Mites infestation on 9 year old rooster.

[donnaboydjones]

This must be my season for bad things to be going on with my flock.
Henry, my rooster is 9 and I noticed he was stumbling or laying low to the ground on a few occasions. I assumed it was because of his age.( I have had three jaw surgeries in the past 17 months, so I have hired some HS kids to work with my husband in treating the flock every three months for parasites.)
I was feeling well enough one afternoon and mentioned to my husband that when Henry went into the coop for the evening I was going to check him out and determine if it was time for me to contact my best friend who just happens to be a veterinarian about putting Henry down.
When he went in that evening, I picked him up and was floored with the amount of mites that were all over him. They were coming out of his ears, and caused him to loose a toe, he was weak, he was underweight and my heart broke knowing he had been going through this.
(The boys all said that they had been treating Henry just as they had the other hens , but he still had them.) I brought him in the house and immediately started to wash him in the sink and my whole darn arm was covered because they were trying to get away from the soap/water.
I have been checking on him every day, and treating any wounds that the mites caused.
He still tries to be the main man to all his 30 something females even though he struggles. One moment he's walking and then the next he's stumbling.
I am to repeat his treatment tomorrow , but decided to check him today when I noticed that the hens where outside by theirselves while he was under the chicken coop-not normal for him-ever!
Once again he was ate up- I just did a treatment (all hens too and coop). I gave him some liquid iron because I know he's weak and noticed he hardly has anything in his crop- I wouldn't want to eat either if I were him. His comb has boo-boos on it and his poor feet are a mess.
I brought him this time into the shower and washed him, and washed him, and washed him until the bottle of aveeno for sensitive skin was gone and he was calm/relaxed and probably feeling free from bites.
I am planing on keeping him indoor in a kennel so I can give him tuna fish , yogurt and plenty of vitamins and probiotics.
Tomorrow I will repeat the treatment of the girls and instead of cleaning the coop am going to do the dehydrated lime white wash the inside of the whole coop- its 600sq foot , so thank god I have those boys to help me tomorrow.
My chickens are free range, and wild birds are plentiful....under the coop is dirt where the chickens like to hang out especially when they are hiding from Eagles and things.
Any one have any in put to help me 1) get Henry back to 100% and preventing this from happening to another one of my flock and 2) what does everyone else do to keep their flock, coops, pens, and outdoor areas free from darn mites?
First pictures are when he was over a year old and the last few are the pictures are recent.

 

[cleoandtheflock]

@Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock @casportpony @staceyj were helpful with recommendations when I needed to treat mites in my flock.

Also in the pictures it appears he may have scaly leg mites also.

I treated my flock naturally which I know most people say that won’t work and such but it worked amazingly!
We thoroughly cleaned the coop and pressure washed it and then I sprayed it with a homemade mite spray I made for coops and then I repeated in a week and I also sprayed the birds with a homemade mite spray I made.
And an especially weak bird who was the most infected I bathed her and sprayed her extra.

 

[donnaboydjones]

@Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock @casportpony @staceyj were helpful with recommendations when I needed to treat mites in my flock.

Also in the pictures it appears he may have scaly leg mites also.

I treated my flock naturally which I know most people say that won’t work and such but it worked amazingly!
We thoroughly cleaned the coop and pressure washed it and then I sprayed it with a homemade mite spray I made for coops and then I repeated in a week and I also sprayed the birds with a homemade mite spray I made.
And an especially weak bird who was the most infected I bathed her and sprayed her extra.

Hey there- YES, He does have scaly leg mites and is the reason he's has lost a toe and his talon toe is to the numb...=(

I recently just bought on amazon and will be using tomorrow ;
MitesBGone Backyard Chicken Nesting Herbs - Get Rid of Chicken Mites and Lice Naturally (8 pounds)
Sold by: Pampered Chicken Mama
$149.99,
BOVIDR LABORATO 617407594416 Nutri-Drench Poultry Solution 4 FL OZ, Multicolor
Sold by: Amazon.com Services, Inc
Return eligible through Jul 4, 2019
$10.00- I gave Henry his first dose today,
First Saturday Lime (20lb
Sold by: Jacobs Farms Product question? Ask Seller
$29.99,

Vetrx Poultry Aid, 2 fl.oz
Sold by: Woof! Woof!
Return eligible through Jul 3, 2019
$9.94,

Frontier Natural Products 392 Bulk Wormwood Herb (artemisia absinthium), Cut & Sifted – Organic, 1 Lbs.
Sold by: MaloLongo
$21.78
Condition: New,

Banixx for Pecking Sores, Bumble Foot, Fowl Pox, Raw Vent Area Infection, Chicken Leg/Foot Injuries
Sold by: Banixx Horse & Pet Care
Return eligible through Jul 3, 2019
$15.13
Condition: New,

Rooster Booster Vitamins and Electrolytes with Lactobacillus
Sold by: Amazon.com Services, Inc
Return eligible through Jul 3, 2019
$8.00
Condition: New
and I have been using this in treating the coop and hens/Henry
Elector Psp Premise Spray 8 oz
by Elanco

 

[donnaboydjones]

@Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock @casportpony @staceyj were helpful with recommendations when I needed to treat mites in my flock.

Also in the pictures it appears he may have scaly leg mites also.

