Chicks have mites?

[AthamGI]

Hello, all.

I had a large, healthy batch of little chicks this summer, and they all seem to be growing, happy, and healthy. Today, I noticed that my Nankin mix banti had patches of feathers missing on his back. One of his nest mates has similar patches, although I only noticed them when I picked her up and examined her. The rest seem ok.

I've had mites before, a long time ago, but there were red marks on the bare patches of skin.

I've been looking through my chicken health books, and nothing seems to match what they have. All the chicks seem perfectly alright. There are three batches, and only one batch has the feather pattern weirdness.

Does this sound like some kind of mite to you? Or something else?

I appreciate it!

 

[J-Sanders]

A picture would be most helpful. WAG: Could be mites but you would be seeing pepper flakes on them and as they are pretty small it would not take much to see them. Use a magnifying glass and look closely.

 

[AthamGI]

Hey, thanks for the response.

Here are some pictures.

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/1691/img0445nq.jpg
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/9068/img0444ek.jpg
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/7981/img0443dc.jpg
http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/7605/img0442f.jpg
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/4991/img0441yh.jpg

I'm really worried. I don't see anything in the hay, and when I take a magnifying glass to her skin, I don't see any mites. Two of the other chicks have tiny patches if I look really close, but the others seem fine. (There are seven in this brood in all.)

If this does look like mites, what can I do?

 

[Ellochicken]

It can be 2 things in my perspective.

1
The food you are giving them.
Some of the feathers look either weak or downy. The food you are giving them might cause feathers to fall out. Especially if you are still on chick food.

2
The pecking order.
In some of the images, your rooster's feathers look like they have been ripped out. That doesn't happen when you have mites I don't think. The other chickens could be attacking each other, but just to be safe, if you have some mite experience, then you need to burn the bedding, scrub the coop, and roll your birds in dust, and repeat that for 3 days, cleaning the coop and dusting your chickens. My little Black Sex-Links were pecked as chicks, it looks about exactly the same as they used to look.

I hope this helped you and your birds!

-Ellochicken