Is my girl just recovering from lice or something else?

[clucknscratchn]

I'm new to byc and to the responsibility of raising a flock (had some as a kid), but i feel like I bought some afflicted chickens. My Cynthia, one of a 4 hen flock of red stars i bought as 1.5 yr old has been very lethargic the past 3 or 4 days and has lost noticeable weight. When I first got them only 2 weeks ago and noticed day 2 one was limping. I used byc and the chicken chick and did emergency bumblefoot surgery successfully. And since insepecting them all a few days later, another has small scabs on her feet that I'm cleaning and bandaging and also noticed straw-colored lice on my shirt after holding them.

I read that when you first get birds, to leave them in the coop for 3 or 4 days so that they know where "home" is. So i did that for 3 days, and I think that gave an already present flea population (I'm guessing) to become infestation level. Everyone was picking behind their wings and at their vent and at each other's faces. And then Cynthia began to act funny. She stopped laying, i noticed she was separating from the flock and just sitting and napping in the run. after a day of this I decided to go out and buy some sevin 5% because I figured the fleas must be really taking it out of her. Cleaned out the coop and put in new bedding, dusted the coop and the girls that night along with putting some in their dust bath. The next day the other 3 girls were happy as clams, scratching and pecking and no more feather-pecking. but Cynthia remains mopey and and doesn't run out of the coop in the morning and only halfheartedly pecks for a second here and there. she doesn't come running for treats either. I've been checking her the past few days and although I didn't measure her weight to begin with, I would bet she's 50-75% the weight she was when I got her. Her breast bone sticks out and her crop is basically empty. I still see her eat and drink a little each day, but not much.

She still has huge amounts of egg masses on her feathers, especially on her vent and behind her wings so I know she had a particularly bad case of lice, but I thought she might be rallying a bit by now like the others. I will dust her and the rest after 10 days, but there are no more adult lice on her. It might be worth mentioning that there are also a lot of ticks where I live and there were more than a few dead ones still attached to her after the dusting.

I isolated her tonight with her own vitamin water and food and I saw her pecking some, but I'm really worried about the weight loss and lethargy. Is there something else going on? What else should I be doing for her? help please!! any opinion or advice will be welcomed

 

[Stiggy]

yes you will need some de lice-ing powder. we use pestine here. chances are she isn't feeling very well and they do take a big toll on the hens when they get to that point. I would also suggest worming them all as well, if they have external parisites then chances are they have internal ones as well. im not sure why one is worse than the other, or if she will make it because she maybe to far gone I don't know. where they were maynot have been so great and they maybe suffering from internal damage. however good luck with your feathered babies

 

[clucknscratchn]

As you can see, I've already dusted them for lice and plan to do it again in 10 days. I've been reading about de-worming and you are probably right about not being taken care of internally. Does it make me a bad mother to not want to spend another $20 on Safegard since I don't make much money and have already spent probably $200 in 2 weeks on these birds and their coop? Unless I get a response that says that worms is the most likely cause, I'm going to try an hold off on buying anything else. I do appreciate the advice though

 

[Stiggy]

well if it makes you feel better, worming that only costs $20 isn't bad here its about $70 for 50mls here.
no it doesn't make you a bad mother it just means that your on a budget ( like many of the rest of us) you could try apple cider vinegar and garlic in their water for a week ( refresh per day) its cheap from the supermarket , but its an issue as to if it actually works ( people dispute this all the time) however in time it would be advisable to do it with the safeguard, to be sure.

 

[dawg53]

I agree with Stiggy. You need to worm your birds, all of them. Purchase Safeguard liquid goat wormer at your feed store. Use a syringe without a needle to administer it. Dosage to each chicken is 1/2cc given orally undiluted. Repeat dosing again in 10 days. Vinegar and garlic wont eliminate worms.
You should remove the lice eggs stuck to feather shafts. Others have used coconut oil to remove them with success. Good job dusting them.

 

[clucknscratchn]

Cynthia died this morning

she had something like a siezure and then was gone. Would that still coincide with worms? Whether it is or isn't I think I will get some safeguard and keep the rest of my girls healthy. thanks everyone.

 

[BirdsOfAnarchy]

Sorry you lost your girl

 

[Stiggy]

sorry to hear that you lost your girl