Mite infestation

[MidwestIsBest]

I have a bad mite situation currently, first time dealing with this. I have elector PSP in route and treated with ivermectin 2 days ago and permethrin tonight, but she was still covered tonight when I applied the premethrin so ivermectin didn’t do a thing. She looks really bad. I’m syringing her water with vitamins and electrolytes but she is just gasping and looks awful. They are all over her. Seems to have came out of nowhere as I had no signs of an issue and then bam she went down. Obviously missed whatever signs there were but I need to know what to do now to try and save her. I hate seeing any animal suffer. I have her isolated in garage and know I’ll need to treat coop and flock but waiting for elector to arrive and do it all then for others who appear fine for now. Breaks my heart to see this poor one suffering though. They are all over her bad, not just the vent. I put the powder all over her as they just seemed to be everywhere. What else can I do to help her? It’s insanely cold here, supposed to be -20 wind chill next few days. Should I have a heat lamp on her or anything since she is sick, or no? what else can I do to try and save her?

 

[pennyJo1960]

Do a bottle of premethrin in a spay bottle If your worried she cannot do it take her inside in dog crate?

 

[MidwestIsBest]

Do a bottle of premethrin in a spay bottle If your worried she cannot do it take her inside in dog crate?

I did buy the liquid premethrin as well, used the powder tonight. I see them crawling all over my gloves after I treat her and immediately take a shower. If I bring her inside won’t those mites get in my house? She seriously looks near death. Do they ever go from gasping and looking awful and actually pull through? or am I just too late? Or can she be saved? Anything else I can do to try and help her in meantime? I thought I’d give this premethrin powder a chance to work first before adding more to the mix.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I have a bad mite situation currently, first time dealing with this. I have elector PSP in route and treated with ivermectin 2 days ago and permethrin tonight, but she was still covered tonight when I applied the premethrin so ivermectin didn’t do a thing. She looks really bad. I’m syringing her water with vitamins and electrolytes but she is just gasping and looks awful. They are all over her. Seems to have came out of nowhere as I had no signs of an issue and then bam she went down. Obviously missed whatever signs there were but I need to know what to do now to try and save her. I hate seeing any animal suffer. I have her isolated in garage and know I’ll need to treat coop and flock but waiting for elector to arrive and do it all then for others who appear fine for now. Breaks my heart to see this poor one suffering though. They are all over her bad, not just the vent. I put the powder all over her as they just seemed to be everywhere. What else can I do to help her? It’s insanely cold here, supposed to be -20 wind chill next few days. Should I have a heat lamp on her or anything since she is sick, or no? what else can I do to try and save her?

Are you treating mites or lice?
Do you have photos of your hen?
Any way you can get photos of the bugs?

If she's in a very bad way, I'd use permethrin dust. Put a little dust in a sock, then use it like a powder puff to release a fine amount of dust (tap onto the feathers) work the dust into and down to the skin.

I'd keep working on hydrating her. When was her last egg?
Is her crop emptying?
Often a hen that has a heavy infestation is suffering from an underlying illness. Hopefully she will make it.

 

[MidwestIsBest]

Are you treating mites or lice?
Do you have photos of your hen?
Any way you can get photos of the bugs?

If she's in a very bad way, I'd use permethrin dust. Put a little dust in a sock, then use it like a powder puff to release a fine amount of dust (tap onto the feathers) work the dust into and down to the skin.

I'd keep working on hydrating her. When was her last egg?
Is her crop emptying?
Often a hen that has a heavy infestation is suffering from an underlying illness. Hopefully she will make it.

They appear to be mites to me, tiny little black bugs. I actually just got done treating her and showered to get any bugs off me and am laying in bed now but can get pics tomorrow. i already put permethrin dust on her tonight so I’ll see if that helped in morning. I’m not sure when her last egg was as they all lay in the same nest. I found her lying on the ground in the coop on Saturday and realized something must be wrong so carried her to the garage and that’s when I saw the bugs. She acts like she can’t stand, one foot is curled in so that’s why I thought it might be a vitamin deficiency. She previously had a broken wing which I wrapped and she was doing great, and now suddenly she went down with this. Just when I thought we passed one hurdle and she was on the mend she is down again. She was eating good as of yesterday but don’t see her eating much today. Just gasping for air at slower intervals and color is looking worse. I’ve been syringing water with vitamins and electrolytes and added a dose of poultry cell tonight. Also applied ivermectin and bronco spray I had on hand from cows, on Saturday. Ordered elector psp which shipped today. So that’s where I am…

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How is she doing?

If it's a heavy mite infestation, then she may need some extra b vitamins. You can give her beef liver, 1/2 tablet B-Complex or some Poultry Cell (1cc per 3 pounds of weight).

Are you positive the wing was broken or could it have been something like paralysis?
Her not being able to stand along with the history of the wing, now gasping, I would wonder if she has Marek's disease. Just a mention there.
Mites by themselves can also bring about a rapid decline as well.

