden? was it probably the rooster I took in or do they just show up?

Thank you in advance for your help.

so tired of looking at conflicting ideas, stories and articles, just want to help my birds and make them all happy again. **sigh***

Keeping chickens pest and disease free can be a challenge indeed.

On the crawling ectoparasites, look for lice under the hackle feathers, under their wings, and above the vent. They will take a toll on your birds if left unchecked, but worse is the Northern Fowl mite. Look for them above the vent. They are small like ground pepper and hard to see unless moving or viewed with a hand lens but will make the feathers above the vent look icky and black. That mite spends it's whole life cycle on the bird and multiplies within 4 days, so the numbers can increase very rapidly and they will suck your bird dry and they will die.
I had an infestation of them this winter and tried numerous remedies and the ONLY thing that worked was Front Line spray. Do I care what affect it has on the bird? No, because the birds will die from mites and the mites will spread and you will have a problem dealing with it. So forget about using everything else and just use the Front Line if they have mites. Things I tried that helped but did not get rid of them permanently: Ivermectin pour on, Permethrin dip (soaked the birds up to their heads in a 5-gal bucket except the few that decided to take a dive, those got their heads soaked too), Adams Flea and Tick spray, Sevin dust. I spent a lot of money and much time catching and treating 100 or so birds over and over with different stuff. The permethrin? I found live mites crawling on a bird the day after dipping them all so even though the package said it has a 30-day residual effect, it did not. Frontline, spray one spritz above the vent and one on their back and you are done. Since this is not approved for chickens, no way to know if you need to wait to eat the eggs. I'd wait 7-10 days then whatever residual might be there is going to be small and probably a lot less harmful than many of the other chemicals in our food supply. Just saying. Mites are much harder to get rid of than lice. Adams Flea and Tick spray should take care of the lice and much easier to use than Sevin dust. Just make sure you treat all your birds in the same day or you will just chase the buggers around.

The lice and mites can be spread by wild birds or if you bring in an infected bird, all it takes is one live one on that bird to start the population booming. Getting new birds for your flock? Quarantein, Quarantein, Quarantein!!

 

[desertmarcy]

When it rains, it pours! Went out this morning for the morning feed, and one of my BJG pullets was hiding under a bush, with one eye closed. When I picked her up to check her out, that eye had bubbles in it. Usually a sign of some kind of respiratory infection, but she is not having any breathing difficulty, or nasal discharge.

This is an old timer's poultry remedy taught to me by an old timer poultry judge for respiratory problems. He told me he won't tell people about stuff unless he knows it works.
Get yourself some liquid camphophenique. Using a cotton swab or tiny dropper, put a drop in each nostril while holding the bird's beak shut, forcing them to breathe through their nose. That will get the camphophenique through their whole system. They will think they are dying and can't breathe, so when you let go their beak, they will gasp for breath. Put 4 drops of Vet RX down their throat. Do this every day for 3-4 days and most of them will clear up.

 

[MagicChicken]

wow sry to everyone that is having chicken issues.
I was asked by a friend how often I check for chicken pests like mites, lice and ticks and I thought I was doing a good job but I have lost about 12 birds from one pen in about 4 months and although all but 5 were from one breed I thought ok there has to be something else going on as all of my other coops the birds are fine. This is my grow out pen and I lost some due to an aunt invasion, some after a very bad monsoon rain that flooded everything but a couple I did not know what caused the issue and frankly still dont.
I took this breed as a project breed to help establish it and I have found that they are very difficult to work with. Not their attitude but they seem to die very easily. They are supposed to be heat resistant and ok I agree no major heat issues but every time it rains I lose one or two. I find that odd. My coops have roof's so they should not be drowning but I have no idea what is up.
Then I lost 3 SIAM but they were covered in ants. I put them out 2 days after a big storm and I have cleaned and dusted said coop with DE after each set of birds leaves it. I am not sure why after that storm we had a huge amount of piss ants that covered these chicks and I am guessing that is what came over them. the only other 2 I lost were roosters that were in there together with hens and seemed to get along (a bantam cochin and a silkie) and they passed after the flooded coops within a couple days of each other and they both were sneezing, and coughing with gooey eyes but no one else got it.
I started checking my birds more closely after talking to this friend and bringing home a rooster. although he did not go into any of the coops he was near them. I found what I think is lice on some of my birds. only about 4 birds but one had nits on its chin feathers and I found some crawling on the back and neck are. I was always taught to look under the wings and around the vent area of the chickens. So I have bought some poultry protector spray but I didnt have enough to do the whole lot of birds but I cleaned all my coops and put sown DE and dusted the 4 birds I found with these lice. I have been reading on what to use and their are so very many products and for every product there is someone that says not to use it. could the lice be the reason of the sporadic deaths of these birds? they do not seem to be infested as I only found maybe one per bird, 3 was the most I saw on one bird and only the one with nits on it.

what does everyone here use? powdered products or liquid? sprays or dips and why?

