Mites/Lice?

[northernhen]

Hi there. I live in Ontario Canada and have had chickens before without any problems with mites or lice but seem to be having one now. I only have 4 hens but one in particular seems to be really affected.- the area around her tail feathers is totally bare and is red. One of the other ladies has a bare area around her vent and another looks like she's becoming affected too. We dusted the hens with Dominion Dusting Powder twice, have cleaned out the coop twice, dusted the floor before adding fresh bedding but it seems that the problems persists. We have had chipmunks and squirrels come into the coop to eat the feed. Not sure if they are the culprits. Have never had this problem before. The weather is getting cooler here and so I am concerned about bathing them. Any suggestions?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

How old are your girls? Could they be molting? This is the season for molts, and you are northern.

Lice or mite infestation will show egg nits or creepy crawlies if you shine a light at their vent area at night. Be sure to shine the light on the coop roosts and corners too.

Had to look it up, but your Dominion powder is our Sevin Dust, which is carbaryl.

Carbaryl is effective against lice and mites, but only if you treat, then treat again in 7 to 10 days, then treat again in another 7 to 10 days for heavy infestations.

You can't treat then wait 3 weeks to a month to treat again. You won't have killed the eggs so emerging nymphs would have become adults to lay new eggs between dustings.

And you did right to clean and dust the coop as well.

Be sure to get the dust to skin level at the vent and under wings.

For heavy infestations, I recommend the old fashioned "shake and bake" style of putting the bird in a plastic bag with dust (head out of course) and shaking the bag to thoroughly coat the bird. This also keeps you from wearing the dust.

I'll link a good lice/mite article so you can see if this is your problem or if we may be dealing with something else....for which we would need photos.

And don't negate this could be simple molting if the girls are over 8 months of age. Some hens do molt that first winter if they were born almost a year ago. Hens certainly molt at the beginning of their second laying season, at 18 months of age, give or take a few months and when the winter season hit.

LofMc

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/08/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification.html

 

[Lady of McCamley]

...and

 

[ChickNanny13]

Welcome to BYC, glad to have you. 2x Lady of McCamley