listless hen!

[megan856]

We discovered mites amongst our flock today. I washed several chickens, 2 roosters and a3 hens. The one that had it the worst is now limp in my arms! i don't know what to do. please help!

 

[rosemarysugar]

For chickens that have mites
Tie bouquets of wormwood to the roosts, make sachets for your nesting boxes or hang cuttings in your coop as an ongoing mite repellent. To treat the chickens themselves, spray them with a garlic juice mixture. This treatment has been found by poultry scientists in the UK to have a 100% kill rate over 24 hours.

 

[micstrachan]

She is probably weak from the mites and traumatized from the bath. Did the bath have something to treat the mites? I would keep her in a warm, calm, dimly lit (or dark) spot inside so she can rest. Do you have poultry vitamins? Straight nutridrench might give her a boost. Will she drink and eat on her own? You might be able to entice her to eat by wetting her feed with warm water.
If you did not treat the mites, that will have to happen sooner than later.
Good luck with her and please keep us posted.
I have read that mites can overtake a hen who is weak for another reason, so once she’s past the mite trauma, you may need to examine her for other issues.

 

[megan856]

She passed over night. She seemed fine yesterday. When my daughter was holding her she noticed tan bugs swarming all over her shirt. Obviously from the chicken. When I checked her out there were 2 hard Sacks by her vent with swarms of bugs! It was really gross and I felt terriable that I hadn’t noticed! I took the hard things off and washed her. She was fine. I was cleaning out their coop and came around the corner to find her lying still on the ground. I took her in, wrapped her and warmed her with the hairdryer. A ton of feathers came out which was weird. Do you think there was some other disease going on or was this from a heavy bug infestation?

 

[rosemarysugar]

I'd say she was overtaken by the mites. That can weaken all body systems. So sorry.

 

[rebrascora]

I'm so sorry you lost your chicken.
The tan coloured bugs are lice and they will not kill her but are usually an indication that a bird has been sick for a while and not looking after herself by preening and dust bathing. They are more of an irritant than anything else, whereas mites suck their blood, which obviously creates more serious health issues. Mites live and breed in the crevices of the coop and crawl onto the chickens at night to feed.
Chickens will hide illness until they are too weak to do so, hence you not noticing anything amiss sooner.
How old are your birds and how many do you have with the two roosters? Do they have access to a dust bathing area as that will help them to keep these pests at a manageable level themselves. To treat an outbreak, people usually use a permethrin based spray or powder. I appreciate that a previous poster has suggested garlic juice and I would be interested in the scientific evidence to back that up. Not saying it won't work but I am wary of claims of anything working 100%.
My feeling is that there is some ailment or disease that has caused the death. Getting a necropsy done or even conducting an informal one yourself can be surprisingly informative. Some of us take photos of out post mortem exams and share them and discuss possible cause of death. It is surprising how often you can pinpoint a serious issue even without medical training. I accept it is not something everyone can get their head around though.
I wish you well with the rest of your flock.

 

[megan856]

I'm so sorry you lost your chicken.
The tan coloured bugs are lice and they will not kill her but are usually an indication that a bird has been sick for a while and not looking after herself by preening and dust bathing. They are more of an irritant than anything else, whereas mites suck their blood, which obviously creates more serious health issues. Mites live and breed in the crevices of the coop and crawl onto the chickens at night to feed.
Chickens will hide illness until they are too weak to do so, hence you not noticing anything amiss sooner.
How old are your birds and how many do you have with the two roosters? Do they have access to a dust bathing area as that will help them to keep these pests at a manageable level themselves. To treat an outbreak, people usually use a permethrin based spray or powder. I appreciate that a previous poster has suggested garlic juice and I would be interested in the scientific evidence to back that up. Not saying it won't work but I am wary of claims of anything working 100%.
My feeling is that there is some ailment or disease that has caused the death. Getting a necropsy done or even conducting an informal one yourself can be surprisingly informative. Some of us take photos of out post mortem exams and share them and discuss possible cause of death. It is surprising how often you can pinpoint a serious issue even without medical training. I accept it is not something everyone can get their head around though.
I wish you well with the rest of your flock.

 

[megan856]

We have two silky roosters (Will be looking to rehome one soon)with one silky hen and three other regular size hens. Two are Wyandots and one is an australorp. Their coop is sand and there are plenty of areas that they have scratched to dust bathe in our back yard where they free range. The Hen that passed was only about a year and a half. We got her in December for my daughter for Christmas and the woman said she was about 1. She came along with the silky hen. I found a few bugs on her as well as the silky roosters but nothing to speak of on the three larger hens. Possibly that could have something to do with the texture of their feathers? I took all of the bedding out of the coop, vacuumed it, laid a heavy layer of DE and topped it with hay. I also gave them a large box filled with DE to dust bathe in. I hope this is good enough. We have had chickens were 2 1/2 years and this is our first bug problem.