MITES - Lots of MITES!!!!!!! Urgent!!

[ruthless]

Quote:
Yes severe lice or mite infestation untreated can weaken and even cause the death of your chickens.

 

[tenderkat]

Quote:
Yes severe lice or mite infestation untreated can weaken and even cause the death of your chickens.

I guess that makes sense, I can't imagine what that must feel like to have so many bugs crawling all over her!! I'm still a bit concerned about the recent diarrhea and the distended abdomen, but maybe that is asymptomatic of the infestation? She's still eating and her eyes are bright, so hopefully she will recover with treatment. I'm also trying to gather info on a worming regimen. I have been giving them WormGuard in their feed for the past couple of weeks, but I don't think it's been very effective. My husband just came home with a can of the Adams mist, which I plan on dousing the girls with in the morning. I will also be cleaning out the henhouse as well probably on Wednesday. Should I spray down all the roosts and boxes with the Adams as well?

 

[tenderkat]

So today I plan a full on assault against the evil critters infecting my birds!! But, I'm not sure what the best appraoch will be. I have six hens, and I'm sure that as soon as I grab a hold of one, the rest will quickly figure out what I'm up to. And they probably won't like it one bit!! I have picked up and held them numerous times, but I've never actually mama-handled them in the way I think I'll need to. Do I need to spray this stuff over every inch of their bodies, or focus primarily on their undersides and rear end? Oh my, will I need to grab them by the feet, hang them upside down and spray them? I can't imagine they'll tolerate that very well. I don;t want to injure them, but I do want to make sure the spray gets down to their skin. ANY TIPS?

I'll need to wait until probably Thursday before I can get the henhouse cleaned out, but I'm sure that will be okay. I'll pull out all the old shavings, and clean everything with a mild bleach solution, followed by more of the Adams on the roosts and in the boxes. I have been trying to do a deep litter method, but I think I'll put less shavings in this time, and clean it out more frequently. Hopefully this will be an improvement on my management efforts (or apparent lack there of.

I'm also going to be finally addressing a possible worm issue. I've been holding off far too long, thinking I could cure it with garlic and Wormguard. I think both of these are probably great management practices, but I don't think they've really been effective for an actual infestation. I mean no offense to anyone who swears by natural methods, as I believe in them myself. I am just thinking that I need to do something a bit stronger right now. So, I will try and track down some Wazine first. Does anyone know of anyplace I can order smaller amounts? Then, I am thinking that I can follow up 14 days later with the Eprinex, which I'm hoping will also address any residual lice still lingering. Does this sound okay?

Dear poor little Lily, I have no idea if any of this will help her. She's acting alert and bright-eyed, still eating, but her poor belly. It seems SO swollen!! I sure hope she gets over it! Is there anything I can do to help her? I've felt around, and I haven't come across anything that feels as if it might be an egg stuck inside of her, but I really don't know what I'm doing. She feel inside of her vent a bit? Should I give her anything for the swelling? Could the swelling be caused from the diarrhea and being so irritated by the lice? Could this be egg peritonitis, ascites, or something along those lines? Oh, I just hope she gets better!!

 

[EweSheep]

It could be the combination of everything going on with your hen. Lets hope for the BEST for her that she will recover. If she got clear fluid or yellow fluid out of her, it may be apparent that she may have been egg bound or have that awful egg peritonitis.....particuarly if she came from a hatchery or from hatchery stock, it may be the case and no cure except to spay her.

 

[tenderkat]

The diarrhea has been a greenish color with alot of white. I checked where she had been roosting just a minute ago, and their might be just a very small amount of liquidy yellow. But that's a big might. Her abdomen is still so distended right down between her legs, but she is walking, eager to get out into the day, and her taill was up just a bit more just now. Normally she would squat the second I came around, but there is none of that going on now. Is there something I should do for the swelling? Like an epsom salt flush or anything? I hope I won't need to try and 'drain' her!! You can spay a chicken?!

Thanks to everyone who has so kindly offered their advice!! I'll do my best to treat them and manage them better. And to any newbies that might be reading this, it is VERY IMPORTANT that you follow all the managment info given in books and on this website!! I know in my heart that I've been treating my girls good, and I care about them immensely. But my lackadaisical approach to their health and keeping up with all the necessary coop 'chores' has obviously done them an injustice. Bad Mommy!!! I feel so horrible!!

