Dusted for Lice now it's even worse! HELP!!!

[rcentner]

pics of my over mated hen, she is usually more red, but I got her just after a dust bath

 

[Lollipop]

mrb, from your pics it looks like more than just lice. Yes, it is probably damage from the rooster and yes, it could be the beginning of her moult, as witnessed by feathers laying around in the coop/run more than usual. Have you actually checked them for lice, or is it an assumption? To check for lice/mites, pick a couple hens off the roost at night and look under the tails and around the vents with a good flashlight. If they have them, you should be able to see them scurrying for cover. As far as using chemicals on your birds, Sevin Dust, Adams Flea and Tick Dip, and Ivermectin are proven safe for poultry. Ivermectin is strong stuff and most folks don`t eat the eggs for a couple weeks after treatment. It also kills most internal parasites. So, the only thing you can actually treat for is lice/mites and you have to determine if that is the problem. If you think other birds are picking feathers, Noxema Face Cream will change their appetite for feathers. The feathers will come back after a moult and the red skin is from exposure to the sun and is not sunburn or inflamation. Check out the lice/mite situation and go from there.........Pop

 

[mrbstephens]

Yes, I've checked them thoroughly for mites and lice and see absolutely no evidence of it. I know the bare saddle is from over mating. The rooster has been gone since the spring. The feathers would start to grow back and and then suddenly they're gone again. I've dusted them with poultry dust (permethrin) and cleaned out the hen house and dusted that too. I'm wondering if I should get the two with the bare saddles those sassy cloth saddle covers people use. Maybe if someones picking off their new feathers this will keep them away and give the feathers a chance to grow back? Noxema? I don't have that. How 'bout hot pepper sauce?

 

[silkiechicken]

Birds can't taste caspian (the stuff that makes hot peppers hot). They can taste bitter though. So bitter apple or hot pick spray. May want to increaese protein during molt so they don't pick and eat feathers off each other. Rooster probably weakened feathers and hens took the opportunity to eat each other.

 

[mrbstephens]

Quote:
What can I give them to increase the protein? I give them black sun flower seeds mixed in with their scratch. I throw in 3 hand fulls every day for the 10 of them to share.
And they get layer pellets. Not sure what the protein % is. I think 16%?

 

[dawg53]

Give them scrambled or boiled eggs or canned beef catfood for a few days for high protein intake. You can also add poultry nutri drench to their water...it's loaded with vitamins and minerals. I wouldnt give it to them more than 4 days in a row, it can cause diarrhea. You can buy chicken saddles to protect their backs. There are a couple of BYC members that sell them, check the other items for sale listed at the bottom in this forum. Lollipop is correct....it's moult and will take time to grow her feathers back. Some of mine are in moult as well.