- Mar 30, 2011
- 1,888
- 60
- 204
All the videos I watched about how to dust chickens for mites/lice said to hold them upside down to get their vents well dusted. I did this a week ago tonight to 14 of my chickens. All seemed fine, except the first one I dusted had liquid come out of her mouth/nose as I was holding her upside down. I immediately released her, and she seemed fine. I had dusted her about 3 weeks ago, I think, this same way, and nothing had come out of her mouth/nose. She died suddenly yesterday, while I was on vacation, at just 27 months old. Do you think she could have gotten aspiration pneumonia from the stuff coming out her nose going in her lungs? And another chicken, one of the 2 I did not dust, also died yesterday. She would have been 5 years old in September and showed no signs of mites. I did sprinkle a little diatomaceous earth on her back before I left on vacation, but I didn't give her a thorough dusting like I did the others. The latter's death could be age related, but I do wonder about the younger hen's death. I'll never dust a chicken upside-down again. I can tell you that. I thought I had read it was dangerous years ago, but all those videos led me to believe it was the thing to do when dusting for mites/lice.
