Arizona Chickens

[tball chicky]

I can't answer everybody individually but THANK YOU everyone for all your advice on my poor little Serama rooster.

BEFORE I knew he had lice: I bathed him in dog flea shampoo (cuz that's what I had), gave him a blow dry, tried to give him medicine (cuz I thought he was sick). THEN I saw a bug on the sheet he was wrapped in.

SO we washed him in DAWN dishsoap & saw the buggies swish down the drain. I gave him another blow dry & picked off whatever bugs I saw. Tried to give him medicine -no go...

TODAY, he seemed to be a bit better. His comb is darker & standing up again. AND he POOPED! (first time in 18 hours) I gave him some medicine water & he finally actually drank it.

So I thought some food was in order. I made him a buffet because...because...I'm weird like that. He got a bowl of medicine water with a side of strained/thick kefir and some warm oatmeal with a side of applesauce. He hit the water first & drank maybe a TBSP, then tasted the kefir - maybe a tsp...then I put the oatmeal & applesauce down. He tore into that oatmeal like it was gonna be his last meal - maybe TBSP or so. Finally he had to taste the applesauce because some of the oatmeal got flung into it - and ate maybe a tsp of that.
Sooo...I think he's doing pretty good (considering he seemed almost dead yesterday). He still can't really stand up but he's way more alert...

This makes me want to turn my Seramas into house chickens...

I really, really, really, really HATE bugs...especially the ones you can't see

 

[mclevinson]

Quote:
I'm back, been super busy and a little disorganized. Hopelessly behind, anybody have the short version of whats going on?

chickies get eaten by brother's dog
Mama hens very nice girls line up
Fridg-a-bator working great
Booted seramas
Mikey's feeder's working
Mahroni's pict on front page
Dale's Town and Country is a nice feed store - AZBootsie looking into milled feed
Very nice buff orpington chickens
Silkie chicks mature more slowly
Beetles can fly but then they can't

and I'm supposed to give you some bran for Noel.

How's that?

Good job Mikey.
Congrats and/or sympathies all around. Please don not get them mixed up.

 

[mclevinson]

Quote:
Oh, I love it.

Took Zombie Barbie and Silver Witch around the neighborhood with the Mad Hatter Emmy. They had a blast. Came home and had Emmy sort the candy to remove that which has wheat, which she took with her to school today to trade her teacher for homework passes.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Sounds like lice.

Use sevin dust, Adams Flea/Tick spray for dogs--preferably the one with an insect growth regulator, or ivermectin pour-on. DE will do nothing for an infestation.

I thought that Ivermectin does not work on lice? Quote: "Ivermectin pour on is quickly absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream. It'll kill mites, but not lice. Lice dont suck blood, mites do." (BYC user and pest expert dawg53)

It's always worked for me...and a lot of other folks.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
I thought that Ivermectin does not work on lice? Quote: "Ivermectin pour on is quickly absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream. It'll kill mites, but not lice. Lice dont suck blood, mites do." (BYC user and pest expert dawg53)

I think you will find it is the other way around Lice suck blood from your chickens and Mites eat plant or animal substances, decaying organisms, and humus, and also infest stored food products such as cheese, meat, grains, and flour. .....


Edit just to edit....

Some, if not all the lice that infect birds chew on the feathers. That said, they can kill birds. I have not really done the research to know exactly HOW they hurt them, but they very definitely do. Mites can be very opportunistic--some (such as chiggers) are very fond of blood. Northern fowl mite is one blood-sucking mite that is very common to birds. Yes, despite the "northern" in their name, they are found in Arizona (and pretty much the entire country).

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Sounds like lice.

Use sevin dust, Adams Flea/Tick spray for dogs--preferably the one with an insect growth regulator, or ivermectin pour-on. DE will do nothing for an infestation.

OK...so Sevin dust for the coop/run, ivermectin pour-on for the chickens, then spray them after they're dry...sound like that should do it? I'm guessing that I'm going to have to do this for all 3 coops/runs...if the wild birds dropped their frineds in one coop, they probably dropped some in all the coops...right?

