mites? 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?

thanks in advance

 

[BlackBart]

Yes make sure you do her vent well the mites will run for cover there. Careful around her eyes and nose. Apply the DE against the lay of the feathers and massage it in well. Don't forget her legs and her living quarters. Make sure to get DE in all the cracks and cranies.
You probably will have to repeat it several times maybe every couple of days if she is really badly infested.

 

[trilyn]

Actually, you can even make a whitewash with the de. One cup of de to 1/2 gallon of water. Stir it well and it goes on like paint. This works esp. well for getting into nooks and crannies. Good luck with your chicken.

 

[lisadchicken]

You guys are great, so she can be treated with this? Luckily she was not with the general populus. I use the DE in the coop every saturday when I stir their litter as a preventative but I wasnt sure if it woudl CURE her. She is NOT doing well at all. wobbly etc.

 

[BlackBart]

Well, mites feed on blood, if she is really infested, she might be anemic.
I would keep her on her own and feed her really well, pamper her until she feels better.

The white wash DE is a fantastic idea for the coop, thx

 

[trilyn]

You're very welcome-I found it on this awesome thread, courtesy of Dawn419:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1560-Food_Grade_DE

There are tons of great ideas for DE on here.

 

[lisadchicken]

Quote:
When i say infested, I mean INFESTED. We thought she had some sort of brain injury. I even thought she might have Marek's disease she was so wobbly. I also noticed she was picking at herself so we looked at her feathers and its a freaking zoo in there ;( poor thing. There is blood spotting all over her feathers and she is not well at all. Gave her some sugar water and egg yolk. I hope she recovers.

I just went out and dusted coop again in fear that i carried mites out there.

 

[BlackBart]

How is the chicken?

 

[bearz]

I was just wondering...could you take her outside and hose her off with warm water or give her a bath just to get the majority of the mites off of her while you treat her?

 

[threehorses]

Honestly, in a case this bad I'd just treat her with chemical stuff first. Mites can take a bird down fast and kill them. These are blood taking mites, apparently. You can use sevin in the bedding and on her, or adams flea mist from the petstore. You'll want to treat and then retreat to kill in 10 days. THEN after that, start using DE. But you only use a little. there have been a lot of cases lately of people using it profusely and having birds with respiratory problems as a result.

Personally, if I see this many mites and it makes a bird anemic like yours is, I use drop-on ivermectin in combination with the sevin in the bedding, then the DE as prevention.

As for what causes it, probably nesting birds brought the mites in.

In the mean time, please make sure she gets super nutrition in. Boiled egg yolks fed as a treat, and pedialyte or organic apple cider vinegar in the water (1 teaspoon per 1/2 gallon) will help.