Chickens with missing feathers or miscolored patches may be this

Glenda L Heywood

Songster
10 Years
Apr 11, 2009
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55
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Do you have mising or ruffled feather patches on the back of your chickens? Or discolored vent areas?

(1 You may have a mite or louse problem
(2 or you may have some rats in your shed at night eating feathers.

FOR MITES
The mite problem needs to be done this way
take and get some adams flea off spray for dogs and catsa
then hold the bird up so you can get the spray on that area
Also look and see if the birds have a discolored look to their vent area (mites or lice usually discolor area)
if so hold your finger over the vent(you do not want the spray in the vent) and spray that area also
do this every 5 days fortwo times, and it should be gonee in two spray times

FOR THE BUILDING
Also take some kerosene and mineral oil (1/2 each) and paint the roosts and the cracks or knot holes in the wood areas of the coop.
Mites and lice live in behind and breed there behind the wood
they then come out at nite and suck blood for food.

They like the area (on the chicken)where the oil gland is at and that is where they are on your birds.

RATS AND MICE
If you have rats or mice eating feathers at nite (they build nests with feathers.) You need to make some bait boxes
here is how I did it
take a tomatoe box with lid from the stores
they will give these to you so find out what day they burn boxes and pick some up.

any way then about two inches from the bottom of box make a hole size of 50 cent piece and in side put rat bait. make sure it is in the pkg
simply cut off topof pkg and they will get it.

Now they will put it in their cheeks and take back to their nest and it takes about 1 week for a rat to die
they need to have water when eating rat bait so they may find it around place

I always set a empty waterer out side the building for them

I never had any chickens get the bait as the lid was taped on it

the bait needs to be changed once a week ( or ifthey eat it sooner put more in box, retape lid) and buy several kinds of bait
that way they don't get resistance to the bait working


FOR YOUR HOME AREA
It is good to do away with piles old feed sacks or corn cobs or stacked lumber, old tires etc. The rats and mice live in those area. Keep the feed areas clean by putting feed of any kind in metal garbage cans with lids. This will discourage rats and mice also
 
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