Hen with Servere Feather loss from Mites

[Linda Dee]

I have a 20 month old Bresse hen that has a large patch of bare skin on her lower chest and under her wings. I know it must be from feather picking because of mites. I think she must have had them for a while. I noticed she had dirty britches, yesterday. It looked almost black. My concern is that if she has had them for a while, could the black coming from her butt be blood? I saw her yesterday laying in the sun on her belly with her bare skin against the dirt. I am assuming she was trying to get relief from the itching.
I feel so badly because I have not been paying attention because of my own health issues and fear this may have compromised her health.
Yesterday, when she rollers to the side is when I noticed the large bare spot on her. It is significant. None of my other chickens have obvious infestations, but I naturally will treat all the flock, remove bedding and spray the coops and run with Permitherin 10.

I changed the industrial hemp in my coop in coops, sprayed them down with Permitherin 10 for 2 weeks and put permitherin dust on the floor before I put in new bedding, treated the Roost bars and nesting boxes in April. I have never had this much trouble with mites because I clean and dust the chickens with permitherin garden dust and spray the coops in April and in November.

I am wondering if there is anything I can give her to boost her immune system and help build her blood back up?
I have no idea how long she has been this bad.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry about your hen and hope you are doing better too.

If you have photos of her you wish to share, that would be good.

I'd try to gather her up, wash up her bum and take a good look to see if it's just dirt/poop and mites or if there's blood. Likely it's just an accumulation of "stuff" and once you wash her up, things will look much better. You can trim up vent feathers and fluff if debris is really stuck on and hard to get off.

Go ahead and dust her with the Permethrin, getting around the vent, under wings, etc. I like to put the dust in a sock so I can target areas. Work the dust into the feathers and down to the skin.

If she's in bad shape, then you can give her a direct dose of vitamins like Poultry Cell for a few days in a row at a rate of 1cc per 3 pounds of weight.
If you don't have that, then a treat of egg, some organ meat like beef liver or a bit of canned fish (mackerel, sardines) can be helpful. A little goes a long way, but your whole flock may enjoy the treats as well, depending on how many birds you have.

 

[Linda Dee]

I'm sorry about your hen and hope you are doing better too.

If you have photos of her you wish to share, that would be good.

I'd try to gather her up, wash up her bum and take a good look to see if it's just dirt/poop and mites or if there's blood. Likely it's just an accumulation of "stuff" and once you wash her up, things will look much better. You can trim up vent feathers and fluff if debris is really stuck on and hard to get off.

Go ahead and dust her with the Permethrin, getting around the vent, under wings, etc. I like to put the dust in a sock so I can target areas. Work the dust into the feathers and down to the skin.

If she's in bad shape, then you can give her a direct dose of vitamins like Poultry Cell for a few days in a row at a rate of 1cc per 3 pounds of weight.
If you don't have that, then a treat of egg, some organ meat like beef liver or a bit of canned fish (mackerel, sardines) can be helpful. A little goes a long way, but your whole flock may enjoy the treats as well, depending on how many birds you have.

Thank you so much. They love scrambled eggs. I had planned to increase the protein, but I like the idea of liver....good iron, therefore red blood cells. I never thought of giving them liver. I have some in the freezer. Thank you once again. I will post pictures. I was on my way down to try to hurry and give her a bath to give her some relief, but I will certainly take picture.
Dee

 

[Linda Dee]

Her vent is a mess, but I don't see indications of bugs. She has so many areas of concern, I am beginning to believe this could part of an early molt.
Would they pick the feathers around their vent if it was just irritated. She has what looks like a burn alone the top of her cockscomb. The feathers are gone off her belly along the breast bone and she just generally looks bedraggled.SEE PICTURES ABOVE.
I am still learning how to post.

She is still eating, has solid good looking stool, she still lays an a every few days....not as much as usual, but still laying 2 this last 5 days.
I am confused. I made her scrambled eggs and she gobbled down every bite.
Thank you.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The black on her comb looks like a scab, possibly she's scraped it against fencing.

Do you have a rooster or other birds that bully her from time to time?

I'd dust her for lice, clean up her vent and see that she's drinking and eating o.k.
Do make sure her crop is emptying overnight too.

At 20 months, it's possible she's getting ready to molt soon.

 

[Linda Dee]

The black on her comb looks like a scab, possibly she's scraped it against fencing.

Do you have a rooster or other birds that bully her from time to time?

I'd dust her for lice, clean up her vent and see that she's drinking and eating o.k.
Do make sure her crop is emptying overnight too.

At 20 months, it's possible she's getting ready to molt soon.

Thank you. I cleaned her up and put her in the hospital cage in the run.
She looked much better. I bought some of the Poultry vitamins last night and will start giving her some today.
It was raining pretty hard here yesterday so I didn't get to do all that I wanted to do, but today I am cleaning everything out this morning and treating all the birds with Permitherin Dust and Spraying down the coops with Permitherin spray. I saw gray looking mites yesterday on the window frames of the coop...I guess Northern Fowl mites which has me nervous. Is the Permitherin strong enough do you think?
Thanks again.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you. I cleaned her up and put her in the hospital cage in the run.
She looked much better. I bought some of the Poultry vitamins last night and will start giving her some today.
It was raining pretty hard here yesterday so I didn't get to do all that I wanted to do, but today I am cleaning everything out this morning and treating all the birds with Permitherin Dust and Spraying down the coops with Permitherin spray. I saw gray looking mites yesterday on the window frames of the coop...I guess Northern Fowl mites which has me nervous. Is the Permitherin strong enough do you think?
Thanks again.

The Permethrin should take care of the Fowl Mites, repeat treatment of birds and housing in 5-7 day intervals to break the cycle. You will probably have to treat for several weeks.

She may start to improve once the mites are gone off her and she's eating/drinking well. Sometimes if a hen has something else going on like the start of molt, reproductive issues, etc., parasites can bring them down further.

You're doing the best you can for her. Give her a couple of days and see how it goes.