My avian vet prescribed Revolution (Selamectin) for stick tight fleas on my chickens. It worked great for that, and as a side benefit, some of my hens that looked like they had feather damage from roosters grew back their feathers after treatment. So it became apparent to me that they must have had feather mites in addition to rooster damage. These mites are not visible and the chickens had no other mites or lice, so I did not realize they had feather/depluming mites. I had separated the roosters from the hens and didn't understand why they hadn't re-grown feathers after about 6 months or more. My avian vet told me to use 0.5 ml per standard chicken and 0.25 ml for my pullets and cockerels that were smaller. This is close to the dose I calculated based on the dose given on Poultry DVM, which is a reliable source..When we got mites really bad on a couple of our chickens, I had the idea that Selamectin would work wonders. I turned here for advice but found so very little with keyword searches.
I just wanted to post my results because they seem significant.
MY Buff Orpington Roo was huddled down in the corner of his pen with little energy. I probably should have noticed sooner but I didn't. When we went into the pen he still didn't move. I looked at him and they were EVERYWHERE just sucking the life out of him. We trimmed away any extra feathers and plainly just panicked he was in such bad shape.
As a last ditch effort (we did not expect him to make it) I put an appropriate amount of Revolution in between his shoulderblades (5lb or so dose) and hoped for the best.
The next morning, he was up and around and eating, but we still saw mites.
Day 2 he was up, crowing & flapping & his comb was back to full color
Day 3 all the mites were dead, gone, history.
That was 3 weeks ago now, he's doing GREAT! I found the mites also on my Buff Orpington hens a few days later (4 pens over) but no one else. I treated the ladies, who also were pretty bad even though they acted healthy, looked healthy & continued to lay eggs for us. Within 3 days again, all mites, dead & gone.
So.. I'm not sure on the withdrawal period for this drug, because it is not labeled for chickens. But I am going with 30 days since that is when it would normally require reapplying for effectiveness.
Now.. here in the States, a Rx is required for Revolution. I buy it without a script online through PetShed in Australia.
I hope hope hope, this helps someone else at some point.
Thanks for reading, and if you have any experience with this please share!
Here is what Poultry DVM says:
Selamectin (Revolution) is a topical antiparasitic medication used to treat Knemidokoptes spp. (scaly leg mites).
Dosage: 23 mg/Kg topically, repeat in 3-4 weeks.
http://www.poultrydvm.com/drugs/selamectin
Here are my calculations:
The concentration is 120 mg/ml.
23/2.2 lb per Kg =10.45 mg/lb
10.45/120 = 0.087 ml/lb
I rounded up to 0.1 ml/lb body weight
I had excellent results and my chickens showed no side effects. I have not seen any info about egg withdrawal times. I got my vet to send a prescription for generic Selamectin to a pet pharmacy, and I have also bought it from a pharmacy in Australia. Either of those options is a lot cheaper than the brand. I would expect it to be effective for any external parasites. For dogs, it kills heartworm but does not say it kills roundworm, so I guess it isn't effective for roundworms.