Could mites or fleas cause diarrhea?

[charmedbaker]

I have one turkey and 3 chickens, all age 8 weeks. Plus 3 adult chickens. The turkey seems to have mites or fleas on her face and the other girls don't. Also Grace, the turkey, has diarrhea. She is still eating, drinking, has energy, is "talking" to me. The poo is olive green ish and loose and stinky. I'm going to spray the coop and dip all the girls to be sure they are all clean, but I'm concerned about the turkey. I'm new to turkeys. Could it be blackhead? Could the mites be causing the diarrhea?
Is cayenne pepper OK for them to eat if they aren't sick?

Any tips on bathing the girls?

 

[ivan3]

Pick the turkey up and check over thoroughly (under wings and around vent in particular), a heavy infestation could probably result in a change in droppings. The fact that she is still quite "lively" and not acting puny is a good sign. You should isolate her from the other poultry, stick to standard feed and observe behavior/droppings for a couple weeks.

What is their standard feed? Do you augment diet with anything else?

 

[charmedbaker]

Thanks, Ivan3.
We gave all the chickens and my turkey dips yesterday using a permetherin bath. Sprayed the coop and yard. They all had mites. Happens every year to the chickens.
Her poops seem normal now so it could have been the switch from starter to grower. I tried to do it slowly but I'm new so I'm just glad she didn't die.
I use a game feed for all the girls now. I can't separate them, don't have room. So all the girls have to eat the same food. No layer pellets until the little ones are old enough. Chickens seem to like it and their poops are normal too.
I supplement with fresh greens every other day or two. Just a few handfuls of chopped romaine or mixed greens. Between the 7 girls, the adult hens get most of it. Pecking order, you know.
I've also added in the last two days cayenne pepper and chopped dried peppers to the 1/2 cup of oats and regular feed. The turkey likes the oats and I am using a few table spoons of the oats to train her. They seem to like it and apparently cayenne helps with blackhead.
If it doesn't, it doesn't matter. They like it and as long as it does no harm I'll keep it up.
Thanks again for the advice. I'm sure I'll be asking for more help as I go.

 

[ivan3]

Thanks, Ivan3. We gave all the chickens and my turkey dips yesterday using a permetherin bath. Sprayed the coop and yard. They all had mites. Happens every year to the chickens. Her poops seem normal now so it could have been the switch from starter to grower. I tried to do it slowly but I'm new so I'm just glad she didn't die. I use a game feed for all the girls now. I can't separate them, don't have room. So all the girls have to eat the same food. No layer pellets until the little ones are old enough. Chickens seem to like it and their poops are normal too. I supplement with fresh greens every other day or two. Just a few handfuls of chopped romaine or mixed greens. Between the 7 girls, the adult hens get most of it. Pecking order, you know. I've also added in the last two days cayenne pepper and chopped dried peppers to the 1/2 cup of oats and regular feed. The turkey likes the oats and I am using a few table spoons of the oats to train her. They seem to like it and apparently cayenne helps with blackhead. If it doesn't, it doesn't matter. They like it and as long as it does no harm I'll keep it up. Thanks again for the advice. I'm sure I'll be asking for more help as I go.

Just keep an eye out for reinfestation. Do they have an area to dust bathe? Our turkeys use our fire pit (we only burn wood/foliage in it), they spend serious time trying choke us. They are also really big on moths, grasshoppers, etc.

 

[charmedbaker]

They have a good sized yard with dirt. Fully fenced and covered.

 

[charmedbaker]

 

[charmedbaker]

So, They aren't Northern Fowl Mites or Red Mites they are Stick Tight Fleas. Yep. I've been caring for these chickens since February and I have run into every kind of ***. My mother in law has cared for the chickens for 40 years and only sprayed for mites once a year... I'm thinking they weren't mites once year but STF and were only slightly deterred once a year.

This is Grace, my turkey girl. The little buggers are in her eyelid crease!!

We did another permethrin bath yesterday and I noticed the fleas burrowing into the fold of her skin on her head.
The first bath and coop and yard spray did nothing. Two weeks I had to wait because I didn't want to over poison the girls or their home.
We used a soft toothbrush to gently try to brush the buggers off and they didn't budge.

I'm going in with a q-tip and olive oil and Vaseline tomorrow. Gonna slather her neck and head and gently oil around her eyes. I have one other chicken that has a bad infestation but I can't get a clear picture of her. They will all (6 hens and one turkey girl) get a treatment tomorrow. Here I was worried about trying to feed them an oral antibiotic last month that I didn't end up needing (thank goodness) and now I get to catch the girls twice a day until the STF are smothered. Short of torching the ground, I'm going to spray the yard with I don't know what yet, then rake in some DE once the ground dries. Then I might add a new layer 6 or 8 inches of good clean dirt. I'm saving up the wood ash to add in their favorite corner for dust bathing.
Also planting Rosemary and Mint plants outside the coop because just in case the fleas don't like the smell.

These are my plans; If anyone has any suggestions or further instructions, please let me know. I'm new to this whole back yard chicken thing. Up until February I went out there when my MIL was on vacation to feed and collect the eggs. So Thank you, in advance, for your help. I am grateful for this forum!!

By the way, my husband says Grace is a Vulture not a Turkey. Would the farm supply have sold me a Turkey Vulture? Nah. She's supposed to be a Blue Slate. She is 12 weeks old on 7/13/15.

 

[charmedbaker]

And I am trying to add a little extra iron into their diets to help with the anemia. Just in case. They are getting fresh spinach and a little canned 100% Libby's pumpkin. On the pumpkin plate I sprinkle on some dry oatmeal and about two table spoons of meal worms (seasoned with cayenne). I don't know if they taste the food, but they ate it. And the poops didn't look bad.
It's all trial and error for me.