Chickens dying - found mites

[tdkmom]

Our chickens are 20 months old. We started with 26 and now have 20. 1 or maybe 2 were lost due to egg bound. We've lost 3 in the last month. They were fine Friday when we had higher temps & I let them out of the coop/run to roam. They were doing dust baths and pecking. When my son went out tonight to shut the gate he found one of our roosters just sitting on the floor. We brought him in & bathed him and found mites on him. We put some dust on him & put him in our heated garage in a wire cage. The coop isn't as clean as we keep it in the summer because of the weather but it's not terrible either. I have an exhaust fan on about an hour a day to keep ammonia down. We do have mice this winter. We didn't last winter.

 

[honeydoll]

Need a little more info. You seen the mites, but that may be a secondary problem, or it could be the main issue. Was he infested? Or just saw a few. Mites are a real booger to get rid of, but it can be done. I use the poultry dust from TSC and it seems to have worked fine for me, granted we did it as a precautionary measure, but we did get chickens from someone who found one hen with a lice problem in her flock. You need to do a thorough cleaning of the coop. I dusted the old bedding, scooped it in the run, then dusted the floor, roosts, nest boxes (the poultry dust says not to but I did anyway, that will have to be your call), each bird got dusted and I dusted two feet of the wall from the floor up. We have had no issues with mites, even though my neighbor's free ranging chickens were infested and came in our yard. Dusting has taken care of the mites and lice. Put fresh bedding down and dust that too, then "stir" it up so it is mixed in well. If you don't do a thorough cleaning you will probably not get rid of them, and if you have them to the point of chickens dying, a thorough cleaning is probably your only option to get rid of them.

Good luck, HTH

Carolyn

 

[Miss Lydia]

I know the weather has kept alot of us from keeping our coops in the best of shape over the winter, and like the other poster said you'll need to do a through cleaning of the entire coop, if you can get a day were it's not too cold, you can also use sevin spray. I like it because it really gets into all the cracks and crevices but you'll need to open all the windows and doors so it dry out before adding new bedding and chickens. plus you'll want to just put enough bedding in to cover the floor because no matter what you decide to use your going to have to treat chickens and coop again in about 7 days.. You can also use a product called Epernix which you apply to the chickens skin right below the neck between the wings. this will kill all internal and external parasites, and no egg withdrawl.

 

[purpletree23]

If you have to have a fan on to keep the ammonia down you really have to clean out that coop. Running it one hour a day will not be sufficient. They could be dying as a result of damage to their lungs from the ammonia and the damage from the mites.

Clean the coop out. Dust every corner, every nest box, floor and roost with Sevin dust. Treat the chickens for mite infestation. Feed them more protein and fresh vegetables so they can keep their immune system in tip top shape and go from there.

Do just what honeydoll said to do.

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

Our mite infestation happened in the summer. The cleanout included a bonfire to burn away the wood and wicker parts removed from the infested coop. We then washed everything, dried and dusted the new pine shavings too. Our new nestboxes are plastic tupperware, the hens love them. The wooden walls of the coop are dusted, too. I know, risk of cancer vs sickly mite infested birds....but our birds have been healthy and fat ever since we got away from the mites. It only took a couple of days for them to "pink up" and put on weight.

Oh, we also bathed and dried our chickens with dog flea and tick shampoo, diluted. But we only had 4 chickens to wash, I don't know if it would be realistic for you, depending on what you have. It takes about an hour to blow dry each chicken (I have some kids to do this). When wet, we found one chicken was scabbed from the mites, we treated the scabs with ointment from the vet (totally cleared up in 3 days).

I foresee a Cold Day Cleanout could be made more enjoyable with a bonfire nearby.

Wear a snug hat to keep you from getting cranky. Cold = cranky.

Pre make thermos' of coffee and chocolate.

Have great soup in a crock pot for frequent warming breaks.

Have Bailey's, Bushmills and Jaegermeister ready for the end of the day. (Let a 3rd grader mix the coctails and kiddie coctails, they love to measure and stir! they'll be so proud! I recommend a whiskey sour, with a fresh egg for the frothing)

Make sure a hot bath or shower is attainable after you're all done.

Herald in the end of this cold, cold winter with a thera-poo-tic scooping away of this winter's troubles.

 

[opalwednesday]

Can you guys describe some behaiviors of a chicken dyeing from a mite infestation? I have a roo who can't Peck food, he just misses every time. I treated him with sevin yesterda so the mites are gone but I'm wondering how a chicken behaves when its too late to save him.