Five week old silkie chick with mites?

[Silkie-Guinz]

We have a black silkie chick that we call Jack that's about five weeks old, and when we picked him up today, his back has hardly any feathers, and he has a few scabs on his back. So I gave him to my Mom, and we were standing beside our open door, trying to get a better look and I seen a very little red bug crawl across his skin.
We just a little while ago took him back out and got pictures, and we checked him over again, and flipped him over and checked his vent, and he had a bunch of little red bugs all together under his tail.

Does this sould and look like it could be mites? or is it something else?

We are wanting to know how to treat him to get rid of the bugs. And should we treat the rest of our chicks? And with what should we treat them with? He, along with our other chicks are inside our house in 3 differant brooders. Our chicks ages range from 6 weeks, to 3 weeks. We have 11 silkies, 2 showgirls, and 11 guineas.

Thank you, We just want all of our chicks to be okay.

Here's a picture of his back.


A bit of a side view of his back.


A closer look at his back.

Lifting up Jack's wing.



Under Jack's chin, he has a lot of dirty looking whiteish stuff at his skin. could those be eggs? It's hard to see in the picture though.

 

[dawg53]

I recommend you use sevin dust on them. Gently rub it onto them, avoid their eyes and nostrils. Repeat dusting them 10 days later. You'll need to dust the inside of their house, roosts and nests as well. Repeat dusting again in 10 days. Sevin dust costs $4.97 at Lowe's in the 1 pound canister. Here's a link to read from the experts about lice/mites:
http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Sevin dust is one good choice, others are permethrin or pyrethrum dust, or a dog flea/tick spray such as Adams. Don't bother trying DE; it is ineffective in an infestation and when/if it works, it works much too slowly to save your birds. You need to treat every single bird that was in the brooder/cage with the one that is infested. Toss all bedding and thoroughly clean the brooder or cage. Spray any wood with an insecticide licensed for animal premises, and make sure to pay special attention to all cracks and crevasses.

Personally I prefer to use flea/tick spray or shampoo over dust, and I use ones containing an insect growth regulator so that immature bugs and eggs are prevented from maturing. Without an IGR you will need to retreat every 3 or 4 days at least 3 times to break the cycle. A bit of oil diluted ivermectin pour-on on the skin will help, too.

 

[Silkie-Guinz]

Thank you dawg53, and Sonoran Silkies.

Thanks for the link, dawg53.

We went out earlier this evening because it was getting late, and went and got Garden & Poultry Dust, that has permethrin. Me and my Mom spent about two hours outside, cleaning the 3 brooders and dusting 24 chicks.

Anyway, while my Mom was dusting a chick, the chick had some mites drop off him. A few other chicks had some mites drop off, too. and, She also got pooped on three times by three differant chicks.