losing feather instead of growing them

[1234five]

This chicken is loosing feathers instead of growing them and i have no experience with chickens help me out here. The cage was a shithole literally they were sleeping on crap, i fixed that today when my sister told me as i was not paying attention when i feed them to that. Also when they grow older they will live outside with other rooster and hens, cant let them out yet since they will die to predators. Anyway here are the pictures




Right now he is wet because it rained with wind, for now i put a sweater in a part of the cage so they can take cover but i think plastic will be the best solution. Im a bit worried that the others will bite him , i have heard stories that chicken bite others without feathers and they could cause a perforation, is that true?, should i put him in another cage? would rather not tho since when its time to put them outside i want them to stick together. Was the floor with crap the cause of this? How can i help him get his feathers back, im feeding with vitamin food if that matters

 

[azygous]

If they were living in filthy conditions, they may very well be loaded inside and out with parasites. I'm talking about worms and mites and lice, which would all affect the feathers and cause such an appearance.

Look closely around the vent very early in the morning. You may see the crawly things. You should get a poultry dust with promethium. Ask your feed store about an all purpose wormer.

 

[lazy gardener]

Putting a sweater in the cage for them to sleep on is not the answer. They need shelter from the rain, and excessive sun. They need to be able to get out of excessive heat. If it's too warm for you, it's too warm for them. They need some sort of litter or bedding on the floor of their cage: hay, straw, shavings. It needs to be a decent layer, and changed regularly so they are not laying in their own filth. They need a roost.

 

[1234five]

So i just got something called inumec or ivermectin according to the cashier. He gave me 0.1 ml of it in a needle. Cant i just drop the liquud on top of the skin?

 

[azygous]

That med is for worms. It needs to get inside the chicken to do its job. The dusting powder will be for mites and lice, which suck blood from the skin.

Two different kinds of parasites, one internal and one external, so you need two different kinds of treatment.

 

[appps]

Yes, do not inject it. Normally when they give you a syringe it's just a little plastic one like they use to give little kids their medicine, not an actual point needle!

It's very important that you get the dosage correct because an overdose on a chick that young could be very very bad. It's quite a tiny dose, I remember with my birds it was literally a couple of drops on a full grown bird, yours is very small. I can't remember the exact dose so you will need to do a search on here for ivermectin dosage rates for chickens.

Edited to add, found this for you. "Okay... did some research and the instructions say 1ml per 22 pounds (10kg), so you would probably want to follow those instructions and give it at .1ml per 2.2 pounds (1kg). Again, check my math!

-Kathy"

That would make it .01ml per 100g (3.5oz)

Yes you can just put it on the skin at the back of their necks. This is what our vet told us to do when she gave it to us to treat mites and it worked really well clearing up the mites within a couple of days. You will need to treat all your birds if you think that one has mites because if one does then all the ones living with it will as well, maybe just not as bad yet.

You will also need to treat/clean the area they live in. There is no point treating the birds then putting them back where they can re-catch the mites. There is a dog wash called fidos medicated dog shampoo. Vet also told us to mix it up like the bottle says then wash their house and spray the house with that. Extra attention to any timber areas.

By the time your birds hit that age cleaning their brooder becomes an almost daily job you just have to keep on top of. One reason everyone is always so excited when they finally go outside into a proper run

I would also do a good check of your existing birds because you may have transferred them to the chicks from them or to them from the chicks when you have gone from one area to the other. if you have to treat your adult birds you can't eat the eggs for two week after treating.

 

[1234five]

Appps very informative, thanks you dudes