Mites or something else? Chick walking on hocks

[Miss Lydia]

If the bugs you saw are blk and very tiny look like pepper then she has mites, better get her treated asap.. they will make her anemic and the rest of you flock needs to be treated as well. Not saying this is whats causing her feet problem, don't know about that. also you'll need to take out all bedding and treat entire coop, then just put in enough bedding for the week because you'll need to retreat again.. All the best.

 

[NewToFarming]

Thank you! Yes, they were a dark brown, I would say. I did dust her but was afraid to use a whole lot of the sevin on her since she is only 10 week old??? I can feel them on me more now that I dusted her. How long does it take for the sevin to kill the mites?
Yes, I just got my helper and we will be cleaning out the coop. It is a big area so it will take us awhile to complete it.
She still seems happy and is eating well but now that I dusted her, it seems like she had alot of mites on her.
Do you sprinkle the sevin on the coop floor and do you treat the perches?

 

[NewToFarming]

Update on my little girl.
It seems both feet are affected and her Left is worse than the right. She is not getting any worse but really not any better. I have been giving her vitamins in addition to chick feed, eggs and a mix I have been suggested to try a mixture of oatmeal, egg, yogurt & honey also meally worms & Boss.
I did a test on her by putting just a sprinkle of scratch in with t he meally worms & boss mix and she went right in and picked out all of the scratch so I do believe she preferred scratch over anything else. She does like the moistened chick feed but appears to be a very "dainty" eater and takes a long time. She doesn't have trouble eating but does pick a little, chirp & talk, pick a little more. I guess also, if it takes her so long to eat so maybe the others were eating up the good stuff like the moistened chick feed before she got enough too. They always have dry feed available but they love the chick feed moistened.
I still have her in the house, and trying to find food high in protein & B vitamins that she likes. She seems to be very picky about what she eats too.
She went down to the coop about 3 weeks prior to this happening and this is when she had been introduced to the scratch. I think she sought that out first before anything else. None of my other chickens are showing these symptoms at all. I treated her for mites with sevin and I haven't seen or felt any for the past couple of days.
I have been doing some therapy by keeping her toe, foot & leg joints moving so they don't become stiff & lock up.
Any other ideas for her or any supplement ideas that she might like and eat better would be appreciated. I was wondering if there was any type of powdered form of protein to mix in with her chick feed that is not milk based that anyone would know of?

 

[NewToFarming]

It has been a week & a half and I was becoming very worried because I was not seeing any improvement until this morning!!! I seen some toe movement that was not there yesterday!!!! I had to go to work but I am hoping to see even more when I get home.
She could always move her legs and resist when I was doing therapy but I never seen any movement in her feet so I am becoming very hopeful! I was freaking yesterday thinking it could be Mareks but she is not sick at all...eating, drinking, pooping fine.
I have had her on a high protein diet and multivitamins with electrolytes.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Great news, sounds like all you efforts are paying off. now just relax and let out a long breathe, but don't introduce her back with the flock till she's completely back on her feet. And I don't think I would be feeding scratch to a 11 week old chick it's like candy and not very nutritional at all. Keep up the vitamins and be sure to watch out for those bugs, We got a big infestation last fall and yep they were on me, but I will not wait for them now I will treat my flock 2 to 3 times a year with Epernix pour-on.

 

[NewToFarming]

Thanks! I had put some scratch out in the coop because of how severely cold it got here this winter and I had read scratch can bring up their body temps. I did have heat lamps down there too. I think this little girl just took more than her fair share of scratch! No one else is showing any symptoms so I don't think it is anything contagious, thank goodness. I have also took away the scratch from everyone in the coop since it is warming up a bit. They are not happy with me and my NN's follow me around and yell at me! LOL

I did treat the coop by doing a total clean out and using sevin spray on the perches and hard surfaces and also adding the powder to the bedding. I hope it will take care of the problem! I will be treating again this weekend.
I will let you know if she shows continued improvement, not if, i know she will!

Oh, is one product better than another for mites? it seemed to take awhile for the sevin to work.

 

[Minniechickmama]

For winter food supplement during the real cold times, I feed about 50% cracked corn mixed in their lay mash. They love it, but I haven't seen any real big problems. However, I do have a hen that started acting funny and a Silkie roo that is having similar problems, so maybe that is what I have going on here too. I have gone back to straight mash, so maybe they will perk up too.
I am glad I read this thread.
I hope your puff ball makes a full recovery, it needs to be out in the nice spring weather.

 

[NewToFarming]

Quote:
Thanks! I do hope yours perk up too! These short winter days don't help much either! It was pretty nice on Saturday and I did have her outside for a bit but she became overly excited and then I started to worry she would hurt herself, the way she was flopping around.
I added an egg to the moistened chick feed daily as well as supplements in her water. Maybe try that on yours???

 

[Miss Lydia]

when you have a real nice spring day, and yes they are coming lol, take everything out of the coop, bedding mainly and toss it. Then get some sevin spray you mix it in water according to directions, then go in and open all the windows and doors make sure chickens can't get back end till it's all dry which on a nice day shouldn't take but a couple hours, spray everywhere top to bottom being sure to get into every crack and crevice. you'll also need to treat your flock again if you only treated the one time, I like to use Epernix pour-on, it's easy to use, and theres no egg with drawl. you apply to the lower part of the neck where the wings start making sure to get it on the skin. I do it now as a percaution since our out break last fall. Epernix will also treat them for internal parasites. Then after treating your coop put in new bedding, I use powder to treat around the areas where they spend time dust bathing or just laying around. all the best and Happy Spring!! I also gave scratch during the coldest part of winter, now I mix about 8 to 10 lbs. to a 50 lb. bag of Flock Raiser to feed the rest of the year. Everyone has their own way of feeding their flock this just works for mine I am by no means an expert..