Lonely chicken...and mites!

[LizH]

We recently lost our second-to-last chicken to what I believe are mites. In all my years having chickens, I've never had to deal with them, so I didn't realize what was going on until it was too late. I thought she was molting, but one day I saw her comb was pale. Went out and got permethrin powder and new bedding and when I got back, she was already gone.

Our last chicken seemed fine and I was planning on getting her 2 new friends when she started showing signs of mites as well (losing feathers, roosting in the nesting box, not going in the run). I retreated by removing all bedding and dusting EVERY surface with permethrin powder (except her because she won't let me near her and I don't want to stress her out). I've been feeding her eggs and sprouts and she has regained strength (back on the roost), but she is still losing some feathers. I'm wondering if it's possible that the stress of being alone is causing the extended feather loss, if I should go ahead and get her some coopmates or if I need to wait until she is completely back to normal?

 

[JaeG]

I'd wait until you know she is mite free. It will be stressful for all making introductions which could make everyone more susceptible to falling prey to mites if they haven't been sufficiently eliminated. Believe me I know how frustrating mites can be!

Were they mites that stay on the chickens or was your coop crawling with them?

It's easier to handle chickens after dark when they are sleepy if you do want to check your girl over. Take a torch and see if you can spot any critters. Red coop mites like to hide under the roost bars so I regularly run my hand under there to check none have moved in again.

Ensure your hen has somewhere she can dustbathe and you could give her a mirror for company for now.

Maybe up her protein to help with new feather growth and give her a vitamin mix to give her immune system a boost.

 

[EveCh]

She could be going through a molt. But I agree with JaeG, I would catch her at night and dust her with mite powder, paying good attention to under the wings, belly and legs. I would offer her a cat pan or something with sand or DE to bath in. I would give her a mirror for company until you make sure you have nothing else going on. I would get a vit mix that goes in the water (Bounce etc.). Sounds like her diet is good though. I would give it a couple weeks before I green-lit some new additions though. Good luck.

 

[LizH]

Thank you so much for the advice! I figured better safe than sorry, but I feel so bad for her being all alone. Never heard of the mirror idea, though, and I think I'll try that. Should I just lean it against the wall? Hang it at chicken level? As for the mites, I've actually not seen any actual bugs. I didn't see any while cleaning and treating and I'm really squeamish when it comes to dead things (pets or not), so I didn't check our dead girl over. I basically just did a lot of googling and eliminated everything else. I feel confident that's what it is, though, since she improved a lot once I dusted all the surfaces and I haven't noticed any odd poops that might indicate a parasite or infection. Plus, I've seen wild birds in her run, which I am going to try and prevent in the future.

I'm going to try to dust her tonight with the permethrin with my husband's help and I'll get her a dust bath going too. I'm starting to hear more negative things about DE and was thinking about trying wood ash. Have either of you had any experience with that? Can I just scoop some up from our fire pit? Also, if I have the permethrin powder on the floor of the coop, is it safe to spread her food on it?

 

[JaeG]

I can't get permethrin powder here so I can't advise you there, but plain old dirt is fine for dusting in. Lots of people use Peat Moss. You could add a bit of elemental sulphur (here it's called Flowers of Sulphur) like you'd get at a feed store. Parasites can't process it but it's harmless to your birds (though I wouldn't over-do it as anything too dusty in excess can cause respiratory problems). Or a little wood ash, but again, don't go overboard.

I found DE did nothing when I had a bad infestation of red mites. I found thousands crawling around in the deep DE bed I had in the nestboxes under the straw. They'll move away if you dust with it but I didn't see any evidence of it killing them and it certainly wasn't controlling the numbers of mites in my nestboxes! It was the stuff of nightmares!

Do try and keep the wild birds out. They can carry lice, mites, and internal parasites so the less contact your girl has with them the better. Rats can carry mites too so ensure they cannot access your coop and run either (that's where my infestation came from). My chickens have also had lice when we had sparrows squeezing in tiny gaps where our first run didn't quite sit flat on the ground. They are tenacious little things!

 

[naf_appaz]

I had some mite problems once and started using the spray we use for our horse that keeps flys off...it has permethrin as key ingredient and have not had problems since. the coop is a tractor type that I move once a week and I lightly spray it down every move. Also provide a dust bath with mostly sand and a cup of DE. So far no mo mites!

 

[LizH]

So, we attempted to catch her last night, but I think maybe she wasn't sleepy enough, because she freaked! Could have also been that my husband shined the flashlight at her and woke her up...trying again tonight in a more subtle way I did get her a catbox with some dirt and wood ash and this morning there was dirt all around it, so I do believe she used it! Thank you for that. I feel bad I didn't get her/them that earlier. My husband is getting a mirror today for hanging, so hopefully her spirits and immune system get boosted!

Once I get this all under control and add more chickens, I'm wanting to maintain a mite-free chicken home with more natural, less chemical methods. I've read some things about garlic juice, herbs, etc. Has anyone had any success with natural methods. JaeG, what do you do in NZ since you can't get permethrin?

 

[JaeG]

I paint the inside of my coop with neem oil diluted 50% in warm water. I tried all the available 'cures' here (not a huge range) and nothing was working for me. So I did some research (after battling for 6 weeks, getting bitten myself - so itchy!) and tried the neem. My infestation was bad but I only had to do it once. I kept a close eye on the coop for signs they were coming back (I run a few fingers under the roosts and look for squished bugs/blood streaks) and a few months later I found evidence so painted it again. I've also used sulphur powder to dust every crack and crevice. The reinfestation coincided with rats breaking into the run. They've been trying to chew through the hardware cloth on my bantam run recently too! We have huge rats here with nothing to eat them. We've trapped a few with the live capture trap because they are too big for the other traps on the market here.

 

[LizH]

That is the stuff of nightmares! Tiny little mice creep me out. I don't know what I'd do with giant rats chewing into my chicken run. I think I may try the neem oil in the future as I plan on using it on my fruit trees. Thanks!

 

[speckledhen]

One thing you should know. Mites/lice are more likely to find a home on a bird who is already ailing, injured or elderly and does not dustbathe regularly (or at all like two of my 10 yr old crippled hens). You may think mites are the main issue when they may only be a symptom of an ill bird. A dying bird will be prone to mites.

I just had my first bout of mites after a dozen years of chicken keeping, due to those old hens I mentioned (or I think that's where it started) and did a complete cleanout of our 20x24 barn, which has 7 pens of different groups of birds. I've used DE for a dozen years and they all have excellent dustbathing dirt here, which they use to full advantage, but they still got those teensy weensy mites you can barely see without a magnifying glass. And I treated all 40 birds one at a time as I did their pens. Not fun!
But, to be thorough, you have to remove all the bedding, spray all cracks and crevices and nestboxes for the pests-I use Orange Guard, based on orange peels, safe for birds-then I sprinkled a mix of permethrin and DE all over the floors and in the nests and put fresh pine shavings. oh, my aching back! But, in a week you must dust the birds again to get any mites that hatch after the first dusting.
Here is a video I did about my fun time: