lice, mites or??

[artsyrobin]

here are some pics from one of my hens, I gave her a bath and found this near her vent, no other signs of lice on her head or shoulders

she has a bare back i thought from the roo, but now i'm not sure

 

[chicmom]

There are "Feather Mites" that like to dine on feathers, so I'm thinking that's what you've got. Maybe those are the eggs....You might need to treat the whole flock with Seven Dust, then you treat them again around 10-14 days later.....(very important to read the instructions, because when you treat them the second time, it kills the hatchlings before they can lay more eggs.....)

Also, you will want to clean out your chicken coop entirely, and put seven dust EVERYWHERE in there too.....such a job....sorry to hear that.....but it can be fixed.

Good luck!
Sharon

 

[ranchhand]

Oh dear Robin, those are ugly! 5% Sevin Dust and someone had a really good idea- use one of those Parmesan Cheese bottle for dusting.

 

[Big Red's Mom]

Okay I have had these. The Main thing is to clean everything. I mean everything. All shavings etc must come out. Cleans (bleach) everything. Let air dry and then seven dust. Fresh shavings will help too. The bad thing is they will hatch and you have to do it all over again in about 10-14 days. Good luck. I really hate little bugs.

 

[artsyrobin]

ok, for now pippen is in the bathroom, should i cut her feathers that have these? on the dusting, is there anything i can spray in the coop before putting in shavings etc? i will be going out and get the seven, i have washing borax, supposed to keep ants away, would it be safe for the chickens? or dust everything?

 

[iluvmichickens]

I'm so happy you posted this with pictures and all! I just got 8 chickens and I think everyone of them have this. Ugh! I've heard about DE, I wonder if that would help our problem?

 

[MotherJean]

Sorry....food grade DE is useful as a preventative, but not for treating an infestation. You have to resort to the chemical pesticides. Here's a link to an authority on poultry parasites that you should find informative http://ucanr.org/freepubs/docs/8162.pdf

BTW, just so you know, the horticultural DE is different than the food grade we use with our chickens. It contains a large quantity of silica (glass sand) in addition to the ground diatoms. It is effective as a pesticide, but risky to use directly on your chickens or as a dust for the poultry house.

 

[iluvmichickens]

I'm so happy you posted this with pictures and all! I just got 8 chickens and I think everyone of them have this. Ugh! I've heard about DE, I wonder if that would help our problem?

 

[MotherJean]

Thought I'd also tip you off on Ivermectin pour-on. Personally, I've never used it, but I know some BYC'ers do. I believe they apply 1/4 cc. of the liquid to the skin on the back of the neck for adults (like you apply Advantage drops on a dog to treat fleas). I would think that the Ivermectin would eliminate the need to treat your birds a second time. If that interests you, do a search on "ivermectin lice" and I'm sure you'll find numerous posts on the topic.

 

[artsyrobin]

i'll look into that too, soon as it dries out i'll be able to do the coop- we got drenched yesterday and the coop leaks...

was wondering if i put the seven in a dusting bin for them if that would work, they could really get it into their feathers, mix it with the sand in the bin??