Mites

[bee_wrangler]

Just looking for some info on mites.. How normal is it for Turkeys to have them, can they do any harm to the birds, and how to get rid of them if possible?

 

[ivan3]

Pretty much same as chooks. Depluming mite (base of feathers mostly). Northern Fowl Mites (pretty much the most common - wild birds the most common vector), `Chicken Mites' (pretty much eat and run - don't spend entire life cycle on host).

You can dust them with Sevin (messy/difficult) powder. You can apply Eprinex Cattle pour-on (.5cc on skin in middle of back and repeat in a couple of weeks). You can use injectable eprinex (ivermectin) also stressful for all concerned.
Adams Tick and Flea Spray is reportedly very effective.

Tea Tree Oil is an effective acaracide but is toxic to use directly on chooks/turks (mixed with Orange Guard it can be sprayed into cracks and crevices of coop and rubbed into roosting boards).

Providing the turks with a scrape in which Food Grade DE and Sevin Dust is mixed in with wood ashes/fine grained sand is a good preventative dusting option, as is mixing small amount of Sevin/DE into bedding.

If you think you might have a problem, check the turks after they go to roost; use a lighted loupe to check their butts and around their eyes for movement (mites most active at night).

A bad infestation will require clean out of coop and burning the removed bedding.

An after-roost exam every wk., or so, will allow one to kill these beasties before they get out of hand and start to suck enough blood to weaken the turks (can kill them).

If your turks are not in an indoor aviary there is always the opportunity for them to pick up the bloodsuckers. Just do regular exams and treat as necesary.

 

[bee_wrangler]

I'm not 100% shure if I have a problem or if its even mites.. When I plucked one of my turkeys for Christmas dinner I noticed a few little bugs on the back of the turkey, I was a little grossed out so I dunked it in the hot water pretty fast haha.. wish I would have taken a better look at them though. From what I recall they were kind of long in body rather than round, and kind of flat. It is very cold here so I don't think it would be anything that just crawled on the Turkey, they must have been living on it.

 

[ivan3]

From what I recall they were kind of long in body rather than round, and kind of flat

Description sounds more like Poultry Lice.​

 

[geebs]

any parasites on your poultry is a bad thing... Get poultry dust or better yet pour on ivomectrin... I think someone on this forum posted the direction for use...>It is good for internal and external parasites and it is an easy application. 1 drop for tiny bird 2 for bantam 3 for midsized 4 for standard and 5 to 6 for large/giant birds.... Works real well.

 

[bee_wrangler]

Thank you both for the info and advice, I will treat them this week

 

[chickenannie]

Can you butcher a turkey that you poured ivermectin on? Just a word to the wise to be cautious about withdrawal times.

 

[bee_wrangler]

I just got to dusting today, and it was... not what I expected lol. To make a long story short as I was dusting the first turkey the rest of them got out of the pen and it was like a tornado hit my barn. After I got them all back in the pen I finished the rest of them. They are a little wild, the gent I got them from never went around them so they are not use to people, although after a few months they are not quite as fearful of me... that may have changed now though lol. Anyway, just want to make shure I did this right... I read on here to dust the bedding and coop for the mites that fall off... well, they were freaking out so much that the dust was flying off them as they ran around so I figure they dusted the coop themselves. Just want to make shure its ok to leave it like that, or should I clean it out?