I would recommend not doing both ivermectin AND Adams spray at the same time--give them at least a couple of days in between.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

from http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/204708.htm:

Lice


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avian lice, which belong to the order Mallophaga, have a life cycle of ~3 wk and normally feed on bits of skin or feather products. Lice may live for several months on the host but remain alive only for ~1 wk off the host. Humans and other mammals may harbor avian lice, but only temporarily.
In intensive poultry systems, the most common and economically important louse to both chickens and turkeys is Menacanthus stramineus , the chicken body louse. It punctures soft quills near their base or gnaws the skin at the base of the feathers and feeds on the blood. Chickens are less commonly infested with Menopon gallinae (on feather shafts), Lipeurus caponis (mainly on the wing feathers), Cuclotogaster heterographus (mainly on the head and neck), Goniocotes gallinae (very small, in the fluff ), Goniodes gigas (the large chicken louse), Goniodes dissimilis (the brown chicken louse), Menacanthus cornutus (the body louse), Uchida pallidula (the small body louse), or Oxylipeurus dentatus . Turkeys may also be infested with Chelopistes meleagridis (the large turkey louse), Oxylipeurus polytrapezius (the slender turkey louse), or Menacanthus stramineus (the chicken body louse).
Because lice transfer from one bird species to another when the hosts are in close contact, other domestic and caged birds may be infested with species of Mallophaga that are usually host-specific.
Heavy populations of the chicken body louse decrease reproductive potential in males, egg production in females, and weight gain in growing chickens. The skin irritations are also sites for secondary bacterial infections. Other species of lice are not highly pathogenic to mature birds but may be fatal to chicks. Examination of birds, particularly around the vent and under the wings, reveals eggs or moving lice on the skin or feathers.
Lice are usually introduced to a farm through infested equipment (eg, crates or egg flats) or by galliform birds. Lice are best controlled on caged chickens or turkeys by spraying with pyrethroids, carbaryl, coumaphos, malathion, or stirofos. Birds on the floor are more easily treated by scattering carbaryl, coumaphos, malathion, or stirofos dust on the litter.

from http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/204709.htm

Mites: Overview


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The most economically important of the many external parasites of poultry are mites of the families Dermanyssidae (chicken mite, northern fowl mite, and tropical fowl mite) and Trombiculidae (turkey chigger).


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See Also
Bedbugs
Fleas
Flies and Gnats
Biting Midge
Black Fly
Pigeon Fly
Fowl Ticks
Lice
Mites

Chicken Mite
Common Chigger
Depluming Mite
Feather Mite
Northern Fowl Mite
Scaly Leg Mite
Subcutaneous Mite
Tropical Fowl Mite
Turkey Chigger
Mosquitos

See http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/toc_204700.htm for links to all the above.​

 

[southerndesert]

Quote:
I think you will find it is the other way around Lice suck blood from your chickens and Mites eat plant or animal substances, decaying organisms, and humus, and also infest stored food products such as cheese, meat, grains, and flour. .....


Edit just to edit....

Some, if not all the lice that infect birds chew on the feathers. That said, they can kill birds. I have not really done the research to know exactly HOW they hurt them, but they very definitely do. Mites can be very opportunistic--some (such as chiggers) are very fond of blood. Northern fowl mite is one blood-sucking mite that is very common to birds. Yes, despite the "northern" in their name, they are found in Arizona (and pretty much the entire country).

I stand corrected on this and it seems that fowl lice do not suck blood and the mites do (opposite for human lice which suck blood from the host and mites do not) Found the info here after your post http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html and thanks for the education ca and SS and I am the one had it backwards with chickens and birds. That would explain why bird lice and mites do not bother us as well.

I spent quite a spell reading up on the different lice and mites online and learned allot. Rarely see either in our flocks and use 7 dust if we do, but can't remember the last time, but it's been years.

 

[Mikey D]

Quote:
Anne! I'm way behind but hey!!!!! Honored to be the post that brought you out of lurkdom. Everybody, Anne was my neighbor (my EXCELLENT neighbor) across the street from me for about 10 minutes last year when we moved in. She is MUCH too precious to lose so we keep up as best we can.

You should kick that other idiot out

and have Ann move back!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Some, if not all the lice that infect birds chew on the feathers. That said, they can kill birds. I have not really done the research to know exactly HOW they hurt them, but they very definitely do. Mites can be very opportunistic--some (such as chiggers) are very fond of blood. Northern fowl mite is one blood-sucking mite that is very common to birds. Yes, despite the "northern" in their name, they are found in Arizona (and pretty much the entire country).

I stand corrected on this and it seems that fowl lice do not suck blood and the mites do (opposite for human lice which suck blood from the host and mites do not) Found the info here after your post http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html and thanks for the education ca and SS and I am the one had it backwards with chickens and birds. That would explain why bird lice and mites do not bother us as well.

I spent quite a spell reading up on the different lice and mites online and learned allot. Rarely see either in our flocks and use 7 dust if we do, but can't remember the last time, but it's been years.

Some fowl lice DO suck blood, and others do not. Ditto for mites. Read the Merck Veterinary Manual links I posted.