Mite treatments

[matthewschickens]

Hey BYC!

If anyone remembers me, I miss talking to you all!

I have a chicken who recently broke her leg, and through consulting a local vet there is nothing I can do about her leg except for let her rest.

My problem is that today when I was checking on her I saw some little bugs on her comb, a lot of them. And I am pretty sure they are mites and was wondering what the best treatment (and most cost efficient) for her.

Please note that, as her leg is broken, she is not moving around so, except for changing her bedding, she is in the same environment so that the mites can get on her without any struggle... which makes it a little harder.

Also, should I worry about carrying them to the rest of the flock? And she is near some bantams, should I move them to another pen farther away?

Thank you all!

Matthew

 

[Lacy Blues]

I'd say mites Matthew. If they're crawling all over her head, she likely has them everywhere else too. But with a broken leg, you can't really give her a bath. Is she outside? Can you splint her leg so it will heal well?

Ivermectin, pour on wormer for cattle works really well against mites and their eggs. Of course you don't want to pour it on your chicken. I put mine in a little spray bottle that fits in my hand and when my birds get mites, I try to spray just the feathers with eggs stuck on them, in so doing, you generally get plenty on their skin. However, you don't want to do her whole body. I don't generally use poultry dust but if she's infested and you can't bathe her, that's what I would try.

The Ivermectin works well as a preventative as well. When I go through my birds to check for mites, I'll give them one little spray below their vent and one above. This generally takes care of any hitch hikers and they leave my birds alone.

 

[dawg53]

Keep in mind that ivermectin's primary purpose is a wormer. A very thin coating of vaseline will smother the mites on the comb/wattles. Dust your bird with sevin dust. Reapply vaseline as needed, redust your hen again in 10 days. Consider dusting the inside of the coop as well, nests included. Visually inspect your other birds for lice/mites as well, especially around the vent and base of tail, treat accordingly.