If you feel the mites are on you or if you did bring her inside, then you may want to read this post, especially the second part. Rosemary ended up having to deal with some bites and felt they were possibly in the house, she came up with a few tips to deal with that.
While mites that affect poultry can't live/thrive on humans, they can still bite and cause irritation for a short period of time.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mites-in-the-coop-and-house.1546417/post-26109086

 

[David61]

martins permethrin 13.3 . https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/control-solutions-permethrin-133-32-oz
1.5oz per gallon, spray everything. i mean everything and every chicken. Spray every two two weeks for a few months then every month. I change the nest box and rake the floor of the coop/indoor run (6x14) once a month.
I dip/bathe my chickens the first hot spring day. I mix permethrin, medicated tail and mane in salt water. after they dry off some i oil their feet and comb with coconut oil. Happy chicken lay big eggs.

 

[MidwestIsBest]

Hi there. Thanks for following up. She had passed away when I went to check on her this morning so unfortunately my attempts failed. I had given her the b vitamins and poultry cell, but it didn’t help unfortunately. I am not positive her wing was broken but it was suddenly dragging a month or so ago, so I assumed she had gotten grabbed by something and escaped as they are all free range, but she got around just fine other than that. I eventually wrapped it up and she did really well with it. Had actually just removed the wrap after it being on there for 3 weeks and it was a few days later I found her laying in the coop, carried her to garage to see what was going on, and that’s when I saw the mites. That was on Saturday. Gave her ivermectin that day, and applied bronco spray which had permethrin in it, that I had on hand for our cows. She was eating well. Sunday I started to syringe her water and vitamins but she started the labored breathing and the mites were still bad. Monday I applied the permethrin dust bath, gave her poultry cell and continued to syringe water and vitamins but she was no longer eating and her color was bad. And then this morning she was dead. I do want to learn from this so I can recognize the signs sooner next time. Does any of that sound like Marek’s? I’ve never dealt with that either. The other 5 hens seem good, no outward signs of mites on them but will still treat them and entire coop once the elector psp gets here tomorrow. I appreciate any and all advice so I can hopefully do better next time. Thanks for the help!

How is she doing?

If it's a heavy mite infestation, then she may need some extra b vitamins. You can give her beef liver, 1/2 tablet B-Complex or some Poultry Cell (1cc per 3 pounds of weight).

Are you positive the wing was broken or could it have been something like paralysis?
Her not being able to stand along with the history of the wing, now gasping, I would wonder if she has Marek's disease. Just a mention there.
Mites by themselves can also bring about a rapid decline as well.

If you feel the mites are on you or if you did bring her inside, then you may want to read this post, especially the second part. Rosemary ended up having to deal with some bites and felt they were possibly in the house, she came up with a few tips to deal with that.
While mites that affect poultry can't live/thrive on humans, they can still bite and cause irritation for a short period of time.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mites-in-the-coop-and-house.1546417/post-26109086

 

[raingarden]

Oh, sorry, that's a shame she didn't make.

after they dry off some i oil their feet and comb with coconut oil. Happy chicken lay big eggs.

I didn't know you could comb a chicken. What does your comb look like?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi there. Thanks for following up. She had passed away when I went to check on her this morning so unfortunately my attempts failed. I had given her the b vitamins and poultry cell, but it didn’t help unfortunately. I am not positive her wing was broken but it was suddenly dragging a month or so ago, so I assumed she had gotten grabbed by something and escaped as they are all free range, but she got around just fine other than that. I eventually wrapped it up and she did really well with it. Had actually just removed the wrap after it being on there for 3 weeks and it was a few days later I found her laying in the coop, carried her to garage to see what was going on, and that’s when I saw the mites. That was on Saturday. Gave her ivermectin that day, and applied bronco spray which had permethrin in it, that I had on hand for our cows. She was eating well. Sunday I started to syringe her water and vitamins but she started the labored breathing and the mites were still bad. Monday I applied the permethrin dust bath, gave her poultry cell and continued to syringe water and vitamins but she was no longer eating and her color was bad. And then this morning she was dead. I do want to learn from this so I can recognize the signs sooner next time. Does any of that sound like Marek’s? I’ve never dealt with that either. The other 5 hens seem good, no outward signs of mites on them but will still treat them and entire coop once the elector psp gets here tomorrow. I appreciate any and all advice so I can hopefully do better next time. Thanks for the help!

I'm sorry to hear she died

It's so very hard to tell if Marek's played a part or if she had something else going on. So many conditions can look similar.
Mites can cause anemia and weakness. She may have had reproductive problems(?)
A necropsy is the best way to find out more. State labs give the most information, but sometimes doing your own can reveal issues as well.

If you lose another in a short period of time, then consider going further with examination.

It's very good that your other hens do not appear to have any mites or lice. Do check them again and treat housing, especially where the other hen had been. Bugs can multiply in a hurry, even in winter/cold weather.