Mites??

MarvsMom

Chirping
Jun 23, 2024
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Hello, we have a lethargic bird, pale comb, small cut on her foot that we are treating and have been giving her amoxicillin but today we noticed this on her... does she have mites? Any input is appreciated. We just to help her feel better! She has also started breathing out of her mouth:(
 

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Do you see bugs crawling on her? Hard to tell if I'm seeing some lice or not.

I do see a small yellowish scab that looks like a breast blister. You may want to treat that by working on removing the scab, cleaning out any pus underneath, then packing with triple antibiotic ointment.
 
Do you see bugs crawling on her? Hard to tell if I'm seeing some lice or not.

I do see a small yellowish scab that looks like a breast blister. You may want to treat that by working on removing the scab, cleaning out any pus underneath, then packing with triple antibiotic ointment.
Yes, this was crawling and I had one on my arm after picking her up. Also what do you suggest for antibiotic ointment? I have Polysporin and Betadine but want to make sure I use the proper one! Thanks
 

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Yes you do have mites (not you personally as they don’t like people 🥳). It’s the small white fluffy stuff where the feathers meet the skin.
Symptoms generally include …
  • Dirty feathers around or near the vent
  • Slow moving chickens
  • Comb becomes light in color
  • Egg production lowers
  • Weight loss
  • Change in food intake
  • Chickens pulling feathers
  • Scabby or irritated skin
  • Bald spots
  • Rough looking feathers losing their color
  • Seeing bugs crawling on the skin or nits in feathers
I know that my girls got it from farm hay from a neighbour but it can be caught in lots of ways. It is nothing to do with how you care for your hens or how clean your coop is. In otherwords don’t beat yourself up about it.

I treated mine with xeno450 which is basically ivermectin. Many say use diatom. But for me it would take too long and be too much of a faff.

Hope this helps.
 
Yes you do have mites (not you personally as they don’t like people 🥳). It’s the small white fluffy stuff where the feathers meet the skin.
Symptoms generally include …
  • Dirty feathers around or near the vent
  • Slow moving chickens
  • Comb becomes light in color
  • Egg production lowers
  • Weight loss
  • Change in food intake
  • Chickens pulling feathers
  • Scabby or irritated skin
  • Bald spots
  • Rough looking feathers losing their color
  • Seeing bugs crawling on the skin or nits in feathers
I know that my girls got it from farm hay from a neighbour but it can be caught in lots of ways. It is nothing to do with how you care for your hens or how clean your coop is. In otherwords don’t beat yourself up about it.

I treated mine with xeno450 which is basically ivermectin. Many say use diatom. But for me it would take too long and be too much of a faff.

Hope this helps.
I needed to hear this. She's been so off and it's breaking my heart and we just want to help. We sprayed the coop and we use diatom on our wood shavings. We are going to check her vent to see if there is a build up of mites as well. So I should stop giving her the amoxicillin as well? We would be on day 3 of antibiotics because we thought she had an infection from bumblefoot but on closer inspection, we can't see anything else on her feet. And for the mite treatment, do you spray it on them? I've googled a lot and I feel like you get so many different answers 😅 thank you!
 
If you read my last post and the article, it explains about permethrin dust and permethrin spray. DE will not help an infestation. You may be dealing with lice or mites. You can examine the live bugs to tell the difference. Mites hatch every 5 days, so a treatment at least twice 7 days apart will help to kill the live bugs and then the newly hatched ones. For lice, treating at a 10 day interval will help. Then you must also empty your coop and nest of bedding, spray the coop, nests, and roost bars before placing new clean bedding. Check for any mites inside straw, as that is one way to bring them in. Mites can hide inside the cracks of the coop, and only come on at night. Some will stay on the chickens 24/7. Providing a good place to dust bathe can keep down a lot of infestations. Here is a good article to know how to tell them apart:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/
 
If you read my last post and the article, it explains about permethrin dust and permethrin spray. DE will not help an infestation. You may be dealing with lice or mites. You can examine the live bugs to tell the difference. Mites hatch every 5 days, so a treatment at least twice 7 days apart will help to kill the live bugs and then the newly hatched ones. For lice, treating at a 10 day interval will help. Then you must also empty your coop and nest of bedding, spray the coop, nests, and roost bars before placing new clean bedding. Check for any mites inside straw, as that is one way to bring them in. Mites can hide inside the cracks of the coop, and only come on at night. Some will stay on the chickens 24/7. Providing a good place to dust bathe can keep down a lot of infestations. Here is a good article to know how to tell them apart:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/
Oh this page is great, videos too! Thank you 🤗
 
I needed to hear this. She's been so off and it's breaking my heart and we just want to help. We sprayed the coop and we use diatom on our wood shavings. We are going to check her vent to see if there is a build up of mites as well. So I should stop giving her the amoxicillin as well? We would be on day 3 of antibiotics because we thought she had an infection from bumblefoot but on closer inspection, we can't see anything else on her feet. And for the mite treatment, do you spray it on them? I've googled a lot and I feel like you get so many different answers 😅 thank you!
Ivermectin is normally drops between the wings. Xeno450 certainly is.
As said by Mavismom (sorry I don’t know how to do the @MavisMom linky thing) you will need to give the hen house a damn good clean and replace all bedding and nest box stuff. Make sure to scrub inside any cracks in wood on perches. The whole flock will need to be done, probably.
You will also need to repeat this. I repeated the treatment every week for three weeks and everything was hunky dorey.
 
Ivermectin is normally drops between the wings. Xeno450 certainly is.
As said by Mavismom (sorry I don’t know how to do the @MavisMom linky thing) you will need to give the hen house a damn good clean and replace all bedding and nest box stuff. Make sure to scrub inside any cracks in wood on perches. The whole flock will need to be done, probably.
You will also need to repeat this. I repeated the treatment every week for three weeks and everything was hunky dorey.
Okay, thank you! And I just took a photo of her most recent bowel movement. I've only seen her slightly graze the lawn, have scrambled eggs with the amoxicillin and a few blueberries. I've never seen poo this color. Could this be from the mites or the antibiotics? I am assuming antibiotics because it can have that affect on humans too.
 

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