Ending persistent mite problem

[Jessica1228]

Yep, It’s official, Puffette still has mites.

In case you missed my late fall mite outbreak, Puffette (a 4-year-old polish bant) had a mite infestation in her puff. She was lethargic and paralyzed for over a week until I finally noticed the infestation (Still kicking myself for that). The odd part of this ordeal was that the mites are only on her head. Our vet couldn’t find any adult mites or eggs on any part of her body but her head.

Thanks to the BC night owls a fast treatment of Ivomec combined with daily Adams baths and DE dustings have kept them few and far between. However, tonight I noticed that there are still quite a few crawling around. She has been upright since Christmas Eve, walking since the 2nd, and started laying on the 15th but I’m not sure if I’m just toxifing this poor chicken to death! She is still on a baby bird formula, fruit, and veggies. This week she’s started taking an interest in her feed again along with the kibble that the dogs drop. Our vet ran out of answers.

I’ve tried… Ivamec, permitherin, sevin, DE, Adams, prescription wormer, Barrier Red mite pour-on, Adams, and Dawn. Any suggestions?

 

[welasharon]

You didn't mention treating the environment around her? I just can't think of anything else either...
sharon

 

[Jessica1228]

Maybe. I brought her inside when she started acting sick. She's in the all-glass shower and I Dawn the bathroom every night. Should I try cleaning with somthing stronger?

 

[welasharon]

Is she living in the shower? If she goes back outside and you haven't treated the areas there she will get re-infested. Also, I would think that you would need to use something stronger than dawn to kill any bugs inside as well. What do you have in the shower with her? All bedding has to be thrown out or disinfected to keep from re-infesting.
sharon

 

[CMV]

Mites are tough to get rid of. I have a thought- have you treated your outside flock and their coop? I am wondering if you are not re-infesting the bird by allowing the bugs to travel inside on you. I have had lots of experience with mites and they are very persistent. She should not be showing signs of bugs unless you are not treating her thoroughly, which is sounds like you are treating her very thoroughly. So where are the bugs coming from? I believe they may be in the environment. Mites can live for periods of time off the host and in the environment. They can't live off humans or other animals, just birds. But they can travel on other hosts, like people and pets. I think you need to look at other ways that Puffette could be getting re-infested.

Good luck with her. It sounds like you are taking great care of her. I hope the bug problem gets resolved.

 

[Jessica1228]

We adopted her last fall-with the mite infestation. I dusted her, checked her body, and never thought about it. She rarely has a mite on her body. The stay on her head for some reason. She has never been in the “big coop” with everyone else because I don’t want to deal with an outbreak. We limed and washed the coops before the snow and no one else has ever shown any signs of an infestation or had any eggs come back from the feather samples that I sent in. We already had a wounded Silky in the bathroom when she started showing signs. She is with him so she’s not alone, but I still can’t find a mite on him either. I make sure to bathe both of them on the same day so that nothing escapes the bath yet somehow her poor puff still gets bad. Ok maybe not bad, I can see 3 or 4. But in a week that could be thousands! On the up side her skin is starting to heal. For a month or so it was just one big scab. The mites love the scabbs!

The two are still living in the shower in our guest bathroom. I don't want to risk taking anything outside with them. It’s a big shower (10 x 6) so they have plenty of room to run around. I’m using newspapers as bedding and they have some cardboard boxes to jump on. The shower is all glass. I wash out the shower and burn everything every 3 days. I keep getting paranoid that their on me or in the house, but I try to tell myself that I’m exaggerating. Do you think they are? I do take cedar baths after washing them and no one is aloud down the hallway. Sadly, I think I’m getting used to smelling like a hamster I don’t want to keep them in my house but I keep thinking that it might be easier to bomb the guest room then my entire yard.

Does anyone know the life-cycle of a mite? Should I go to nightly baths for a week or so? What would you recommend cleaning the shower or me with?

 

[welasharon]

Dang, Jessica....I am stumped. It seems like you have covered all bases. If it is just in her pouf, have you tried just dropping a pinch of seven right on the top of her head....maybe they are running there to hide????? Course that doesn't explain with the ivomec and adams and such didn't work. Girl, I don't know...I agree with you it's just crazy.
sharon

 

[DAFox]

Have you cut her "puff"? Maybe, if most of those feathers are gone, you can be absolutely sure that you are reaching every bit of her scalp.

Go through the entire treatment sequence again -- Sevin, Ivermectin, etc....
When you give her a bath, maybe leave the soap on for as long as possible.
I remember reading about home remedies for mange which is caused by mites. One was coconut oil and another used borax and something else. Maybe, if you google mange and home remedies, you can find some things to try.
Good luck,
Dale-Ann

 

[rockinpaints]

Birds with a low immune system (possibly an underlying issue) would be more prone to conditions like mites. Maybe look for some other health issue that might be bugging her (no pun intended ...

)

Good luck!

 

[Jessica1228]

Thanks so much for the tips! I’m just completely stumped at the moment. I’m off to try the Borax method. My daughter has MCS so I’m a little limited on what I can use in the house, but Borax seems to have a lot of followers. Here’s hoping! I did cut her puff a bit but I’m toying with the idea of totally chopping it down. I keep suspecting that I’m just not getting in there as well as I should. The feathers are pretty tight (almost like tail feathers). I want to clean her, but not hurt her or get too much in her eyes. Maybe I’m just not getting in there thoroughly. At any rate she will be almost bald after today

. I’m also going to step up the Ivomec. The instructions say something like 1mg for every 22lbs but I think we might (or mite

go to the full 22lb dosage and try dropping it toward the back of her head. If it works maybe I’ll be mite free in a few weeks. Woohooo! Thanks again everyone. You have no clue how much you have helped with this. I’m still amazed at how useless vets are sometimes.