Mites and DE

[lisadchicken]

new to chickens, coop is new... new chicken covered in mites. In fact, so much that the chicken is acting strange, out of balance and unwell. I looked at her feathers and she is covered with dark little buggies and white clumps (eggs)
I have DE (food grade) on hand. Will this help her? Please help she is not doing well!

thanks in advance

 

[hen-thusiast]

If it's mites, try this link:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=194720

Good luck!

 

[lisadchicken]

Quote:
thanks

I am so itchy now

 

[fiddlefever]

Are you the one with the "drunken polish"?

We had that about a year ago with two polish hens. We took video and showed at least 10 different "chicken people" and none of them had ever seen anything like it. They didn't have any mites and to this day we have never found out what it was.

We ended up making sure they had plenty of of electrolites in their water and gave them antibiotics as was recommended by others. One died and the other survived but ended up giving it (not sure if hen or rooster) away since it was not getting along with the other hens.

I hope all works out for you!

 

[hen-thusiast]

Over in the emergencies section there is another person battling mites. I attached another link. Wish I could help more, I've just (luckily) haven't had to deal with mites.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=195736

 

[77horses]

I've heard that DE does kill mites and lice, worms, etc. It supposedly helps feathers grow back quicker because the mites cause them to lose feathers and once they lose the mites, their feathers will grow back.

We have DE but have only used it for worming...haven't had a chance to try it with mites. Here's a link to a site about DE:
http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/diatomaceous_earth_mites.html

This site will give you most ALL of the info you need about DE! It has been very helpful for us and I'm sure it will for you. Here's a quick pararaph that I copied from the website for you:

"OUR DE & MITE EXPERIENCE

EVERY Spring, we have one or two chickens that get mites, while the other forty something are just fine. As always, I procrastinate hunting the mite infested chickens down, until they have lost a good 1/3rd of their feathers. Then, I FINALLY chase down the nearly featherless chicken(s), turn them upside down and smother them in DE. I turn them right side up, and thoroughly apply the DE to their top feathers, neck, head, etc. and THEN, I muck the coops and clean out the nesting boxes. Then apply DE thoroughly to the coop grounds and in the nesting boxes...they NEVER need a second treatment and their feathers start to grow back immediately."

Good luck!

 

[lisadchicken]

Hey you all,

I wanted to update you on the little wobbly boo. We dusted her last night with Sevin, we dusted the coop and the other hens as well even though they are separated JUST to be sure. I let her sit in the sun yesterday while I dusted the cage she is staying in (its 5ft x 3ft). We then made her boiled egg yolk, which she wouldn't eat, sugar water and I tried to give her some poly vi sol. We then gave up on that and put it in her water instead lol.

Today she seems somewhat better! She has NO live bugs on her that I can find and yesterday they were crawling all over her. I read somewhere that said that if you could see 10 mites on the bird they had 300,000. We think there is a chance that she was mal-nutritioned as well as Anemic due to blood loss.

We arent sure she is going to make it but there are signs that she is on the mend. She is still wobbly but she seems to be able to walk or stretch or use one foot to scratch. On Saturday that would have knocked her right on her ass. She wasn't walking at all over the weekend, she was just laying down her balance was THAT off.

We trimmed her crest... just figured that yes, she is a polish but right now she needed to be able to see more than she needed to be beautiful.

Keep your fingers crossed. At this point we are probably not going to keep her. She is very delicate and we have brute chickens. We will fix her, love her, and find her a home where she can be pampered. SHe should live with other polish or live with silkies who are just as lovely and special as her.

I will keep you all updated all the time. I wanted to thank you all for your ideas and wisdom. We wouldn't be able to help her at all without all of your help!