I have read not to use powder due to respiratory issues in fowl. but if you use dips and sprays how does that affect the birds? what would cause me to get lice all of a sudden? was it probably the rooster I took in or do they just show up?

Thank you in advance for your help.

so tired of looking at conflicting ideas, stories and articles, just want to help my birds and make them all happy again. **sigh***

Mites and lice can just show up. Sometimes brought in with new chickens. Sometimes brought in via wild birds. Sometimes resident in the coop for long periods of time, left over from previous residents. Depends on the specific critters.

I've been battling both for several months now, mostly in my cocks and older cockerels. I think I've resolved it in my hens. The pullets (same coop as the hens) have not been visibly affected yet. But the rooster in with the girls always has nits. I can't seem to get rid of them. Treating weekly with permethrin spray has knocked the bugs back but if I don't treat the birds for a couple of weeks the bugs return. The old-time poultry folks around here have told me to dip the birds monthly. Dipping birds is a chore. Not to mention stressful for me and the birds. I'm hoping I can find a spray regimen that works.

I got concentrated permethrin from Arizona Country Feed and mixed it into a spray bottle at the dilution recommended for poultry spray. Half an hour or so after sunset I go out to the coops and treat the chickens on the roosts. A squirt below the vent and under each wing for prevention. A heavier application around the vent, on each side, on the belly between the legs, and under each wing if the bird has an active infestation. Make sure the spray gets down to the bird's skin. I've recently been treating the infested birds with more spray in more locations. It seems to be working better than a single squirt per butt and wing on the infested birds. Time will tell.

Dusting with food grade diatomaceous earth (DE) in between spray treatments has helped, too, but doesn't kill all the bugs in the heavily infested birds. DE in the nest boxes helps some. In dry weather I spread DE on the floor of the coop/run, but with the rain and humidity this summer I haven't bothered. Wet DE just cakes up and does nothing.

Bugs are why I will no longer dry-pluck a bird

If you find a good solution let us know.

 

[a little chiken]

ok so if I treat and the bird has no visible signs of the lice can I sell them? I have some cockerels and roosters I want to get rid of but don't want ppl thinking I do not care for my birds. the spray I bought was permethrin based. I just used it on the infected birds. I will go buy more spray tomorrow and spray more. I have Frontline for my dogs as we unfortunately live in a tick area here in Tucson and my neighbors refuse to cut down their oleanders. I did not see any mites or blk spots but will be checking tonight. I use DE spread all over my coops and reapply after each rain. I have not added it to my nest boxes.

 

[City farm]

 wow sry to everyone that is having chicken issues.
I was asked by a friend how often I check for chicken pests like mites, lice and ticks and I thought I was doing a good job but I have lost about 12 birds from one pen in about 4 months and although all but 5 were from one breed I thought ok there has to be something else going on as all of my other coops the birds are fine. This is my grow out pen and I lost some due to an aunt invasion, some after a very bad monsoon rain that flooded everything but a couple I did not know what caused the issue and frankly still dont.
I took this breed as a project breed to help establish it and I have found that they are very difficult to work with. Not their attitude but they seem to die very easily. They are supposed to be heat resistant and ok I agree no major heat issues but every time it rains I lose one or two. I find that odd. My coops have roof's so they should not be drowning but I have no idea what is up.
Then I lost 3 SIAM but they were covered in ants. I put them out 2 days after a big storm and I have cleaned and dusted said coop with DE after each set of birds leaves it. I am not sure why after that storm we had a huge amount of piss ants that covered these chicks and I am guessing that is what came over them. the only other 2 I lost were roosters that were in there together with hens and seemed to get along (a bantam cochin and a silkie) and they passed after the flooded coops within a couple days of each other and they both were sneezing, and coughing with gooey eyes but no one else got it. 
I started checking my birds more closely after talking to this friend and bringing home a rooster. although he did not go into any of the coops he was near them. I found what I think is lice on some of my birds. only about 4 birds but one had nits on its chin feathers and I found some crawling on the back and neck are. I was always taught to look under the wings and around the vent area of the chickens. So I have bought some poultry protector spray but I didnt have enough to do the whole lot of birds but I cleaned all my coops and put sown DE and dusted the 4 birds I found with these lice. I have been reading on what to use and their are so very many products and for every product there is someone that says not to use it. could the lice be the reason of the sporadic deaths of these birds? they do not seem to be infested as I only found maybe one per bird, 3 was the most I saw on one bird and only the one with nits on it.

what does everyone here use?  powdered products or liquid? sprays or dips and why?

