mites

[KOTurkeyRanch]

Ahh i get it now =]
haha why are they discontinuing it??

 

[brandyb]

Quote:
Our supplier told us they were discontinuing it because it was bad for the environment. So I don't know, that may be the real reason and they may be something he made up, you never know.

 

[Junkybird]

Thanks for the suggestions. So, if it isn't mites, you think it is feather plucking or a molt? I just want to be clear.

I have 14 chickens and 5 guineas in a coop that is 12 x 8 feet. We use two 2 x 4's for their roosts and they ALL like to be on the top one together. The guineas roost on the perches in front of/attached to the nest boxes.

The pen attached to their coop is about 30 x 20. They free-range for a few hours 2-3 times a week. They are fed laying pellets and scratch for a treat to get them back into the pen in the afternoon. They eat lots of scraps/veggies from our kitchen.

Their pen in shaded pretty well underneath large trees. And it is covered completely in plastic chicken netting (which has held up amazingly well). Our coop and pen are pretty "Fort Knoxed" out.

I haven't seen mites, and I haven't seen feather picking lately either. I have seen that before when there was actually blood on the tails, etc. But the purple spray solved that one pretty quick.

Could the redness be from sun burn? Do chickens get that?

Also, not a single Dominique has this "affliction". I have 3 EE's ( 2 hens, 1 roo) six Dominickers (5 hens, 1 roo) and 5 RIR hens. The only ones that have this "affliction" are two of the EE's and several RIR's in varying degrees. I agree that I wouldn't think the EE roo would tolerate picking. He is the dominate roo of the two. In fact, he chases the Dominicker roo around endlessly. If there were ever a roo that should be picked on it would be him. (He has this huge "hump" on his back. We didn't notice it until he was already mature. He is very docile and already has picked up on the fact that I will protect him. What a baby . . . anyway, I digress)

Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[theFox]

Quote:
If your birds are outside most of the time then your coop is fine.

If it is feather plucking due to nutritional needs that is they pluck and eat the feathers then you need to increase the protein level in their diet.

The redness is the result of their bare skin being exposed to sunlight. The redness itself can become a problem because chickens peck at red things.

I'd say that since you have a particular breed that isn't loosing its feather that it is likely moult.

It is hard to tell without having watched the birds quite a bit.

 

[theFox]

Quote:
Our supplier told us they were discontinuing it because it was bad for the environment. So I don't know, that may be the real reason and they may be something he made up, you never know.

Only some uses of Sevin have been affected.

A lot of so called "banned" pesticides simply have their allowed uses changed and thus it may not be available in certain forms or to certain people or for certain purposes.

ETA: Here ya go read all about it here https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=190120

 

[Junkybird]

Okay, protein level, I can fix that, right?

What are some suggestions for increasing it? Eggs? More beans or something?

Forgive me, but I'm just guessing

I want to get on this right away.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[theFox]

Cat kibble (not canned cat food), some sunflower seed hearts, eggs, meat including fish, meal worms, game feed, and un-medicated starter feed (just be sure to balance out any thing like calcium which is very low in starter feed and most high protein game feed). Reduce treats unless they at least are equal in protein levels to their normal feed.

There are also higher protein layer feeds, I change feeds when the girls loose access to bugs in the fall.

 

[Junkybird]

Great! I can do all that. About how long should it take to notice any difference? Thanks so much for your help.

 

[theFox]

It depends on the breeds feathering rate and if the problem is due to lack of protein.

One can't really say for certain as some chickens might not have their feather grow back until their next moult.

 

[Junkybird]

Oh no! So, I might have some naked chickens until the next molt? How many molts are there a year? Two?

I have some chicks right now too, so tomorrow I'll give the adults some of the starter feed as well. Hopefully we'll be on our way to more feathers soon. Thanks again.