Mites? Not sure. Please help. (pix)

[Bella54330]

I noticed that my RIR Rose was losing feathers a couple of weeks ago, and chalked it up to a late molting, but she has also had poopy butt for a couple of days now too, so I picked her up to giver her a once over and found that her skin is red and irritated on her belly and her "molting" doesn't seem so much like molting now, but rather a parasite of some sort. There were a few days where she didn't want to forage as much as everyone else, but she's snapped out of that and is otherwise fine and laying almost daily. Can anyone tell me what this is?

I've also noticed that my 2 Wyandottes have strange things happening with the back end of their feathers as well.

I've attached pix of my RIR as well as one of my Wyandottes (the last pic). As you can see, the Wyandottes look as though the feathers are broken off and it's quite downy. I thought that this might be how the breed looks in Winter, but with what is happening with my RIR, I wonder if it's something more.

I also have a Red Star (ISA Brown) that seems perfectly fine and unscathed.


What is this, and what can I do? I keep my coop VERY clean, use DE, and can't think of how I could better care for my flock! Please advise?!

 

[Kelsie2290]

If you are not finding mite or egg masses on the chickens, have you checked the coop/roosts after dark for Red mites etc that don't live on the chickens? Do you have a rooster? Have you ever seen any of them feather picking? With the poopy butt, have their been any diet changes or have they been wormed?

 

[aart]

That first pic just look likes new feathers coming in, they have waxy sheaths around them that the birds will preen off in time.
That sheath material accounts for a lot of the dust birds generate.

 

[Bella54330]

Hi guys-

Thanks for your thoughts and opinions. I do not have a rooster, just 4 hens. I haven't checked at night for red mites, but I have checked the chickens and don't seem to see anything. I am going to clean and disinfect their coop tomorrow and give them all a good spray with something called CV-800 that I got from our local chicken store (the only one in Chicago). The girl that works there looked at my pics and said that it RIR looks like she has something called vent gleet and gave me a garlic solution to put into their water for the next couple weeks. She also told me clean, disinfect, and spray the hens with this medicine just in case. I'll be doing all of this in the lovely 8 degree weather tomorrow. I'll keep everyone posted on what happens, but in the meantime...

I was told I can use a mix of Pine-Sol, Water, and Bleach to spray the inside of the coop after I emptied it. Does this sound about right? What does everyone else here use? I need something as easy as possible. It's FREEZING outside, and I really don't want to be out there doing this, so any tips of the trade are GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks Everyone!

B

 

[Kelsie2290]

This weather is a darn nuisance isn't it. Not familiar with CV-800 is the active ingredient pyrethrins in that? It probably can also be used as a premise spray, so you could probably just do the coop with it also. You could also use something like Poultry Dust or Livestock Dust or Sevin? Would use one or the other in the coop for now also, not just the birds if you have any doubts about the mites/lice. There is some disagreement with using Pine-Sol with chickens because of their respiratory system being rather sensitive. The GLW really look like overpreening (which could be because of mites) or feather picked from that picture.
Here is the BYC Learning Center article on vent gleet, with treatment options. It certainly could be that, I'm used to it starting closer to the vent, guess to me it just looked like she had been laying or sitting in something since it has been rather wet and muddy or snowy lately... definitely would treat her if it seems to be that https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/vent-gleet-aka-nasty-chicken-butt

 

[Bella54330]

After looking again, it's called CV-80D rather than CV-800. The main ingredient is pryrethrin. You think I could just take all of the bedding out and spray the inside of the coop with this stuff? It's a pretty big bottle. It might be worth a shot rather than scrubbing with bleach, pine sol, and lord knows what else in the freezing cold LOL.

Thanks so much for your help. Your input is really appreciated.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Ya, even if you scrub everything, I'd still spray with that stuff or something else like it or dust ... if it is mites they can hide in the smallest cracks etc. I would repeat in a week or so. If you can't find what you need locally, you can order poultry dust, ivermectin etc online also.

 

[aart]

Are you positive you have mites?
What's the story on the gleet?