Blue Egg Layers from University of Arkansas

[ronott1]

The eggs were only one ounce when they started laying and now are 1.5 to 1.7 +/-. Not sure how much the hens weigh but they are pretty small. I think they are likely to max out in the 1.7-2.0 range... My goal is to have birds that lay eggs of at least 2.25 ounces or larger. Nothing smaller than 2.0 ounces. I've had some of my ameraucana's start with 2.2 ounces... that's getting it done in my book!

The eggs are in the large range now. 2.25 is extra large.

Size Mass per egg Cooking Yield (Volume)[2]
Jumbo Greater than 2.5 oz. or 71 g
Very Large or Extra-Large (XL) Greater than 2.25 oz. or 64 g
Large (L) Greater than 2 oz. or 57 g
Medium (M) Greater than 1.75 oz. or 50 g
Small (S) Greater than 1.5 oz. or 43 g
Peewee Greater than 1.25 oz. or 35 g

The problem with Xtra large to jumbo egg layers is that they lay less eggs. I am sure my Blues are laying bigger egg that that and they are 7 months old so the mites may have slowed their development. The eggs will get bigger until the molt and then bigger again after the molt.

 

[johnderosa1]

The eggs are in the large range now. 2.25 is extra large.

Size	Mass per egg	Cooking Yield (Volume)[SUP][2][/SUP]
Jumbo	Greater than 2.5 oz. or 71 g
Very Large or Extra-Large (XL)	Greater than 2.25 oz. or 64 g
Large (L)	Greater than 2 oz. or 57 g
Medium (M)	Greater than 1.75 oz. or 50 g
Small (S)	Greater than 1.5 oz. or 43 g
Peewee	Greater than 1.25 oz. or 35 g

The problem with Xtra large to jumbo egg layers is that they lay less eggs. I am sure my Blues are laying bigger egg that that and they are 7 months old so the mites may have slowed their development. The eggs will get bigger until the molt and then bigger again after the molt.

Ron, i really think the mites were the issue. I never had a problem with them before and didn't recognize the problem until the damage was done. The birds were in a brand new coop and the potential for mites wasnt even on the radar. I let a few people enter the building and my guess is that the mites came in with one of them. I have it under control now but have not eradicated them entirely yet. Its really been a nightmare. I believe they are northern fowl mites. I am working to have they completely eradicated by mid spring. Their lifecycle seems a bit slow right now so it makes it a little harder to give them a knockout blow. Once it warms up i hope to ratchet up the pressure. Wish me luck

 

[ronott1]

Ron, i really think the mites were the issue. I never had a problem with them before and didn't recognize the problem until the damage was done. The birds were in a brand new coop and the potential for mites wasnt even on the radar. I let a few people enter the building and my guess is that the mites came in with one of them. I have it under control now but have not eradicated them entirely yet. Its really been a nightmare. I believe they are northern fowl mites. I am working to have they completely eradicated by mid spring. Their lifecycle seems a bit slow right now so it makes it a little harder to give them a knockout blow. Once it warms up i hope to ratchet up the pressure. Wish me luck

For really persistent mite problems, frontline has done the trick for some.

Frontline also has no withdrawal period. If I had a bad mite problem I would us it!

Northern Fowl mites are terrible!

 

[farmhand]

Ron, i really think the mites were the issue. I never had a problem with them before and didn't recognize the problem until the damage was done. The birds were in a brand new coop and the potential for mites wasnt even on the radar. I let a few people enter the building and my guess is that the mites came in with one of them. I have it under control now but have not eradicated them entirely yet. Its really been a nightmare. I believe they are northern fowl mites. I am working to have they completely eradicated by mid spring. Their lifecycle seems a bit slow right now so it makes it a little harder to give them a knockout blow. Once it warms up i hope to ratchet up the pressure. Wish me luck

I would appreciate information on what you have learned from this issue with the mites. How did you id the problem? How are you treating it? What will you do differently in the future regarding the control?
Thanks

 

[johnderosa1]

