Hello all, I'm looking for some help with a production red. I bought two birds, ready to lay through a private sale last year. I had to add to my flock after several of the BR's I had raised from day olds were killed by a raccoon. In hindsight, I should have quarantined them, checked them over etc but I was an uneducated newbie who didn't know any better! The man I bought them from had free ranging production reds and emden geese all over his yard. They are great layers, but one of them started looking mangy over the winter. I thought perhaps she was molting but it got worse and she twitches her head all the time like something is bothering her. So I checked this forum from top to bottom, checked her feathers and realized she had lice. I could tell by the clumps of nits at the base of the feathers. Since then I have bathed her, dusted her and her four coopmates often, cleaned bedding, dusted the nesting boxes, the floor under the shavings before I put clean stuff back in etc etc. But despite my efforts, she looks worse! Under her body on her breast, around her vent and a now a spot on her neck is bald and red, irritated looking. I keep threatening to cull her but she lays an egg almost every day and she's eating and drinking, comb is nice and red, she free ranges each afternoon when I get home. She seems fine, other than the bald spots and the twitching.
I live in Ontario Canada and we cannot buy Sevin dust anymore up here for garden use. But we can buy poultry/livestock powder which is 5% carbaryl. The same stuff in Sevin. I have also (just last weekend) bought a gallon of 1.0% permethrin for cattle. My plan was to dilute it to 0.1% (based on info on this form) and spray them all down. I did that, but the permethrin I bought was quite oily and didn't dilute well. I had to keep shaking the sprayer I was using other wise the permethrin floated to the top of the bottle and all I was spraying was water. Still, I think I gave them a fairly good drenching.
Do you think something else is going on? I don't see any worms in their poop but I've read worms have to be pretty bad before you see any visual evidence. I'd like to deworm them all but can't find the products you all talk about on here. Darn environmental laws up here have me pretty frustrated! I've attached some pics of my sad looking hen. Any advice would be much appreciated!
First a shot of her sad tail as she ducked behind the waterer! And 2nd is her bald neck.
I live in Ontario Canada and we cannot buy Sevin dust anymore up here for garden use. But we can buy poultry/livestock powder which is 5% carbaryl. The same stuff in Sevin. I have also (just last weekend) bought a gallon of 1.0% permethrin for cattle. My plan was to dilute it to 0.1% (based on info on this form) and spray them all down. I did that, but the permethrin I bought was quite oily and didn't dilute well. I had to keep shaking the sprayer I was using other wise the permethrin floated to the top of the bottle and all I was spraying was water. Still, I think I gave them a fairly good drenching.
Do you think something else is going on? I don't see any worms in their poop but I've read worms have to be pretty bad before you see any visual evidence. I'd like to deworm them all but can't find the products you all talk about on here. Darn environmental laws up here have me pretty frustrated! I've attached some pics of my sad looking hen. Any advice would be much appreciated!
First a shot of her sad tail as she ducked behind the waterer! And 2nd is her bald neck.
