getting desperate - externa parasites - nothing works

[BennieAnTheJets]

aart, you could see the feather shafts destroyed, even on new feathers and the rest of the feather still in the bird - also the feathers I found looked like they had been sawed off by a tiny saw, no normal shaft on them - if you crush the damaged shaft, there is powdery stuff in it

I found some pics for you from 2014: the third picture has two feather mite damaged feathers on the left and two healthy ones on the right, the last pic is from a microscope

 

[BennieAnTheJets]

Thank you so much everyone for answering again!

The thing is, I tried a lot of what you suggest - putting my arm on the roost at night, wiping with a white paper towel to see if there is blood / red spots / mites, going to the vet to ID the pest, inspecting the birds, day and night - and I can't see anything!

and the Elector PSP is supposed to kill red mites and I doused the stripped coop with it before putting all new bedding in - every crack - so I am still baffled

**Now I have one bird that has trouble standing - losing his balance - it may be unrelated or it may be from this infestation **

 

[aart]

aart, you could see the feather shafts destroyed, even on new feathers and the rest of the feather still in the bird - also the feathers I found looked like they had been sawed off by a tiny saw, no normal shaft on them - if you crush the damaged shaft, there is powdery stuff in it

I found some pics for you from 2014: the third picture has two feather mite damaged feathers on the left and two healthy ones on the right, the last pic is from a microscopeView attachment 1450897 View attachment 1450898 View attachment 1450900 View attachment 1450901 View attachment 1450902 View attachment 1450903

Thank you!
These are the only pics I've ever seen of feather shaft mite evidence/damage..
..and I've looked and looked and looked. Do you mind if I copy and save these pics?

As to your dancing birds....saw a bunch of this going on a couple-few weeks ago and finding no pests concluded they were 'noseeums' (they were biting me too) no positive ID cause you can't see um.

 

[Kiki]

if you know something that may help, please chime in!

our birds are kicking and scratching and shaking their tails and heads as if they were constantly bitten by something very irritating when they roost at night, even though I think I have seen them do some of this while on free range, too

it is definitely not normal cleaning and shaking - I know these birds - feel terrible when walking by the coop at night to hear them all kicking and stomping in discomfort in there

What I have done so far:

1) strip coop and apply DE to coop, birds, dust bathing areas outside

2) treated with ivermectin pour on - once, then repeated after 10 days

3) got Elector PSP and stripped coop and sprayed everything including the ceiling, and the birds

I thought it got a little better after the ivermectin, but not much

Their feathers are starting to look moth eaten and they are too thin

please help if you can

I do want to relieve this stress of parasites on them ASAP, but I don't want liver damage from too much treatment - what would you do???

Thanks! Bennie

I don't see that you tried permethrin yet...have you?

 

[Folly's place]

Those rotten little gnats- no see ums- whatever. They are here too! There were a lot fewer after we sprayed the coop, etc with permethrin, but they are coming back. UGH!
Mary

 

[aart]

Those rotten little gnats- no see ums- whatever.

Different bugs, I can see those damn gnats, and they leave huge welts on me that take days to recede.

 

[BennieAnTheJets]

aart, you're welcome.

feel free to use the pics in whatever way you want to help you or others - as long as nobody snatches them up and puts their copyright on them - if you don't mind I would like to keep'em off Facebook since they own all your stuff once it is posted - never been on Facebook and may never be

 

[BennieAnTheJets]

KikisGirls,

I think I will try pyrethrin powder up their butts and under their wings tonight (since I have that) and Vaseline on their legs, but I am not sure if it is a good idea to do that in an enclosed coop - if they shake it off everyone will be breathing it, and I am pretty sure they will shake and flutter back up the roosting bars thereby putting a lot of the powder in the air without proper circulation - hm

but if I do it in the morning they will just shake it off in the yard and the biting mostly happens at night, I think, even though there seems to be some outside in the day, too

I have a liquid concentrate of the stuff, too - so can get the wood tomorrow

 

[Kiki]

aart, you're welcome.

feel free to use the pics in whatever way you want to help you or others - as long as nobody snatches them up and puts their copyright on them - if you don't mind I would like to keep'em off Facebook since they own all your stuff once it is posted - never been on Facebook and may never be

Any photos posted on the web can easily be grabbed and used in other place you know.
Just saying.
Don't post photos you don't want in other peoples hand, you pretty much have zero control over what happens to it once it is posted online.
Any website.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/copyright.1251321/#post-20075328

 

[BennieAnTheJets]

Yeah, KikisGirls, that is fine with me.

I like this site and it's rules

sure anyone can use the pics anyone posts anywhere but I'd like to think there is some sort of human decency etiquette and I trust a group of like-minded people who are not in it for profit (even though there can be differences of opinion sometimes) more than large corporations that too often abuse their power and influence, in my opinion