Head shaking and crusty butt

[flyinferg]

Two questions related to mites and crusty butt:
Hello folks, I read through a variety of forums but I did not find specific info regarding these two issues. I have only two chickens, one is an older (7 ish) pet hen who I have had for three years. And two years ago, I got a four-year-old rescue hen who is slowly adjusting to life outside of a small crowded cage.
1). Why is my hen shaking her head?
The older hen, Nancy, has been lightly shaking her head for a few months. Every 15 to 25 seconds, for a few seconds at a time. First, I thought it was her molting style. She stops laying the occasional egg and casually sheds about a hundred feathers over a four-month period. I checked her head for mites a month ago. I finally found two, one on the back of her neck and one an inch below her ear. I dusted her carefully with Permethrin, by hand, around her neck and as close to her orifices as I felt was safe, about an inch and a half, from ears/beak/eyes. I vacuumed out the shavings from the floor of their moderately sized coop and dusted all surfaces with food grade diatomaceous earth. A week later, I did not see any mites near her head. I lightly dusted under her wings/armpits. Just to be on the safe side. A week later I noticed a few tiny mites around her vent area. Thoughts on head-shaking. Is it bug related?
2). Here is the second issue. I went ahead and dusted her vent area, reapplied a dusting of Permethrin to their perch. She always has a bit of a crusty butt and every four or five months we would have a spa day and I would carefully ease off the crust with a warm water-soaked rag. She liked it and stayed fresh for a month or so.
My second question is: Shall I address the mites around her vent with the Permethrin first – or soak off her crusty butt first ?
P.S. I adore my two later-in-life surprise “children”. They are constant company while I putter around my town sized yard with lots of natives and volunteer plants happily growing freely. Any and all suggestions/input welcome. Ever so grateful that you folks share your experience and information.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Why is my hen shaking her head?

I checked her head for mites a month ago. I finally found two, one on the back of her neck and one an inch below her ear. I dusted her carefully with Permethrin, by hand, around her neck and as close to her orifices as I felt was safe, about an inch and a half, from ears/beak/eyes. I vacuumed out the shavings from the floor of their moderately sized coop and dusted all surfaces with food grade diatomaceous earth. A week later, I did not see any mites near her head. I lightly dusted under her wings/armpits. Just to be on the safe side. A week later I noticed a few tiny mites around her vent area. Thoughts on head-shaking. Is it bug related?

She always has a bit of a crusty butt and every four or five months we would have a spa day and I would carefully ease off the crust with a warm water-soaked rag. She liked it and stayed fresh for a month or so.
My second question is: Shall I address the mites around her vent with the Permethrin first – or soak off her crusty butt first ?

I would say the head shaking is mite/bug related since you have noticed more mites on her. They can get in the ears, on the head - all over and cause irritation.
You may want to just look in the ears to see if there's a crusty build up in them.

I would clean her vent first if it's crusted, then re-treat her with the Permethrin dust. Make sure to repeat the dust in 7 day intervals.
I put the dust in sock, this way I have a little more control of the powder. Move the feathers around, tap the sock onto the hen to release some dust, then work the powder into the feathers and onto the skin. Lightly dust her completely - around the vent, between her legs, under the wings, the back, head, etc., but work the dust into the feathers a bit.

Dust your other hen too.

You may find a Permethrin spray is easier to use when treating housing/coop. For the birds I like dust, for coop I like spray.

If you have any photos of your hens you wish to share that would be good too.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I put the dust in sock, this way I have a little more control of the powder. Move the feathers around, tap the sock onto the hen to release some dust, then work the powder into the feathers and onto the skin. Lightly dust her completely - around the vent, between her legs, under the wings, the back, head, etc., but work the dust into the feathers a bit.

Such a wonderful tip! Thank you for this!

 

[cmom]

Here is a post I posted previously. Good luck...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/coop-pests.1493907/post-24921944

 

[flyinferg]

I would say the head shaking is mite/bug related since you have noticed more mites on her. They can get in the ears, on the head - all over and cause irritation.
You may want to just look in the ears to see if there's a crusty build up in them.

I would clean her vent first if it's crusted, then re-treat her with the Permethrin dust. Make sure to repeat the dust in 7 day intervals.
I put the dust in sock, this way I have a little more control of the powder. Move the feathers around, tap the sock onto the hen to release some dust, then work the powder into the feathers and onto the skin. Lightly dust her completely - around the vent, between her legs, under the wings, the back, head, etc., but work the dust into the feathers a bit.

Dust your other hen too.

You may find a Permethrin spray is easier to use when treating housing/coop. For the birds I like dust, for coop I like spray.

If you have any photos of your hens you wish to share that would be good too.

