Heat Stroke, Mites, Yikes...

[my sunwolf]

Yesterday I adopted two hens from an acquaintance, a silver laced wyandotte and a salmon faverolle. The people giving them away said they had to get rid of all their chickens because cleaning out the coop was giving them respiratory problems. Both hens are three years old, occasionally lay eggs, and have never been transported until I popped them in a box and drove 1.5 hrs with them. When I got them home, the faverolle couldn't walk and was panting. It was very clear that she had heat stroke in the car. I inspected the wyandotte, and she was alert, not even panting... I laid the faverolle next to a frozen soda bottle, gave her some cool yogurt and water, and dipped her beak to make sure she ate and drank. This morning, I showed her pellets (she ate a few) and more water (she drank some). However, she's still not moving much. She will stand up, then sit back down, but not walk around. She had bad diarrhea and just generally looks sickly, droopy comb (but bright red), swollen eye lids (but no discharge). Last night I checked both of their rumps and vents and found tons of nasty little MITES all bunched around these areas. They were round yellowish bugs about this size: o


Here are my questions:

• Is there anything else I should be doing for the faverolle?

• Can I dust them while the faverolle is still weak? I'm worried that the mites are causing her immune system to shut down, but I know that the sevindust/de can be hard on them.

• Can mites cause diarrhea? If not, could she be sick with something else as well?


Thanks for any advice!!! My chickens have never had heat stroke or mites, so I have no idea what to do...

EDIT: Just discovered that the bugs are LICE, not mites. Still have to go get something to dust them with.

 

[StandardLover]

• Is there anything else I should be doing for the faverolle?
-Keep doing what you are doing making sure she has water and food in her. I would also suggest giving her poly visol or electrolytes. I am actually thinking that maybe she didn't have a heat stroke and she is suffering from blood loss from the mites. What do you think? Was she like that when you picked her up?

• Can I dust them while the faverolle is still weak? I'm worried that the mites are causing her immune system to shut down, but I know that the sevindust/de can be hard on them.
-I wouldn't dust, just to be safe that the dust doesn't get into her respritory system. I would suggest giving her a warm bath with dog flea and tick shampoo. This kills the mites A LOT faster and the Diatomaceous dust is for preventing mostly and Sevin is too strong for her right now. I like to give my chickens baths when they get lice just because the water reaches places a lot easier than dust.
The mites are probably causing her blood loss and that is what is making her weak.

• Can mites cause diarrhea? If not, could she be sick with something else as well?
I wouldn't doubt that mites can cause diarrhea. My chickens have never had mites (knock on wood) so I do not know this question perfectly.

I wish you the best with your two. Please give us updates!

 

[Judy]

I'd go ahead with the Sevin 5% dust; mites can actually kill if they're bad enough. Put them in a bag (not the head of course) with the dust and roll them around, so they inhale a minimal amount. Actually, I've never read that Sevin is rough on them, though I wouldn't dispute it; it's a common treatment, certainly.

Chickens in very hot weather or with heat stroke are likely to have loose poops because they will drink a lot more; hopefully, that's all it is.

To cool a bird quickly, I dunk them in a bucket of air temp water for a minute, then let them air dry. Actually, for a first treatment for the mites, you could do this with a few drops of Dawn in the water. It wouldn't kill them all but it might give you a knockdown.

Be sure to retreat in 10-14 days to kill the eggs, which will have hatched by them, and treat their environment, if you're not already aware.

Good luck to all of you!

 

[my sunwolf]

• Is there anything else I should be doing for the faverolle?
-Keep doing what you are doing making sure she has water and food in her. I would also suggest giving her poly visol or electrolytes. I am actually thinking that maybe she didn't have a heat stroke and she is suffering from blood loss from the mites. What do you think? Was she like that when you picked her up?

Both of you, thank you so much for the help! To clarify: I did some more research and found out that they have lice, not mites. The faverolle made it up to the roost last night and is walking around today, eating, drinking, scratching, and being very sweet. Eyelids are still swollen. I will give both hens baths, then wait until they dry and dust them and the coop. Luckily they're in my isolation coop so won't get the main flock covered in lice, eeek. I actually don't have any sevin dust, just a bit of diatomaceous, are you sure it is just for preventing? I'll also put some in the coop, but I hear that with lice the coop infestation isn't as bad.

StandardLover: the faverolle was definitely a little weak when I picked her up. I think the blood loss from the lice might have made her more susceptible to heat stroke. The people I adopted them from said another one of their hens got heat stroke just last month.

 

[my sunwolf]

Okay, here is a picture of the lice:



They're pretty obvious. I'll try to get some more pictures of the bugs and of the eggs for reference. I'm dusting today.

 

[my sunwolf]

Update

Woodstock the salmon faverolle is doing okay. I dusted twice with pyrethrin, seven days apart, and that seemed to get rid of all the buggies, plus the hens did all right (but I didn't get to eat their eggs).

Since then, both of them have started their molts, though the faverolle hasn't finished hers and still looks really scraggly.

If you can believe it, the faverolle's poop is bad, it looks like she has scaly leg mites, and she's sneezing!!

The woman I adopted them from, her situation wasn't that bad, so I'm not sure why her chickens are so unhealthy. I guess it could be worse.

I'm going to vaseline her legs (and those of all my girls, since the newbies have long since mixed with the main flock), dust with DE (found a single dead louse on the faverolle yesterday), and give her yogurt in the hopes that her system perks up.

Here's Woodstock at the water bowl (she's my shortest chicken):



In all her scraggly, fluffy glory: