Help! Feather mites??

[Mattnval]

Hello everyone,

My girlfriend and I have a small flock up in the mountains of Colorado and have a hen with a very interesting problem. We added two laced Wyandotte’s to our flock last year and they’ve been good producers, but not super friendly towards us (which is fine). When they first came to us, they had a bad case of lice. We washed all of our girls and the coop with permethrin twice and successfully got rid of the infestation.

Since then, one of the Wyandotte’s feathers have gotten progressively worse. We check them daily for lice and check the coop for mites and have not seen any. We have used feather fixer food, just did another round of permethrin, keep an eye out for bullying, etc and can’t pinpoint the issue. We don’t have a rooster either and its by far the worst on her. We have noticed that some feathers on the necks of our other hens are also broken in half and missing. We believe it might be feather mites which I think live on the shaft of the feather? We purchased some ivermectin as we read it may treat feather mites more effectively than permethrin.

Anyways, here’s some pictures from her last permethrin bath. Notice how the skin has become irritated and red, and the lack of/broken feathers. Any help or ideas on what may be causing this would be greatly appreciated! And if it is feather mites, if permethrin alone will fix it (or do we have to do an ivermectin treatment?)

 

[sourland]

Any possibility of feather pecking/plucking by flock mates?

 

[cherrynberry]

How much protein do you feed? They seem to be molting slightly.

 

[Mattnval]

Anywhere from 16-18% typically.

We also haven’t seen any birds really bullying her. She’s by no means the “alpha” of the group though.

 

[EmusandLovinem]

Looks like feather pecking to me from maybe another hen. I never use anything but Ivermectin on my chickens. A few drops on their skin and a few in their mouths.

 

[cricketgurl]

Did you ever figure out what this was? We had something similar happen to our chickens, and I checked for mites, for lice...couldn't really see anything. Then when doing a check, found a bad case of Fowl Mites all around her rear end and her talk feathers in the back. Didn't notice it till I finally saw clusters of eggs around the base of the feathers.

 

[sunnie7]

Did you ever figure out what this was? We had something similar happen to our chickens, and I checked for mites, for lice...couldn't really see anything. Then when doing a check, found a bad case of Fowl Mites all around her rear end and her talk feathers in the back. Didn't notice it till I finally saw clusters of eggs around the base of the feathers.

How long did you have to treat for and what treatment did you use?? Did yours look like this? I’ve done 2 permethrin 10 treatments a week apart and going to 3rd tomorrow but this is what mine still look like…

 

[Hypacha]

Hello! I'm a newbie here and have only had chickens 18 months. 2 of my 3 are not laying. I don't see anything bothering them, injuries, discontent...The one that is laying is #1 in pecking order however...she is a bully but doesn't really do damage much.

 

[cricketgurl]

How long did you have to treat for and what treatment did you use?? Did yours look like this? I’ve done 2 permethrin 10 treatments a week apart and going to 3rd tomorrow but this is what mine still look like…
View attachment 3109767

Hi Sunnie. This did turn out to be Northern Fowl mites. We treated with Elector PSP....one and done, and it took care of these guys. Just sprayed their butts, tail feather area, under their wings, and for the ones with feathered feet, sprayed there as well.