emergency....mites on broody hen...2 days until hatch

amcconnell

Songster
11 Years
Sep 4, 2008
121
1
134
I was sitting with my broody hen a few mins ago... and saw mites on her and in the nest box and in the hay in the box....her broody nest is separate from the hen house and the henhouse and other hens are mite free.....it may have come from the hay we just lined it with or simply cause its a new box my husband just built and we unfortunately did not dust it.... my question is can i dust her and the box now....she is sitting on eggs that will be 21days on tuesday...so we are close to hatching.....what should I do????? HELP!!!
 
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Oh dear.

Can she put Diatomaceous Earth in there? Would that take care of it? Would it hurt the eggs any?

I have just started using this stuff and some people think it is wonderful and some don't and I was wondering myself what I would do if a broody hen got mites.

Catherine
 
Thanks for you concern!

I hope I did the right thing....the hay that was in the box was covered in mites so....

I did things quickly.....I held my hen with one arm and carefully took the old hay out of one side...put some DE down and in the cracks on that side placed new straw...moved the eggs onto it then repeated the process on the other side of the box....then gently made a nest and placed the eggs back and my hen on them....I only dusted the box and the cracks....I'm hoping that will help for the time being....I didnt wanna stress my broody too much...she was shaking.....

If anyone can give anymore input....I hope it won't hurt the soon to come peeps!
 
I would really like to know what comes of this, I hope you will post how the chicks do.

You did exactly what I would have done, but I do not have enough experience to know if it was right.

Good luck.

I think a broody is so much more prone to get mites because she doesn't move around much.

Catherine
 
I would dust her too. Iggimom is right, broodies are much more prone and if you just dust the box, they will just stay on her
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Norhtern fowl mites live on birds and could've come from wild birds.. most likely not the hay... They are just on the hay cause the hen is on the hay.

The mties can suck the life out of your bird.. literally. It happened to me on Mother's Day. I had no idea how bad the infestation was til I noticed a bird acting lethargic. I dusted her but was too late. And once a bird becomes enemic, it is usally very hard to get them well again. They say if you see 10, you have thousands. Dusting a broody and tossing her back in the nest will most likely not break her broodiness... if that's what you're concerned about. Good Luck!
 
my concern is for the eggs that will hatch in 2 days.....would it harm the chicks....the DE if I dust my broody now???
 
I don`t think DE is up to the task. At the same time, I wouldn`t dust with sevin at this time. After the chicks are a couple weeks old it should be safe. I once had hay that was contaminated with lice and didn`t know it until I saw them on the hen after a week. That taught me to dust the hen, nest, and everything in the area as soon as the hen appeared broody. Good luck........Pop
 
how would i know if y hens had mites or lice? i am new do having to care for hens i have 16 hens and 3 roosters.
 
I use 5% Sevin Dust on & around broody hens, it helps kill the mites on the bird and helps keep the fire ants from building under the nests. It's up to you what you do with your hen, but if it were mine I'd go ahead & dust her with Sevin dust. I put some in the toe of an old stocking and shake it under the neck feathers, under each wing, and around the vent. A broody hen with mites will be miserable, needing to scratch & dust bathe but not wanting to leave her nest. I don't know if mites bother chicks, but if they do, I bet they could deplete their energy quickly.

I had a broody hen that had mites, I didn't realize it until one day she took an extra long break and ran out to take a prolonged dust bath. That seemed like such unusual behavior, I picked her up and examined her, and that's when I noticed the mites. I just dusted her with Sevin & she went right back to the nest. Neither she nor her chicks had mites after that.

I wish you & your hen all the best!
 

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