Definitely mites. Now what?

[BantyChooks]

I feel like it's too cold to spray her?

What temp is it? Should be fine if it's above freezing or close to it.

 

[Jessdesk]

Mites are in the arachnid realm... and can be killed effectively with Deltamethrin. You can get it in powder or liquid. Deltamethrin is particularly nontoxic to birds if ingested.

A brand name is Delta Dust, but you can get is cheaper. I got a bottle of liquid at the hardware store for like $10.

I would look into it.

I also use the dust for spiders behind my appliances.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I dusted my chickens because I was afraid they would be wet and cold. The pantyhose trick that @Eggcessive mentioned is the best. I just patted them with it like a dust puff. Worked great. The first time that I dusted them, I did it with the shaker can, not as easy. I did take them off their roost at night and that was easy as far as catching them. Today though, I did it while it was daylight and tricked them with a treat then grabbed them one at a time. I wanted to do a full inspection and check them out with optimal light. If I treat in warmer weather, I’m going to opt for the spray though - less to worry about getting where it shouldn’t.

 

[Lnzsmith]

Okay, things have gone from bad to worse with Anne. Not sure what is happening now. I dosed her with Ivermectin last night, which we have done before with no ill effects. Today I checked on her and she can barely stand, face is darkened and she is definitely laboring to breathe. I just picked her up and am covered with mites so obviously the treatment didn't help. I feel like she is absolutely on her last legs (literally). What should I do?

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

Can you post pictures of her? That may help determine if it's something other then mites. If she wasn't feeling well to begin with that may be why the mites took over so easily.

You may need to use the liquid treatment or bathe her. As long as she's dry before you put her back outside she will be fine. Some chickens love the warm hair dryer treatment.

 

[Lnzsmith]

I don't have a smartphone, sorry, I'm pretty tech clueless. She is standing but propped up against a box. Feathers all fluffed up and face a little darkened. Here's the thing--she had developed a kind of waddle these past few months and we dealt with sour crop in?? Sept I think. But she was never a heavy chicken, so in retrospect the waddle wasn't so much about being fat as perhaps about an abdominal irregularity. Then last Thurs a fox took her brood mate and things just seem to have gone downhill since then. I wonder if she has peritonitis or something like that. Her belly does seem kind of swollen. She stopped eating much yesterday though we saw her drink. She is an OLD chicken, nobody knows quite how old. 8 or 9 at least. Egg laying seemed a struggle this fall and she hasn't laid much since we got her (a year ago).

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

http://www.poultrydvm.com/symptoms

You could try the link to check her symptoms. Age is a factor and over 8 is into senior years.

 

[Lnzsmith]

Okay, I have turned a heater on in the sunporch to warm her up. She is LITERALLY CRAWLING with mites. This has just developed over the past 24 hrs. How could they have multiplied like this? Could this be causing the lethargy and inability to move much?

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

Mites feed on blood so a heavy infestation can be deadly.

 

[Lnzsmith]

Should I get some sevin and dust her? We just aren't comfortable with the permethrin given our cat population. This is a backyard set up, everybody is in and out of the same area...I thought the ivermectin dose would help but it seems much much much worse this morning...