Help! My flock has brown clumps along their feathers. Parasites??

[redvelvetspumon]

I'm honestly freaking out. Will post picture soon. I affectionately picked up one of my ameracaunas and she felt lumpy. I looked closely and in the fluffy part of her feathers there are brown clumps of various sizes, but not all at the base like lice eggs. I think it might be northern fowl mites. I checked the others and they all had the clumps. They act healthy and happy though lately i notice they seem restless or tired and preen a lot, but only slightly. They eat and drink fine, they are 2 months old. One chicken does seem to be unable to sit still sometimes, getting up and sitting down in a new place. What do i do? Sevin dust??

 

[Yessur Ebob]

I don't know if sevin would hurt your birds or not. If they are bugs, dusting them with diatomaceous earth should solve your problem.

 

[CMV]

It's lice. DE is useless for a full blown infestation. Sevin dust will do the trick if you are careful. You will need to treat all the birds and their coop. Clean all the bedding out of the coop and nesting boxes. Treat the inside of the coop with the insecticide of your choice. Put a light layer of bedding back in with Sevin mixed in. In 10 days do it all over again. Treat the birds and the coop. Hopefully you will have gotten rid of all the bugs. They are nuisance, but easy to resolve.

Good luck.

 

[redvelvetspumon]

thanks! their vents seem fine, and this is the first day they felt lumpy- usually they have soft smooth feathers. What makes you think its lice versus mites? I've been trying to look at photos online and comparing.

 

[CMV]

Mites don't leave their eggs in clumps. They leave behind a gray smutz, like dust, all through the feathers. The birds infected with mites look "dirty" for lack of a better term.

 

[redvelvetspumon]

The next morning before I went to buy insecticide their feathers were soft and fluffy again. All of them. Only isolated clumps were left and it didn't look like either lice or mites.... They've been completely happy and fine. What I did do was buy a 5 dollar 3- gal giant sturdy pan from tractor supply and shoveled in lots of dirt... Within five minutes pistachio jumped in and was bathing. Others soon joined. Everyday I have to add more dirt to the tub because they can't get enough