I am a terrible chicken owner :(...mite problem please help!

[JodiLynn]

I have been posting over the last couple of months about 4 chickens my mom got me for xmas. It was from a reputable breeder/NPIP, the works. I know they had mites and long story short they all died or had to be culled. Today I woke up to find a prized silkie acting funny. I think maybe eggbound but I am not sure. I started checking her out and found little crawling bugs around her vent. I am so upset as this has been a sting of bad events and now I feel terrible. I treated with Ivermectin (where I bought her did the same that's why I did it) I know ivermectin is controversial on here but it is all I had this morning. I also dusted around the vent with a lice poultry duster. Is mites/lice fairly common? What is the best way to treat 100 birds? I started grabbing everyone I could catch and the older hens seem to have it but I do not see it on the younger ones. I have chickens ranging from 1 week-2 years. How should I treat the coops?
This silkie that is off today may be egg bound and I have posted about that as well. My 5 year old nephew loves that chicken and I will feel even worse if something happens to her. I plan to sell chicks and eggs from these chickens but now that's on hold. Please help a very frustrated chicken mom?! Also should I worm? I have some wazine but have never used it.

 

[Bayrider16]

I think that that you should get some spray that gets rid of the mites, that you spray on your chickens (you can find them at your local country store, or order them through a magazine.), and get a box to fill with chicken dust so they can dust themselves. My older hens from last year haven't had mites/lice yet, so i think your coop could be invested with them. This could be because of the amount of chickens you have in the coop, and because you haven't treated them. The spray should help, and the dust should help also. (Note: the dust in not just any dust, its chicken dust you can buy in bags for them at the country store or through a magazine. Similar to dust Chinchilas use.) For the coop, i would completely clean it out and even spray it out with water. Then spray your chickens with the lice/mite killer, and give them their dust box to dust in.

--Hope this helps!!

 

[JodiLynn]

Thanks! It cant be over crowding as we have 15 birds per 100 square foot pen but we have 30 free range chickens that could have got it from wild birds. Is the dust a lice/mite dust or just a dust? Im headed to feed store before class and my mom is coming after to help treat the whole flock. my silkies do not free range so I plan on stripping coop, spraying with adams and they have all been treated with dust and ivermectin.

 

[casportpony]

I would put poultry dust in they spots where they dust bathe and dust all of them. I would also spray the coop and places they roost with Sevin, just water won't do a thing. BYC's Dawg53 like to use a leaf blower and dust inside the coop, so that's an option, too.

This is what I use:

 

[ChickensRDinos]

I would find a way to dust them all. Going in at night may be your best bet while they are calm and a bit organized. Putting it in all of their dust baths is also a good idea. Dusting only kills live bugs, not eggs so if you only dust once the mites/lice are guaranteed to come back. You need to repeat every 7-10 days until the problem is cleared up.

If you have mites you need to clean out all of your bedding and disinfect your entire coop. Mites can live in pine/straw/wood, etc. If your coop is infected then the problem will continue and it can get quite serious.

Medications for internal parasites are not what you want to use for external mites and lice. Do you also think they have worms?

 

[casportpony]

I also think you should worm, but not with Wazine, it only kills roundworms. I would use Safeguard/Panacur (fenbendazole) or Valbazen (albendazole). You can get Safeguard at TSC in liquid for goats/cattle or paste for horses. Doesn't matter which one, it's the same medicine. FWIW, I prefer the liquid and I dose mine at 50mg/kg by mouth and repeat in ten days.

From Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook - 7th Edition





From left to right:
Small = 10mg ( .1cc) = enough for a 200 gram (7 ounce) bird at 50mg/kg
Medium = 25mg (.25cc) = enough for a 500 gram (17 ounce) bird at 50mg/kg
Large = 50mg ( .5cc) = enough for a 1000 gram (35 ounce) bird at 50mg/kg
50 mg/kg is at the high end of the recommended dose for birds, but it is what my vets recommended.

 

[seminolewind]

-Ditto what Casportpony said !

 

[JodiLynn]

Should I worm everyone or just the older ones? I assume I don't worm the chicks but I have some around 18 weeks and up? I have worker for horses I can use.

 

[dawg53]

I have been posting over the last couple of months about 4 chickens my mom got me for xmas. It was from a reputable breeder/NPIP, the works. I know they had mites and long story short they all died or had to be culled. Today I woke up to find a prized silkie acting funny. I think maybe eggbound but I am not sure. I started checking her out and found little crawling bugs around her vent. I am so upset as this has been a sting of bad events and now I feel terrible. I treated with Ivermectin (where I bought her did the same that's why I did it) I know ivermectin is controversial on here but it is all I had this morning. I also dusted around the vent with a lice poultry duster. Is mites/lice fairly common? What is the best way to treat 100 birds? I started grabbing everyone I could catch and the older hens seem to have it but I do not see it on the younger ones. I have chickens ranging from 1 week-2 years. How should I treat the coops?
This silkie that is off today may be egg bound and I have posted about that as well. My 5 year old nephew loves that chicken and I will feel even worse if something happens to her. I plan to sell chicks and eggs from these chickens but now that's on hold. Please help a very frustrated chicken mom?! Also should I worm? I have some wazine but have never used it.

The external parasites may have gotten to your silkie, particularly mites from sucking blood, or the ivermectin you used on her is causing an adverse reaction. You never mentioned how much ivermectin you used on your silkie or other birds.
If you suspect your silkie is eggbound, soak her in a container of warm water up to her sides and gently massage her underside for about 20 minutes. The warm water will relax and expand her innards, massaging will help move the egg along. Then hopefully she'll lay the stuck egg, IF that's what the problem is.
I recommend that you hold off for about a month or longer before worming, you've given them enough chemicals for now (dust and ivermectin.)

 

[casportpony]

Should I worm everyone or just the older ones? I assume I don't worm the chicks but I have some around 18 weeks and up? I have worker for horses I can use.

How old are the chicks?

If the wormer is fenbendazole, yes, you can use that. The tube of paste in the picture is fenbendazole horse wormer.