Full Scale Melt Down

[FinalBlue]

I'm literally having a full scale flock meltdown. I have one of my bantams with what looks like an infected vent and I don't know how or why it would be infected unless it's from my mite infestation (more on that below). I have a 7 year old hen who is the skinniest I've ever seen her she's a buff orpington and she used to be one of my fattest birds she's still pretty perky and seems happy but I'm concerned she's skinny. I have a brahma hen (yup the fluffy feet kind) with what I think is scaly leg since she's limping and has weird greenish spots and raised leg scales. I've never had scaly leg with my birds so I don't know where to start to help her feel better. I've also had my coops mite free for years and well that ended I got hit extremely hard this spring with them and my poor birds are just crawling with them. I cleaned the coop out today and dusted everyone with permethrin and I did a mite bomb in the coops then placed permethin on the floor and in the nests. I also am trying a new wormer because I have never formally wormed them I usually just throw diatomaceous earth in the food and call it good but with my old girl being skinny I thought maybe it's not strong enough and I don't know if it's doing it's job since putting them on it a day ago all my birds are lethargic and just mope around their runs. Any advice helps literally full scale meltdown and I don't know how to help my poor birds.

 

[Michael Apple]

Diatomaceous earth does nothing for worms. All it will do added to feed is irritate the throat at best, or get in their air sacs at worst.. The underweight bird may have worms. It would be best to worm them all with Safe-guard liquid labeled for goats. Standard breed adult dose is 1/2 cc orally using a syringe without a needle. If you suspect a heavy load of worms, dose 3 days in a row. It is standard to worm once, then again 10 days later. It is perfectly safe to do so with Fenbendazole, the ingredient in Safe-guard. Use a vitamin-mineral-probiotic powder in the waterers three days a week. make sure the bulk of their diet is a well formulated feed.

Permethrin and carbaryl dusts won't do anything for scaly leg since it cannot penetrate under the scales where microscopic mites thrive. Get some Nu-stock mange medicine from the feed store. Squeeze some mixed with a little jojoba oil, mineral oil, etc. into a container you can keep a lid on. Mix it up with a stick so it thins out a bit. Wear some nitrile gloves and work the oily paste into the scales of the legs and toes. You can massage it in by hand or use a toothbrush to work it under the scales. Do it every other day until you see improvement. Sulfur salve used to be very effective against scaly leg mites but I doubt it is manufactured anymore. Nu-stock is used to treat mange in animals and is equally, if not more effective.

 

[Michael Apple]

Also, gently clean the vent of any fecal matter. Use a flashlight and part the feathers underneath and around the vent. If you see little specks moving around on their own, you likely have mites. A picture would be helpful.

 

[Brookliner]

I agree with all of the above posts. I would also use ivermectin on the skin at the back of the neck.Make sure you get it on the skin the feathers will just absorb it and it won't work 3 drops for a bantam and 6 drops for a large fowl. Ivermectin will not worm them but it works great for scaly leg mite. I had 5 roosters with it. I washed their legs with an old tooth brush and dawn dish soap then used nustock and rubbed it in good make sure you go all the way up to where the feathers begin. Then I put the ivermectin drops on their neck. I did the treatment again 7 days later and with a bad infestation I would even do a third treatment 7 days later. Then you will have to watch the scales on the legs the bird will shed the rough scales and new ones will grow in. It might take 6 months for the shedding and regrowth to take place. You can continue with the nustock every week. This treatment is what finally got rid of my leg mite problem. You will also have to clean the coop and put poultry dust down on the floor and nest boxes and roost bars. When I am in my coop I do a visual check of legs and vents. This is where problems occure and if you catch problems early they are usually treatable. Good luck with your hen.

 

[Michael Apple]

I agree with all of the above posts. I would also use ivermectin on the skin at the back of the neck.Make sure you get it on the skin the feathers will just absorb it and it won't work 3 drops for a bantam and 6 drops for a large fowl.

Ivermectin will not worm them but it works great for scaly leg mite. I had 5 roosters with it. I washed their legs with an old tooth brush and dawn dish soap then used nustock and rubbed it in good make sure you go all the way up to where the feathers begin. Then I put the ivermectin drops on their neck. I did the treatment again 7 days later and with a bad infestation I would even do a third treatment 7 days later.

3 treatments of ivermectin in a month? Nu-stock too? Why use Ivermectin and Nu-stock if ivermectin kills the knemidokoptes mites?

 

[Brookliner]

I originally used nustock alone. With no result after two weeks I read a post about using ivermectin pour on for cattle. I used a needless syringe obtained from my vet the instructions were as I stated above. It worked. I continued with the nustock as a preventative as the mites are not suppose to like the camphor or eucalyptus that is in it. The drops were the size that comes from the tip of the syringe with out the needle when.slowly depressing the plunger. All I can say is that it worked. I have had no mites for over a year.

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
You mustve used a different product than Nu-Stock. Nu-Stock doesnt contain camphor or eucalyptus. There's no mistaking the pine oil smell in Nu-Stock (even unopened.) Nu-Stock ingredients are sulfur 73%, pine oil 2%, mineral oil 25%. I've never mixed it with anything, no need to, just shake the tube well. In any case, the important thing is getting rid of scaly leg mites as best as you can by any means possible. DE is a waste of money.

 

[Michael Apple]

You mustve used a different product than Nu-Stock. Nu-Stock doesnt contain camphor or eucalyptus. There's no mistaking the pine oil smell in Nu-Stock (even unopened.) Nu-Stock ingredients are sulfur 73%, pine oil 2%, mineral oil 25%. I've never mixed it with anything, no need to, just shake the tube well. In any case, the important thing is getting rid of scaly leg mites as best as you can by any means possible. DE is a waste of money.

X2. Nu-stock does consist of the ingredients you stated. The reason I mix a little oil is to thin it is because Nu-stock seems too pasty out of the tube, even when kneaded and shaken up to mix contents. I want it to penetrate under the scales well. Without good penetration, the problem continues. DE is a waste of money, and an irritant more than a cure.

 

[Brookliner]

You mustve used a different product than Nu-Stock. Nu-Stock doesnt contain camphor or eucalyptus. There's no mistaking the pine oil smell in Nu-Stock (even unopened.) Nu-Stock ingredients are sulfur 73%, pine oil 2%, mineral oil 25%. I've never mixed it with anything, no need to, just shake the tube well. In any case, the important thing is getting rid of scaly leg mites as best as you can by any means possible. DE is a waste of money.

I don't use DE except that I add a bit to the PDZ in my poop trays. I guess it was the pine tar smell that I thought was camphor or eucalyptus. My tubes of "Nu-stock" we're purchased at blue seal feed store. Catching 10 roosters to treat once a day was something I just couldn't do so I used the ivermectin to treat the ones with the problem and used the nustock as an additional treatment. I had previously treated the five that had the problem for two weeks with out much change which was what decided me not to continue the daily catch, treat and release. I have not had a recurrence since.