Compact mass in feathers on underside

[sweeterdeeter42]

That looks like the huge masses of lice and eggs that were in all of the beards of my faverolles and under their wings. (buy one get the other free apparently.

) I cut and pulled out as much out as I could with a comb and flea shampoo and dusted them with the dust from the feed store. They recovered fully in a short time and won best of show a few months later. I asked that same question on here about transferring to me or my house and everybody said no that kind only lives on birds. Good luck!

 

[kelar]

The clumps of mite eggs will not come off on their own. Eprinex has value as a wormer and will help eliminate the external parasites, but frankly, I would bathe them all with a pet flea shampoo (Adams is a good product) to wash off as many as the eggs, scabs and waste created by the mite activity as possible. You will have to follow closely to kill any newly hatching mites & remember that mites live a lot of the time OFF the chicken, in crevices in their housing so what you see on the birds is only part of the problem. If these were my birds, I would bathe them, treat with frontline pump spray (1/2 ml/cc. per bird applied with a syringe in drops onto the skin, one drop on the neck, one under each wing, one near the oil gland/tail area and the rest around the vent area). I'd follow up with the eprinex several weeks later to take care of internal parasites and help with control of external. I spray all premises with a permethrin based spray and dust nest boxes with Sevin dust. You can also use Adams flea and tick spray plus for mites and lice and it provides a quick knock down and some residual activity, but the frontline works really well for mites. You need Sevin or the Adams for lice which are not blood feeders and are not killed by the frontline or the eprinex. Be careful! on the dosage with eprinex - it is 1 ml/cc per 22 lbs - I suggest weighing each bird and calculating the exact dosage as it only takes a few drops in most cases. I use 1 ml. syringes for this so I can measure in tenths. I'm sure just bathing and getting rid of the bulk of the mites will make them feel a LOT better

 

[5Leepy!]

We dusted all three of our hens with Sevin yesterday and they were NOT happy. Because we've only had them for about 14 days now, they aren't comfortable with us yet. I've been working on getting them to trust me but that's probably blown after the dusting yesterday. On the bright side, I don't have mites or lice because I was thoroughly dusted at the same time.

We worked some more on the big clump on Scrappy. I've gotten about a third of it off of her now. I can see that this has been on her for a good long while as the center main part is somewhat attached to her skin. On the edges of the worst part her skin is very raw and it looks like if I pull on it she'll bleed. So, we're slowing working on it daily. I do see smaller "normal" deposits of eggs at the base of other feathers, though. Do I have to get every single egg off of her? I might as well shave the poor girl.

I went to buy some Eprinex yesterday but our best feed store in town didn't have it. The guy there suggested Ivermectin Pour-On instead and I bought it. But, now I'm having second thoughts about using it. It's not the same formula as the Eprinex and I'm concerned about how long it will stay in their system and if their eggs would be okay to eat after 2 weeks or not. Do you think I should return it and get the Eprinex online?

As much drama as this is, I'm super happy that the girls are adapting to being here. They've never slept on roosts before and last night they actually used the roosts. Made me so proud. I have an egg so I think they're feeling more at home. No more bullying happening and they greet me when I go outside. This is so fun!!!!

So, my plan of action is...
1) Work on the mass daily until its all removed.

2) Use a pour-on parasiticide such as Eprinex (or Ivermectin) and at the same time thoroughly clean and dust their entire coop.

3) Dust again with Sevin in another week to get any mites that recently hatched off of them.

4) Twice a year treat with Sevin and Eprinex.

We have DE dusted around their coop and run and I made a dust bath that has some in it although they haven't figured out what that's for yet. Will the DE kill any mites that hatch as well?

Thank you so much for all your advise, I don't know what I would've done without it.
5Leepy!

 

[kelar]

The DE is helpful for controlling parasites, but will not knock out an infestation. I personally don't use it because I worry about the dust in a chicken's delicate respiratory tract. I've not used anything but the eprinex, but think others on here have used the ivermectin, so I'd search the threads on that one. I use the wormer twice a year on my birds, but you may need to keep on top of the mites a lot more often than twice a year. You will probably never eliminate them completely, but you can control them with diligence. I spot check my birds every few weeks during the warmer months and treat as necessary. The mite clump on Scrappy is probably adhering to scabs on her skin and as it softens you should be able to get it off, but feathers will come with it. Those feathers are full of eggs anyway, so this is not a bad thing. I use my fingernails while I have them under the water to pull off egg clumps from the base of the feathers. Her skin will heal quickly once the irritation is gone - you can use neosporin on the sore areas or some people use bag balm. Keep in mind that some birds will just be bothered more than others by parasites - some will have none and others will be covered. Good luck and so glad these poor hens now have a caring owner

 

[rainierlass]

I have used the Ivermectin on my flock for mites and lice - worked GREAT! 1/2 cc per hen and roo- I gave him a drop or two extra due to his size - this dosage ends up being approximately 5 drops placed on the skin on the back of the neck.......I now keep their dust baths dusted with just a bit of Sevin......I have a lot of wild birds here in the forest and I am sure that is where they contacted them ...........2-week withdrawal for eating eggs.......no withdrawal with the Sevin which I keep year around for them to bathe in!

The Ivermectin will worm them as well - for most types of worms

Hope this helps...