I have read not to use powder due to respiratory issues in fowl. but if you use dips and sprays how does that affect the birds? what would cause me to get lice all of a sudden? was it probably the rooster I took in or do they just show up? 

Thank you in advance for your help. 

  so tired of looking at conflicting ideas, stories and articles, just want to help my birds and make them all happy again. **sigh***

I am going to ducks

 

[jackiezim]

Yeah, me too!  It looks amazing.  And I was so proud of my little patch, this puts mine to shame!

Thank you. Thank you. It wasn't this green the beginning of the summer. Then I took over lawn care from my husband and wala, green grass. Lol

 

[desertmarcy]

Mites and lice can just show up. Sometimes brought in with new chickens. Sometimes brought in via wild birds. Sometimes resident in the coop for long periods of time, left over from previous residents. Depends on the specific critters.

I've been battling both for several months now, mostly in my cocks and older cockerels. I think I've resolved it in my hens. The pullets (same coop as the hens) have not been visibly affected yet. But the rooster in with the girls always has nits. I can't seem to get rid of them. Treating weekly with permethrin spray has knocked the bugs back but if I don't treat the birds for a couple of weeks the bugs return. The old-time poultry folks around here have told me to dip the birds monthly. Dipping birds is a chore. Not to mention stressful for me and the birds. I'm hoping I can find a spray regimen that works.

I got concentrated permethrin from Arizona Country Feed and mixed it into a spray bottle at the dilution recommended for poultry spray. Half an hour or so after sunset I go out to the coops and treat the chickens on the roosts. A squirt below the vent and under each wing for prevention. A heavier application around the vent, on each side, on the belly between the legs, and under each wing if the bird has an active infestation. Make sure the spray gets down to the bird's skin. I've recently been treating the infested birds with more spray in more locations. It seems to be working better than a single squirt per butt and wing on the infested birds. Time will tell.

Dusting with food grade diatomaceous earth (DE) in between spray treatments has helped, too, but doesn't kill all the bugs in the heavily infested birds. DE in the nest boxes helps some. In dry weather I spread DE on the floor of the coop/run, but with the rain and humidity this summer I haven't bothered. Wet DE just cakes up and does nothing.

Bugs are why I will no longer dry-pluck a bird

If you find a good solution let us know.

Sara I think you told me you don't want to go with the big guns but it will save you a lot of time and aggravation. Like I said in my post above, using Permectrin diluted according to directions, we dunked those birds until they were soaked to the skin. Sloshed them up and down in a bucket of warm water. Most of them actually did not mind it since the water was warm but that was another chore, hiking back and forth to the house to get gallons of warm water. And then they had to stand around shivering until they dried off. Can't do that unless it is a nice sunny warm day. It did get rid of a lot of the mites, but danged if the next day, when I caught a hen that I knew had them, I saw live mites on her underside. I was really depressed after all that. I was told by a guy who shows a lot that all the show people use Frontline spray. KV Supply (kvsupply.com) has a decent price $29.95 for 250 ml, $49.95 for 500 ml, free shipping but find something else to buy or pay an extra $5 for orders under $50. I bought my Permectrin II from them also, $20 for 32 oz concentrate.

 

[desertmarcy]

ok so if I treat and the bird has no visible signs of the lice can I sell them? I have some cockerels and roosters I want to get rid of but don't want ppl thinking I do not care for my birds. the spray I bought was permethrin based. I just used it on the infected birds. I will go buy more spray tomorrow and spray more. I have Frontline for my dogs as we unfortunately live in a tick area here in Tucson and my neighbors refuse to cut down their oleanders. I did not see any mites or blk spots but will be checking tonight. I use DE spread all over my coops and reapply after each rain. I have not added it to my nest boxes.

I would just be up front with the buyers and tell them you have been treating some birds and advise they isolate them and keep an eye out. Which a person who already has a flock should do anyway, but not everybody does. I would not sell them if you see they are infested until you clear them up. If you are selling the males for meat you should not use anything that leaves a residual in the tissue. We really do not know any withdrawal time for that stuff since it is not approved for poultry and Americans don't eat their dogs