MITES on 5 day old chicks

[Eliza]

One of the bonuses of getting chicks from a hatchery or from TSC is that they come with extra critters. The babes have mites I'm guessing from the concentrated preening and ocassionaly scratching. I'm afraid I don't know what to put on them, as this can't be good. What works!

 

[Tapsmom]

I thought that was just itchiness from feathers coming in. Mine were scratching quite a bit the first week but they don't do that very often now at 3 weeks. Should I be checking for mites?

 

[Judy]

Actually I've never heard of chicks having mites from TSC or a hatchery, but anything is possible. They will do a fair amount of scratching and preening as they shed fuzz and grow feathers. I wouldn't treat unless I saw tiny moving critters or eggs on feather shafts. Do a search on mites. there are links to good pics on here of what they look like.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Mites can kill a chick quickly. i've never had chicks come from hatcheries with mites. Are you sure they have them? Have you seen them? Pick up the chicks and check carefully. If they have them they will probably end up on your hand.

i had a fairly wild hen who hatched out two chicks. Didn't realize she had mites and they quickly infested the chicks and killed one within a day. The other chick was badly infested also. i had to take it away from mom. Didn't want to use poultry dust, so i used the Poultry Protector spray. i sprayed it on my hand then held the chick for a while until some of the mites came off, then put it under a heat lamp to dry off. Repeated this many times over the course of hours. Eventually got all the mites off. Then seriously treated mom and dad with poultry dust, ivermectin drops on back of neck, and thoroughly disinfected their coop and pen. Although i did end up raising the chick in the house.

Check those chicks and make sure they don't have mites. It isn't something they can easily survive.

 

[Eliza]

I don't see mites, and I thought it may be the new feathers coming in. Would you be able to see all types of mites. I thought that there were some that were so small you can't see them, and that they borrow into the skin and the feather shafts?

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

True, there are some mites that are mighty small. i would honestly be surprised if you have mites on chicks that came from a hatchery.