Ataxic Chicken?

[Jennydp]

I am writing for concern of Maple, our young silkie that all of a sudden looked like she was broody for about a week...This was odd as she is too young to lay. She just never moved much except when she wanted to eat or drink. After thorough examination, we noticed she had little bugs on her skin, which we later identified as mites...I had no idea chickens got mites. We washed her twice July 6th and so many mites floated and we also sprayed her with Adams Flea spray yesterday as directed by our poultry vet. She is mite free now. She is chipper, curious, eating well, drinking and pooping fine. However she is not walking and it is a struggle for her to move. We have checked her legs and feet...all seems normal with no breaks or anything. She does not seem in pain when I checked her. We have had her isolated but brought her out for fresh air. She struggled to walk and was not able to jump into the coop. We still have her separated and I put poultry plus in her water. This weakness started a week ago when she started acting broody and lethargic...then we discovered the cause was mites. Could the mites have injured her and her ability to walk? Or could she have gotten the mites because she wasn’t moving much and not taking dustbaths? It’s almost like she is partially paralyzed. All the other chics were checked and sprayed with Adams Flea spray. We saw a couple of mites on a couple of silkies but nothing like what Maple had. We also sprayed the coop. Take a look at the video if you will and see what u think. Thx bunches for your help! Jenny

 

[cmom]

Mites can suck the life out of a bird. Next time if you bathe the birds use something like lice shampoo for people. If you want to bathe your birds, every over-the-counter (OTC) treatment for head lice contains either pyrethrins (Rid or Triple X) or permethrin (Nix). They are effective treatment. Both only kill live pests, not the pests eggs. You can also spray the birds with permethrin which is effective. If you do use permethrin dust, wear a dust mask. I put the poultry dust in the nest boxes. It usually takes more than one treatment about a week apart because it does not kill the pests eggs. I sprayed inside of the coops, every crack and crevice, on and under the roosts, ceiling, walls, floors, anywhere the pests can hide. The bonus is there is no egg withdrawal period. Last year I had a severe infestation of mites and thought the birds were molting but when they didn't seem to be getting their feathers back I investigated further and found mine were covered. ASAP I sprayed the inside of their coop thoroughly. I sprayed the birds and some gave baths too. It helped but I used flea shampoo so it didn't get rid of them all but helped. If I ever need to bathe them again I will use the OTC shampoos. I have tried a lot of different things including DE and the birds still had the mites then I tried the permethrin. I have sprayed or put the poultry dust in places where the birds like to dust bathe. It works. As a bonus if the birds are laying, there is no egg withdrawal period. TSC carries the permethrin dust, the premixed spray bottles and the concentrate. Good luck...

 

[cmom]

Also, I had a young male in a similar situation. I put him with my special bird. At first she was a little ticked off but eventually was ok. He would try to follow Gladys but couldn't walk. Slowly he improved.

 

[Jennydp]

Thank you! I bathed with dawn dish soap but will use flea shampoo next time.

 

[cmom]

Flea shampoo helped but I still saw mites on the birds after I gave them a couple of baths. I would use the over the counter lice shampoo for people.