How can I tell if my adopted rooster has active depluming mites?

[thenovicehen]

Hello! I adopted a frizzle rooster a few months ago with some feather damage. About half of his wing feathers look like pieces of straw and his tail is mostly cottony fluff. I didn’t know about depluming mites at the time and assumed it was a protein deficiency. He is growing new feathers meow in his wings and tail. But now that I know about depluming mites, how can I tell if he has active ones? Maybe he was treated for them before I adopted him; I don’t know his history aside from they told them he was too noisy (which isn’t a lie! Lol). None of my hens appear to have any feather issues, considering they’ve been together for about four months at this point.

 

[Smileybans]

I had a frizzle rooster that had the same thing going on. His wing feathers looked like sticks. I treated him with ivermectin and it didn’t help. So I did more reading. Apparently because his feathers were frizzled they were more likely to break. Since the ivermectin didn’t work I assumed this was what it was.

 

[thenovicehen]

I had a frizzle rooster that had the same thing going on. His wing feathers looked like sticks. I treated him with ivermectin and it didn’t help. So I did more reading. Apparently because his feathers were frizzled they were more likely to break. Since the ivermectin didn’t work I assumed this was what it was.

I recently saw a pic of someone’s frizzled hen have the same wing feathers so that makes sense to me. His tail plumes are growing in so it looks like there’s dried leaves in his butt cotton. Lol maybe they’ll improve after molting. He’s coming up on a year old. I don’t know when they have they’re first molt.

 

[Smileybans]

I recently saw a pic of someone’s frizzled hen have the same wing feathers so that makes sense to me. His tail plumes are growing in so it looks like there’s dried leaves in his butt cotton. Lol maybe they’ll improve after molting. He’s coming up on a year old. I don’t know when they have they’re first molt.

I’m not sure when they have their first molt either. I had to rehome my frizzle, he was too aggressive towards my other roosters, so I don’t know for sure if his feathers got better. The person that took him didn’t seem to mind his stick feathers though.

 

[thenovicehen]

Well, something got a hold of Elvis a few weeks ago and plucked his little butt and back bald. He’s fine, but that was a major step back from the feather regrowth he’d had over the summer. Thankfully, it appears they’re all regrowing already, including his little tail. I can still see his preening gland and the tip of his tail nub, but there’s growth happening. During his attack, some of the tail feathers he was growing broke off at the base and bled slightly. I applied vetericyn to them, but left them be otherwise because they didn’t continue to bleed. Was that the right thing to do?

 

[Smileybans]

Well, something got a hold of Elvis a few weeks ago and plucked his little butt and back bald. He’s fine, but that was a major step back from the feather regrowth he’d had over the summer. Thankfully, it appears they’re all regrowing already, including his little tail. I can still see his preening gland and the tip of his tail nub, but there’s growth happening. During his attack, some of the tail feathers he was growing broke off at the base and bled slightly. I applied vetericyn to them, but left them be otherwise because they didn’t continue to bleed. Was that the right thing to do?

Oh no! What do you think it was that got him? I’m glad he’s okay though. It sounds like you did the right thing.

I have a rooster that is constantly braking his pin feathers on his feet. Sometimes I just leave them or don’t know about it. Other times I soak his feet in Epsom salt and apply triple antibiotic ointment. Then wrap it. I only do all of that because he keeps breaking them on a foot he had an infection in.