I would appreciate information on what you have learned from this issue with the mites. How did you id the problem? How are you treating it? What will you do differently in the future regarding the control?
Thanks

Hi farmhand,

First thing I noticed was some head twitching among the birds. I read up on the potential causes and it looked like it might be mites. I inspected the birds and didn't find anything. Their combs were very pale but since most of the birds in that coop were young I just took a watch and wait approach. When some of my adult birds started showing signs (combs turned pale and started drooping) I started thinking that they definitely had mites. I checked them again but didn't see any of the telltales signs... in fact I've never seen a single mite even to this day. By this time the birds seemed like they weren't growing as well as expected and I started some spot treatments with poultry spray and regular pen cleanings. I started noticing that I would get itching when entering the coop and the birds didn't really seem to be improving very much. I stepped up the chemical treatments as follows, first permethrin spray, then garden and poultry powder sprinkled throughout the litter and coop. No real success. I used some flea and tick bombs with nylar, sevin powder, etc. slowed them down but no real lasting effect. I sprayed the entire inside of the coop with sevin, used poultry and garden powder, equine spray.... still no real lasting effect. I was also now tracking them into the house each time I came back from the coop. (Still dealing with that problem but seems to be resolving.... slowly). Finally after a lot more research I decided to use a long lasting pour on treatment. I chose cydectin (moxidectin) since it came in a pour on form, has 30 day control and mites have not shown resistance (at least in what literature I could find) to the active ingredient. The dosing seemed to be forgiving as well. I tested it out on several birds of different sizes using 1 ml per kg of bird. I applied it with a 3 ml syringe (without the needle) to the skin under the wings. No ill effects were noticed so I treated all my birds. While not labeled for chickens I found some literature suggesting a 5 day withholding period but decided on holding eggs for 2 weeks. There is no withholding period for sale of meat in cattle and other animals but I figured better safe than sorry. This treatment has the added benefit of deworming as well. This treatment has shown great promise but didn't solve the problem completely. I plan on spraying them with poultry protector every other night going forward while treating their litter with alternating applications of garden and poultry powder and sevin. I will do this for the next few weeks and then follow-up with a treatment of Revolution as suggested by Ron. I am also going to install dust boxes in each pen filled with wood ashes and treated with sevin. I need to get to a vet so I can get a prescription though as you cant buy it without one. Not sure what the control period is for Revolution but I will continue to spray with poultry protector and treat the litter. I will then follow-up with one more round of cydectin if required. You ask what I would do differently..... Get on the problem immediately don't wait a day. Provide you birds with a way to give themselves dust baths. These breeding pens do not give the birds access to the outside and I think the lack of access to dust baths is a major contributor to the problem. I would look into a systemic control early on. Revolution seems to work well and if the weather is warm should be able to knock down successive generations of mites... which is necessary for total control. Finally, make sure your cloths, house, car etc don't act as a reservoir for mites. They will live for an extended time off the birds and can (and will bite humans). I take my clothes off immediately after going into the coop and treat with insecticide on a regular basis. I shower immediately after coming into the house as well. These things are insidious and shouldn't be taken lightly. The past 4 months have been really stressful and taken away a lot of the enjoyment of owning chickens. I don't even let my family go into this coop at this time. I am feeling optimistic that I've got a solution now but there are still no guaranties.

 

[farmhand]

Thanks for all the great info. I need some time to digest all of it.

 

[ronott1]

