Mites and deep litter system

[MiddleYard Chickens]

Have a couple chickens missing feathers (neck and butt areas) while the other two chickens aren't missing any. I'm thinking it's unlikely to be feather moulting because it's currently Summer in the southern hemisphere so I was wondering if it could be mites or lice. Egg production has also gone down but it could just be that the ISA browns are getting older as they're almost 2 years.
I'm wondering if it could be mites, in which case I'm not sure what the best way to treat them is as they're currently using a deep liter system and diatomaceous earth doesn't seem friendly to it. Should I separate the chickens with feather loss in a separate idea while treating them?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC

By "southern hemisphere" do you mean AU or ?

If you have photos of the hens in question, that may be helpful.

Look them over carefully for any evidence of bugs (lice/mites) on their body (around vent, under wings, lift and look under feathers, etc.). Go out at night while they are roosting and inspect them. Take a paper towel and run it around their roosting bars while you're at it, see if any bugs are on the paper or if it smears with a pink or red tinge (mites/blood).

Treat the birds with a Permethrin based poultry dust or spray if you can find it where you live. Spinosad (Elector PSP) is often used and quite effective as well.
Treat birds in 5-7 day intervals. Clean out the housing and treat it too.

Unfortunately, is seems DE is not an effective treatment for lice/mite infestations.

Molting can occur at different times of the year, so there's always that possibility. Feather loss can also be due to plucking/picking or ? This is why photos are so helpful, so we can get an idea of what you are seeing.

 

[MiddleYard Chickens]

Welcome To BYC

By "southern hemisphere" do you mean AU or ?

If you have photos of the hens in question, that may be helpful.

Look them over carefully for any evidence of bugs (lice/mites) on their body (around vent, under wings, lift and look under feathers, etc.). Go out at night while they are roosting and inspect them. Take a paper towel and run it around their roosting bars while you're at it, see if any bugs are on the paper or if it smears with a pink or red tinge (mites/blood).

Treat the birds with a Permethrin based poultry dust or spray if you can find it where you live. Spinosad (Elector PSP) is often used and quite effective as well.
Treat birds in 5-7 day intervals. Clean out the housing and treat it too.

Unfortunately, is seems DE is not an effective treatment for lice/mite infestations.

Molting can occur at different times of the year, so there's always that possibility. Feather loss can also be due to plucking/picking or ? This is why photos are so helpful, so we can get an idea of what you are seeing.

Thanks for the quick reply!
I've uploaded some photos.
https://ibb.co/9VjYjmJ
https://ibb.co/tKRNZFx

Yep, AU.

Went through their body, found a couple lice (I think?). They didn't smear with blood.

I'll try the poultry dust, thanks! So just compost the whole deep litter system, treat all of them with dust, and start the deep litter again afterwards?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thanks for the quick reply!
I've uploaded some photos.
https://ibb.co/9VjYjmJ
https://ibb.co/tKRNZFx

Yep, AU.

Went through their body, found a couple lice (I think?). They didn't smear with blood.

I'll try the poultry dust, thanks! So just compost the whole deep litter system, treat all of them with dust, and start the deep litter again afterwards?

Probably a combination of feather picking and mites.

If you have mites in the bedding, it may be better to burn it than compost it unless the compost is far far away from your chickens. Mites can live a long time off the bird.

 

[MiddleYard Chickens]

Thank you! We've done two rounds of the poultry dusting and it seems to be helping.

Now I'll need to figure out how to reduce the chances of it happening again.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you! We've done two rounds of the poultry dusting and it seems to be helping.

Now I'll need to figure out how to reduce the chances of it happening again.

Glad the dusting is helping.

To stay on top of mites/lice, check your birds frequently. For me, I also spray housing/nesting boxes, roosting areas a few times a year with a Permethrin based poultry spray. I buy the concentrate and just mix it up, wait for a nice dry day, then treat housing.