Mites or something else?

[PointChickens]

Hello,

My wife and I are new to the forums. We’ve had chickens now for around 5 years. We started off with 4 older hens that a friend passed to us. Last year, we were down to 2 hens, as we lost 2 to age. Last spring, we decided to get some new birds (8 unsexed). Bringing them up from being chicks was great and mostly uneventful as we followed the advice of the Stoneys book. We ended up with 5 hens and 3 roosters. I eliminated 2 of the roosters. So right now we have one flock of 7 hens and 1 rooster.

However, our birds are showing some issues, as of a few months ago. I’ve attached some pictures. Lots of raw butts, wings, and backs. I’ve powerwashed the coop 2 weekends in a row and sprayed it down with a permethrin product (Pen & Poultry Insecticide Spray from FleetFarm) to kill mites. I also spread diatomaceous earth in the run and coop. We are pretty good about keeping the coop clean. It’s been about a month since our war on what I thought was mites and there really has been no progress with the feathers growing back.

Is this a mites issue or something else? Almost all the hens look like, this, except for, interestingly, the 2 old hens, who seemingly look pretty good. The birds are Russian Orloffs, Lavender Orpingtons, Black Copper Marans and the rooster is a Blue laced Wyandotte - not sure if it matters. We are in central Wisconsin. Also, I notice the Orloff looks like there was a deep gash in one of the photos last photos that has healed up.

Thank you for your guidance.

 

[Kiki]

First...Diatomaceous earth does absolutely nothing for mites.

Second, what exactly do you feed your birds?

 

[Blue Raptor]

Hello,

My wife and I are new to the forums. We’ve had chickens now for around 5 years. We started off with 4 older hens that a friend passed to us. Last year, we were down to 2 hens, as we lost 2 to age. Last spring, we decided to get some new birds (8 unsexed). Bringing them up from being chicks was great and mostly uneventful as we followed the advice of the Stoneys book. We ended up with 5 hens and 3 roosters. I eliminated 2 of the roosters. So right now we have one flock of 7 hens and 1 rooster.

However, our birds are showing some issues, as of a few months ago. I’ve attached some pictures. Lots of raw butts, wings, and backs. I’ve powerwashed the coop 2 weekends in a row and sprayed it down with a product to kill mites. I also spread diochotoumus earth in the run and coop. We are pretty good about keeping the coop clean. It’s been about a month since our war on what I thought was mites and there really has been no progress with the feathers growing back.

Is this a mites issue or something else? Almost all the hens look like, this, except for, interestingly, the 2 old hens, who seemingly look pretty good. The birds are Russian Orloffs, Lavender Orpingtons, Black Copper Marans and the rooster is a Blue laced Wyandotte - not sure if it matters. We are in central Wisconsin. Also, I notice the Orloff looks like there was a deep gash in one of the photos last photos that has healed up.

Thank you for your guidance.

This may be the rooster’s work- watch him to see if he is picking on chickens or being rough when he straddles them. You can spray the gash with vetrcyrin spray (I think that’s how it’s spelled, but look it up). As for the mites, watch for about 30 seconds very closely is you see any tiny bugs moving around a specially around the vent area. I’ll post something for you if you spot mites. Some are too hard to see unless you peer very closely.

 

[Chicalina]

That looks like a pecking and/or treading issue. Do you sit and watch the flock for an hour or so a day? It's a good way to watch and learn from their behaviour.

 

[sourland]

The injury was very likely caused by the rooster. With no feathers for protection, hens are vulnerable to injury from the rooster's toenails and spurs. The feather loss looks like feather pecking/plucking - very likely from the older hens if they are in good feather.

 

[Chicalina]

It is also possible that feather pecking coincided with a moult, though its very clean rather than patchy. The location and the red skin looks very pecky.

 

[peeper89]

THAT SAD!

 

[PointChickens]

Hi everyone, thanks for the thoughts.

Here is what we are feeding the birds:
50% Kalmbach Henhouse Reserve Crumbles (http://www.kalmbachfeeds.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/T1117.pdf)
50% Kalmbach All Natural 17% Layer Pellets (http://www.kalmbachfeeds.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/1117CR_PEL-new-2019.pdf)

There have been a lot of replies related to flock behavior, either pecking or the rooster. It’s possible we just are missing what’s going on and need to watch closer.

Should the chickens ever be pecking each other? Maybe we aren’t recognizing a blatant issue!

Full disclosure, as mentioned, we are relatively new to chickens, so we appreciate the guidance.

 

[PointChickens]

Hi everyone, thanks for the thoughts.

Here is what we are feeding the birds:
50% Kalmbach Henhouse Reserve Crumbles (http://www.kalmbachfeeds.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/T1117.pdf)
50% Kalmbach All Natural 17% Layer Pellets (http://www.kalmbachfeeds.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/1117CR_PEL-new-2019.pdf)

There have been a lot of replies related to flock behavior, either pecking or the rooster. It’s possible we just are missing what’s going on and need to watch closer.

Should the chickens ever be pecking each other? Maybe we aren’t recognizing a blatant issue!

Full disclosure, as mentioned, we are relatively new to chickens, so we appreciate the guidance.

Hi all - just bumping this back up. What should I be looking for with plucking?

Is the rooster possibly leaving the older 2 hens alone and that's why our older hens look better? I just am trying to pinpoint where the issue is. Happy to "remove" our rooster if that's the root of the problem.

 

[Chicalina]

you could increase their protein a bit. Maybe change to an all flock feed with 20% protein, or add extra protein in to their diet as a supplement.

I would hang out by the coop for an hour first thing in the morning and watch their behaviour when they are let out. Maybe also instal a coop cam to watch them as they roost. Plucking can happen when they squabble over the best roost perches. Actually, that's a thought. Perhaps you could reconfigure the perches better so they are further apart and on the same level.