Learn from my oversight!

[Adrienne-m]

Hey all! Lots of you have read and responded to my recent posts-sudden chicken death (very skinny and malnourished)
And extreme feather pecking....after all changes/upgrades I have made that should fix behavior issues, I thought today maybe there was a medical issue even though they all seemed ok? Turns out I was right. Went out tonight to inspect and 6 of my 13 were covered in mites and egg sacs by their cloacas. Makes total sense why the feather picking seemed to happen at night. So my night was spent giving soapy baths and dusting with DE. Luckily today I sprayed for mites wondering if it might be the problem. Tomorrow I will clean the coop again and sprinkle DE in the corners and check the booties again. Just wanted to pass on my findings in case it helps anyone else!!!

 

[nuthatched]

De won't do much, you might want to get some actual mite dust.

 

[Adrienne-m]

Ok! I literally picked off every egg sack and larvae/mite I could find on their booties so om hopeful maybe I got most. I’ll get that dust though. Thanks!

 

[Adrienne-m]

Oooh boy...now that I’ve researched a bit more I believe it’s lice. Does that change the dust suggestion?

 

[Adrienne-m]

This looks just like what I picked off. There were bunches of larvae looking things crawling around their vents.

 

[dawg53]

Inspect all your birds for lice. Coconut oil will remove the lice eggs from feather shafts. Dont waste time and money with DE. Use Permethrin dust to dust all your birds and inside the coop. Repeat dusting in 10 days on your birds and in the coop.
View attachment 2496374

 

[CluckerFamily]

Permethrin will work best for you.

 

[Adrienne-m]

Inspect all your birds for lice. Coconut oil will remove the lice eggs from feather shafts. Dont waste time and money with DE. Use Permethrin dust to dust all your birds and inside the coop. Repeat dusting in 10 days on your birds and in the coop.
View attachment 2496374

I’ll get permethrin. Is it safe to put the chickens in with it if I cover with shavings? I bathed all that had the lice last night, removed every egg sack I could find and dusted all chickens with DE because it’s all I had

 

[BGcoop]

Yes it’s safe, you need to dust the actual birds with it too. There should be directions on how to do this on the package. Be careful to not breathe the stuff in yourself though and if you have cats do not let them in contact with it as it is very toxic to them.

 

[Eggcessive]

Lice lay eggs that hatch every 10 days. Permethrin spray or dust should be used at 10 day intervals to get all of the newly hatched lice before they reproduce. Permethrin 10 concentrate which is avaliable for as little as $8 for a pint at Tractor Supply and other feed stores, or online. It is mixed with water according to the inside label. Dust may be better for cold weather, but the spray is handy to treat the coop once the bedding is removed far away. Spinosad, an ingredient of Elector PSP, is also very effective, and though more costly, may be used less often.