I treated my flock naturally which I know most people say that won’t work and such but it worked amazingly!
We thoroughly cleaned the coop and pressure washed it and then I sprayed it with a homemade mite spray I made for coops and then I repeated in a week and I also sprayed the birds with a homemade mite spray I made.
And an especially weak bird who was the most infected I bathed her and sprayed her extra.

May I get the recipe of what you used on your coop and hen, please?

 

[Kiki]

I am not familiar with the Elector. Exactly how much are you mixing with water and spraying him with?


The other mite bedding you have is trash.

 

[Kiki]

I highly recommend permethrin to spray all of the birds with and the entire coop.

Martin's PERMETHRIN spray

• Kiki
• Mar 22, 2018
• 6
• flies lice mites permethrin

Permethrin Concentrate, Martin's on Left - Durvet on right

• Kiki
• Jul 28, 2018
• 2

 

[cleoandtheflock]

For the coop spray
Get a spray bottle that is clean and put in 2 cups of water, 1 cup of cooking oil (I used olive oil), and a tablespoon of safe dish soap and then spray the coop after you completely clean it.

For the bird spray
Get a clean 16 oz spray bottle and put in 20 cloves of peeled and smashed garlic, 45 drops of eucalyptus essential oil, 30 drops of lavender essential oil, 30 drops of peppermint, 2 tablespoons of white vinegar, a handful of lemon balm leaves and then fill 3/4 the way full with water then spray the birds under the wings, on the preening gland, around the vent, and near the keel is the most important places to focus is spraying. And repeat once the next week

 

[Wyorp Rock]

my rooster is 9 and I noticed he was stumbling or laying low to the ground on a few occasions. I assumed it was because of his age.( I have had three jaw surgeries in the past 17 months, so I have hired some HS kids to work with my husband in treating the flock every three months for parasites.)

I picked him up and was floored with the amount of mites that were all over him. They were coming out of his ears, and caused him to loose a toe, he was weak, he was underweight and my heart broke knowing he had been going through this.

Once again he was ate up- I just did a treatment

He does have scaly leg mites and is the reason he's has lost a toe and his talon toe is to the numb...=(

I'm sorry your rooster is not well.

In the photo, the hen next to him also has Scaly Leg Mites (SLM).

O.K. You have a couple of things going on here, I think.

You have Scaly Leg Mites and you have Mites on the body. This really is 2 separate issues.

SLM for the most part live under the scales of the legs. They cannot be treated with herbs, sprays, etc. imho. You will need to clean the legs, dry, then apply some type of oil - this smothers them. You can use vaseline, A+D ointment, coconut oil, Nu Stock, castor oil...you see a theme here, something thick and oily. Work your oil into and up under the scales.

For the body mites, since you saw these crawling all over him, are they lice or mites? See the link below to help i.d. them. I agree with @Texas Kiki use a permethrin based poultry dust or spray to treat the mites (lice) on the body. If you have the Elector PSP, that is supposed to be very effective on treating external parasites in poultry. (the ones you can see crawling on the body, not SLM)

All of your chickens need to be treated as well. If one has an infestation (your rooster does, he sleeps with the hens right, if he has them, they have them.

Your housing needs to be cleaned out, bedding bagged and thrown away or burned. Spray your housing with the Elector PSP or Permethrin. Don't forget roosting bars and nesting boxes.

You mention he has some balance issues. If you saw mites in his ears, those can cause infection. I would look in the ears to makes sure there's no pus. Hopefully, once you get him and the hens treated and things under control, this will help his balance.

I would give him extra protein along with the vitamins you posted. He may benefit from a little beef liver a few times a week as well.

Hope he gets better soon.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

 

[donnaboydjones]

I am not familiar with the Elector. Exactly how much are you mixing with water and spraying him with?


The other mite bedding you have is trash.

The directions on the bottle are as follows and is what I have been following.
Directions for use
For control of northern fowl mites (Ornithonyssus sylviarum) infesting poultry:
• Dilute 3 fl. oz. of product to 10 gallons of water.Apply no more than 1 gallon of coarse spray per 100 birds to ensure adequate coverage, directed toward the vent area.
• Spray birds in cages (layers) or on the floor (layers/breeders) with a coarse spray. Use a sprayer of appropriate design that is equipped to effectively apply the spray. Ensure adequate coverage of the vent area of the bird with a direct saturation spray for optimum efficacy. Re-application may occur every 14 days as needed.

As far as the other mite bedding I purchased; herbs/flower mixture- I have purchased out of desperation and other than smelling fantastic, I am sure you are correct in stating it's crap. No matter what I do I cannot get control of the mites that have also caused two of my hens to loose toes. I would buy a bag of Doritos at this point if I was sure it would work to keep this buggers off my flock. BTW- I have used 1% ivermectin in which they are still here. Should I be applying more to the flock?

I am not familiar with the Elector. Exactly how much are you mixing with water and spraying him with?


The other mite bedding you have is trash.

 

[donnaboydjones]

I highly recommend permethrin to spray all of the birds with and the entire coop.

Martin's PERMETHRIN spray

• Kiki
• Mar 22, 2018
• 6
• flies lice mites permethrin

Permethrin Concentrate, Martin's on Left - Durvet on right

• Kiki
• Jul 28, 2018
• 2

Thank you, I will try the Martin's brand as I have already tried the durvet brand, unless I am just not applying enough to the flock to make a difference.