Gray mold looking stuff at the base of feathers?

[Chickygirl55]

we have three roosters that we seperated from the rest of the flock cause there were too many roosters in with the hens. We ordered more pullets so they would have thier own females and we were making a seperate room for them cause they are still pretty little. My sister went and picked up one of the roosters and remarked that they seemed to be loosing feathers, then when she stuck them down there were little yellowish tan bugs on her jacket. I put some mite stuff on them but im not sure they are mites. Today i went and examined them more closely cause yesterday we were too busy to do so and they have a gray mold looking stuff at the base of thier feathers mainly thier tail feathers and vent area. Does anyone know wether that is caused by the bugs we saw or is it a seperate thing? Also does anyone know if they are mites?

 

[miss_thenorth]

sounds like lice and the moldy looking stuff are eggs stuck tot he base of the tail. It's very difficult to get the eggs off, but you can treat the chooks with drikill, or ivermectin I believe. Retreat in two weeks to kill the hatched eggs. Treat ALL birds--if one has it, they all have it.

good luck!

 

[Chickygirl55]

Thanks ill try that but could the gray stuff be eggs if they are roosters?

 

[fjorddreamer]

Yes, they would be lice eggs.

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

yes that sounds right
it is feather mites or lice
they do take some getting rid of them
Here is a article by my friend Nathalie Ross who has used it a lot
Using Ivermectin is good here is the amt for Ivermectin pour on 5%
For the pour on Ivermectin (not Eprinex) the dosage I
use is as follows:
1 drop - OEGB sized small bantam female
2 drops - OEGB sized small bantam male
3 drops - average bantams
4 drops - large bantams, small commercial fowl
5 drops - most commercial fowl, small giant hens
6 drops - giant breeds of chicken

I always use a 3 cc syringe that I just fill to about 2 cc's with a 20 gauge needle. The needle WON'T be injected into the chicken, but does make it easier to dispense a controlled correct sized drop. It also is easier to get in there between the feathers.

For location, you'll want to find an easy to reach
spot with as little fluff as possible. I've had the
best luck with the back of the neck when I am by myself. I just pick up the chicken in my left
hand, ruffle around the feathers with my right hand until I find a nice clear spot, then rotate the syringe around to dispense the drops exactly on the skin.

If you hit the fluff, it will soak in before
you can do anything and will be wasted. That stuff soaks in like lightening (which I discovered to my horror when I accidently got about 1 cc of it on me from the bottle - I'm worm free

GLH added
when trying to get rid of lice and mites the building needs cleaned also you can do this



CLEAN THE CHICKEN HOUSE AND

then you need to get the mites and lice where they live
take a gallon can and put 1 pt of cooking oil and 1 pint of keroseen and paint the roost poles
and all the cracks in the wood of the building
especially the knot holes if any are in the wood
these areas are where the mites and lice live and breed

then I would clean out the bedding and start fresh by putting
a good layer of sevin 5% on the bare floor now put the new bedding back in the building

this will get rid of the mitesand lice and any lice living in the building
always do this so you can leave a window cracked that night
so fumes will escape

ALSO FEED THE BIRDS THIS
besure to feed the birds affected the
natural probiotic wet mash
each bird
3 tbsp of dry crumbles
5-1/2 tbsp of milk any kind
1 tbsp of yoguart
mix and feed twie a day till the bird is healed then once a week for life
you have to multiply the number of birds being given this wet mash probiotic as this is for one bird
It helps the birds gut flora to come back stronger after the delousing medication

PM me for any other problems

 

[Chickygirl55]

Thank you guys sooo much im definitely going to the store today lol. Will be sure to try some of these and let you guys know what happens.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Just a note--the ivermectin will kill the lice, but the eggs will still be on the feathers. I used 8% ivermec--three drops for a standard. Retreat in two weeks. the egg sacs will wear off on their own unless you pick them off.

 

[slightlyscrambled]

how long before you can eat eggs again?