 

[EweSheep]

Well I would not call you a bad Mommy. We all have been through it a time or two when things get chaotic around us and we forgot about our bird's welfare. Then we kicked ourselves about it.

Best thing, you are doing something about it!

 

[peepinator]

I've just discovered lice on my chickens too...and I've got 2 day old baby chicks to boot & two more hens setting that will be hatching in a couple days. All mamas have lice. I am freakin' out. I have permethrin dust but what is the "Adams" that everyone is referring to? Is that flea and tick spray? Not sure what to do about my little baby chicks. I checked the rest of my flock as well and each one that I looked at has the lice and I think there might even be some mites. I saw two different things crawling on a couple of the hens. Does the "Adams" stuff that you used say that it treats lice and mites? or just lice? Thanks...I posted but no one has responded yet and I've just been reading all different posts about lice and mites but I'm confused as to what product I should use and if it's safe for my baby chicks. Help please

 

[tenderkat]

Peepinator-

I really do hope someone chimes in on your post, as I am obviously the wrong person to advise you. I too have spent the last couple of days in total freak out mode trying to figure out how best to approach my own chicken situation. I don't have any little peeps to worry about, but I do have six hens that are in obvious stages of 'unintentional' neglect. I can tell you what my bottle says of the Adams, and then I'll tell you what my game plan is.

The Adams Flea and Tick Mist came from Walmart in their pet department. I think it was around $7. It's main ingredient is Pyrethrin, and the bottle states that it kills fleas, ticks, AND lice. I have chosen this product over Sevin dust just because I feel that it might be easier for me to spray something on my girls, rather than try and dust them. Either way, I'm sure they will put up a fight. There are all kind of warnings on the label, and honestly I am choosing not to even read them. Desperate times require desperate measure, and my sole concern has come down to bringing my flock back to health And id the Adams doesn't do the trick, I will use the Sevin. Because of your chicks, though, you may need to take a bit more precaution. I will be spraying as much of this stuff on my girls as they will let me, by seperating their feathers to get as much down to the skin as possible. I will also be doing a THOROUGH cleaning of the henhouse, after which I will spray more of the Adams on whatever surfaces I can - such as the roosts, boxes, floor, whatever. While I'm doing this, I'll wear a dust mask. I will also be building them a dust box with DE added - this will help with maintenance after I treat them. I will also sprinkle around some DE in the henhouse when I put the new shavings in.

I have also ordered Wazine-17, because I'm sure my girls have worms, and I should have treated them months ago Today, I will try and track down some Ivermectin Pour On, and I will use this product to follow up with after 14 days from the Wazine. From my understanding, the piperazine in Ivermectin will not only take care of the worms, but will also kill any lingering/newly hatched lice remaining on my flock.

This has been a HUGE wakeup call for me. I have one girl, Lily, who is in really poor condition and I can only hope that it's not too late. My personal insistance on keeping things 'natural', has turned out to be very detrimental to my girls. As far as the ACV that was mentioned in your post as a preventative for lice and mites, I can personally tell you that it does not work. I have been adding ACV to my waterers for months, yet here I sit with a lice infestation. ACV IS good in many other ways though.

I really hope that everything works out with your little chicks and the rest of your flock. I think it's very good that you are addressing the issue and not taking a back seat to it. I'll watch your post to see how everything goes. There is so much to learn!!! Good luck!

 

[okieinalaska]

I just wanted to say that dusting really wasn't a big deal...they really didn't fuss much. The gals weren't too happy by the time I let them go but they don't hold grudges luckily.

 

[welasharon]

I bought baby silkies that had mites and lice. Itook seven dust, a pinch at a time and put it down in their feathers, on their heads, under their wings on the bottoms....the big ones I put their bodies in a pillowcase and fluffed the dust around and it took care of the problem. Bugs literally fell off dead as I dusted. Very satisfying. Then you treat again in 10 days. The big birds I put ivomec pour on on them instead of dusting. Just lazy on my part. But you need to clean the areas and dust.
sharon