Thank you so much for sending me such a detailed plan. I watched a video on how to carefully check her ears. I still do not see anything around her head or ears but maybe it is her way of telling me she is uncomfortable. As I washed her vent area with a warm damp rag, I did see more mites than I have seen in the past week. I will let her vent area dry, then tomorrow I will meticulously dust her. The way you described is so helpful. I love the sock suggestion. If I am still not satisfied that I am doing the best job possible within the next few weeks, I have a kind vet who will help me. I will make an appointment with her. I will also dust Cinnamon. She seems to be okay but she is the stoic rescue hen.
Attached are pics of my best friends. On the left is a single shot of Cinnamon. She has no tail feathers as this is the end of her molt. The other photo is of Nancy on the left and Cinnamon on the right. I think Nancy is looking bemusedly at the last two tail feathers Cinnamon has remaining. Thanks again. Hard to express how grateful I am to be able to look for answers within this group.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you so much for sending me such a detailed plan. I watched a video on how to carefully check her ears. I still do not see anything around her head or ears but maybe it is her way of telling me she is uncomfortable. As I washed her vent area with a warm damp rag, I did see more mites than I have seen in the past week. I will let her vent area dry, then tomorrow I will meticulously dust her. The way you described is so helpful. I love the sock suggestion. If I am still not satisfied that I am doing the best job possible within the next few weeks, I have a kind vet who will help me. I will make an appointment with her. I will also dust Cinnamon. She seems to be okay but she is the stoic rescue hen.
Attached are pics of my best friends. On the left is a single shot of Cinnamon. She has no tail feathers as this is the end of her molt. The other photo is of Nancy on the left and Cinnamon on the right. I think Nancy is looking bemusedly at the last two tail feathers Cinnamon has remaining. Thanks again. Hard to express how grateful I am to be able to look for answers within this group.

Hopefully you can get rid of the mites. If you are seeing them on her, there's more. They may be hiding in the housing/coop where the hens sleep at night, so treating the housing is important so they don't get re-infested.

LOL Seems like there's always 1-2 tail feathers that linger during molt and you wonder if they will ever fall out. Makes the girls look funny, but it's worth it to see their beautiful "fresh" feathers come in. Your ladies are lovely

 

[flyinferg]

Thank you for the input regarding the mites on one of my chickens. I dusted both of the chickens on the 11th of October. I will check them tomorrow and dust or not, depending on how they are doing. I tried the sock method of dispersing the Permethrin but my socks are too densely knit to allow much to come through. I came across a soft rubber baster earlier that day and tried it. It seemed to work well. (as you might be able to see in the attached photo, I had tried a soft paintbrush in the past ;-) Thanks again. Madeleine

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Thank you for the input regarding the mites on one of my chickens. I dusted both of the chickens on the 11th of October. I will check them tomorrow and dust or not, depending on how they are doing. I tried the sock method of dispersing the Permethrin but my socks are too densely knit to allow much to come through. I came across a soft rubber baster earlier that day and tried it. It seemed to work well. (as you might be able to see in the attached photo, I had tried a soft paintbrush in the past ;-) Thanks again. Madeleine

Oh! Another genius tip! I usually use one of those generic dispenser, fashioned much like the old timey ketchup/mustard/BBQ sauce. The bottle is clear flimsy plastic and the screw on top is white plastic with a little removable cap on the tip. It works well for specific areas but I'm wondering how a knee high/panty hose foot would work. That's much less dense. If I can find some. It's been ages since I've had panty hose I like the idea of a duster over the pop door, but the vent area wouldn't get dusted like that, so I haven't thought more about it.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you for the input regarding the mites on one of my chickens. I dusted both of the chickens on the 11th of October. I will check them tomorrow and dust or not, depending on how they are doing.

Make sure to repeat the dust in 7 day intervals.

You still want to repeat dusting in a 7 day (can be 7-10 day) intervals. This helps to break the lifecycle. Permethrin dust/spray will not kill lice/mite eggs, the eggs are encased in a protective layer that Permethrin will not penetrate. The repeating the treatment is to kill any that hatch during that time.

 

[flyinferg]

Update on chicken shaking her head. Hello all, it has been a few weeks, it took that long to get in to see the very busy vet. The vets office has the process of bringing in our pets set up nicely. One pulls into the parking lot, stays in the car and calls or texts the office folks inside. They call back and do the general intake, what the problem is, etc etc. Then after a while, at or around your scheduled appointment time, someone from the office comes out and takes your pet inside. The doctor does the exam then calls you. You listen, ask questions and that's it. The visit is concluded. The office calls again and takes the payment method on the phone, then someone else brings your pet outside to your car. The upshot on Nancy is: the doctor could not see anything in her ears, eyes, throat or.... anywhere, to give her a clue as to why Nancy just started shaking her head in September. She was clean and healthy. Well, that was good news and I was happy that Nancy had been professionally looked at. The mystery continues as she still shakes her head. Thanks again for the support given to me. I am relieved and grateful that I have such knowledgeable folks to turn to when I am not sure what to do. ;-) Madeleine