Hi farmhand,

First thing I noticed was some head twitching among the birds. I read up on the potential causes and it looked like it might be mites. I inspected the birds and didn't find anything. Their combs were very pale but since most of the birds in that coop were young I just took a watch and wait approach. When some of my adult birds started showing signs (combs turned pale and started drooping) I started thinking that they definitely had mites. I checked them again but didn't see any of the telltales signs... in fact I've never seen a single mite even to this day. By this time the birds seemed like they weren't growing as well as expected and I started some spot treatments with poultry spray and regular pen cleanings. I started noticing that I would get itching when entering the coop and the birds didn't really seem to be improving very much. I stepped up the chemical treatments as follows, first permethrin spray, then garden and poultry powder sprinkled throughout the litter and coop. No real success. I used some flea and tick bombs with nylar, sevin powder, etc. slowed them down but no real lasting effect. I sprayed the entire inside of the coop with sevin, used poultry and garden powder, equine spray.... still no real lasting effect. I was also now tracking them into the house each time I came back from the coop. (Still dealing with that problem but seems to be resolving.... slowly). Finally after a lot more research I decided to use a long lasting pour on treatment. I chose cydectin (moxidectin) since it came in a pour on form, has 30 day control and mites have not shown resistance (at least in what literature I could find) to the active ingredient. The dosing seemed to be forgiving as well. I tested it out on several birds of different sizes using 1 ml per kg of bird. I applied it with a 3 ml syringe (without the needle) to the skin under the wings. No ill effects were noticed so I treated all my birds. While not labeled for chickens I found some literature suggesting a 5 day withholding period but decided on holding eggs for 2 weeks. There is no withholding period for sale of meat in cattle and other animals but I figured better safe than sorry. This treatment has the added benefit of deworming as well. This treatment has shown great promise but didn't solve the problem completely. I plan on spraying them with poultry protector every other night going forward while treating their litter with alternating applications of garden and poultry powder and sevin. I will do this for the next few weeks and then follow-up with a treatment of Revolution as suggested by Ron. I am also going to install dust boxes in each pen filled with wood ashes and treated with sevin. I need to get to a vet so I can get a prescription though as you cant buy it without one. Not sure what the control period is for Revolution but I will continue to spray with poultry protector and treat the litter. I will then follow-up with one more round of cydectin if required. You ask what I would do differently..... Get on the problem immediately don't wait a day. Provide you birds with a way to give themselves dust baths. These breeding pens do not give the birds access to the outside and I think the lack of access to dust baths is a major contributor to the problem. I would look into a systemic control early on. Revolution seems to work well and if the weather is warm should be able to knock down successive generations of mites... which is necessary for total control. Finally, make sure your cloths, house, car etc don't act as a reservoir for mites. They will live for an extended time off the birds and can (and will bite humans). I take my clothes off immediately after going into the coop and treat with insecticide on a regular basis. I shower immediately after coming into the house as well. These things are insidious and shouldn't be taken lightly. The past 4 months have been really stressful and taken away a lot of the enjoyment of owning chickens. I don't even let my family go into this coop at this time. I am feeling optimistic that I've got a solution now but there are still no guaranties.

It is very hard to see mites. I had regular mites and I had to use glasses, a head lamp and look for them later in the evening. I saw very small brown specks moving around the vent.

I treat the coops now every two weeks with liquid sevin type spray.

This might help with Withdrawal information:

 

[dretd]

I would appreciate information on what you have learned from this issue with the mites. How did you id the problem? How are you treating it? What will you do differently in the future regarding the control?
Thanks

I thought I would add in. I have had mite problems (brought in every year by the barn swallows. I have done the dusting (Sevin,DE), spraying (pyrethrins/permethrines, spinosad) and topical treatments (ivermectin, eprinex, frontline) along with steam cleaning the hen house to get in the nooks and crannies. The best combo for me is the permethrin perimeter spray on everything so it soaks deep,deep into the wood, Eprinex topically along with the hanging pest strip Hot Shot which contains Dichlorvos.

I had the mites crawl into the hay this year so I could not spray or dust the feed and instead hung up one of these strips and it nuked the whole lot. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. This is the secret sauce that finally did the trick. I will get these nasty pests next year becasue they are brought in to me every year, but I will at least be able to get ahead of the game when the swallows come back and will hang the strips in the rafters where they nest from the start.

 

[enola]

Eprinex is my choice of medication for mites also. There is a feral guinea at my barn. I am positive he is my source of mites. But I can't catch him...........

 

[johnderosa1]

I'll have to check out the hot shot pest strips ... Sounds like a nice add on to the plan i am using