California - Northern

[PetRock]

By the time I realized that my chicks had mites, the smallest one was very lethargic and not eating much. She just laid down and then we could see the mites on her. When we checked the other chicks, they had mites under their wings and some of them on their heads. They might have had them in their vent area, also. I bought some Scalex Mite & Lice Spray for Birds at Petsmart. I figured if it was safe for aviary birds, it should be okay for the chicks. It killed the mites on contact. I cleaned everything in the brooder and actually moved them into a new brooder. They have not been outside since then. I will need to treat them and their brooder again at least 1 more time. I do think that this one chick with the eye problems also had mites in his/her ears. She/he would scratch them and almost fall over. I took a Q-tip, dipped it in the Scalex and swabbed her ears as well as I could. I did this a few times and she stopped scratching her ears. There are lots of threads on BYC dealing with mites. Just search for mites and you will pull up hours worth of reading material!

 

[PetRock]

One more thing, this is going to be a bad year for all kinds of insects such as mites, lice, ticks, flies, etc. It just didn't get cold enough this past winter to control the insect populations. I'm thinking about ordering some fly predators before things get out of control!

 

[ronott1]

The symptoms for mine were:

Lowered egg production
Statue standing and fluffing up
Over Preening

One poor hen ripped all of her tail feathers out. After treating them, egg production went up quickly. This was in early April.

They did not get to the bad symptoms like pale combs and wattles and lethargy. They did not get the swollen eyes from having their sinuses attacked.

Bye the way, Since PetRock saw them on the chickens, if during the day, they must have been Northern Fowl mites. The other type of mite does not stay on the chickens. Northern Fowl mites will kill the chickens.

Those of you reading this post should check out dienomite strips. They hang in the coop and each time the chicken bumps into it, a bit of pyrethrin is released.

I hope your Jubilee Orpingtons recover.

Ron

What are the symptoms of mites?
Quote:

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

Around the summer I spray my chickens for mites with the "Adams (R) Flea and Tick Spray" it's very effective! You spray around the vent, under both wings, and the base of the tail, behind the tail coverts.

 

[jeremy]

One more thing, this is going to be a bad year for all kinds of insects such as mites, lice, ticks, flies, etc.  It just didn't get cold enough this past winter to control the insect populations.  I'm thinking about ordering some fly predators before things get out of control!

Debi, I just placed my order for fly predators. I've heard that they work great, I sure hope so!

 

[Papa Brooder]

One more thing, this is going to be a bad year for all kinds of insects such as mites, lice, ticks, flies, etc. It just didn't get cold enough this past winter to control the insect populations. I'm thinking about ordering some fly predators before things get out of control!

fly predators? as in insects to eat flies? or some contraption? Ha, just trying to figure out exactly where one would order fly predators.

 

[Papa Brooder]

An update,

So, i haven't been able to find any evidence of mites as far as I can tell. I did dust the birds just in case but I couldn't find any evidence of them on the birds in the way suggested in forums. I have been applying and eye ointment so at least one of the roos eyes is open now making eating and drinking easier. The other eye of the pullet and the roo will open after I treat them but then still seems to be closed every few hours when I check on them again. Overall, though I would have to say both appear better. When I hold them, I was feeling like I could hear some wheezing so a vet friend suggested "shipping fever". As a result I will give them Tylan 50 for three days orally. unfortunately I wasn't able to quarantine them as I had no where to put them away from the 5 other chickens with them. No room in the inn and I didn't have time to build something today. Can't leave them out because of the disgusting sewer raccoons! I guess I will know about the other birds soon. 3 of them were in with the orps before I noticed any symptoms for about the last 3 days. The other 2 I just added yesterday but I don't want to put any of them back in one of my brooders for fear of spreading anything. I will do some more thorough mite investigation tomorrow, especially tomorrow night as suggested by Ron. Thanks for all the input.

 

[PetRock]

This is the blog that I read with a review on fly predators plus a link to the site selling them:

http://www.feathersontheground.com/2012/05/shoo-fly-dont-bother-me.html

https://www.spalding-labs.com/Default.aspx

Click on order fly predators and you can enter how many chickens you have for them to figure how many fly predators you need to order. I'm trying to decide if it will be worth $20/month. Plus, my chickens free range my backyard and I'm not sure hanging the bag of predators out of their reach will reduce the effectiveness. This same company also sells fly traps and I might go that way instead.

 

[MrsMoonCat]

Debi,

We use both and I prefer the predators by far. If you can section off a small area for the predator population to get started, they will do really well. The major problem with the traps is the stench. We have them at the horse barn and in the summer it is nasty smelling if you don't dump the traps every day or so. I won't use those up near the house. Once the predators get established, they are really effective. I just made a small, seperate manure/compost pile that the chickens could not get to for the predators to start. After that they do their own thing.

Hope that helps,
Jules

 

[PetRock]

Debi,
We use both and I prefer the predators by far. If you can section off a small area for the predator population to get started, they will do really well. The major problem with the traps is the stench. We have them at the horse barn and in the summer it is nasty smelling if you don't dump the traps every day or so. I won't use those up near the house. Once the predators get established, they are really effective. I just made a small, seperate manure/compost pile that the chickens could not get to for the predators to start. After that they do their own thing.
Hope that helps,
Jules

Thanks, Jules! It's good to know a real person who recommends them! Do you get the once a month shipment? What company do you buy them from?