mits AHHH!!

[andrealeec]

So I think my chickens have mites. I can't get a good picture because they won't sit still long enough! My EE Roo has a bald patch on his cheek and his neck, which I thought was pecking at first..but then I noticed one of my SLW pullets has a patch on her back right in front of her tail feathers. There are dried blood specks, but I don't see any mites, not that they sit still long enough for me to get a good look. Could this just be pecking? I have frontline spray, which I was told by a co-worker who also has chickens (and we work at a veterinary clinic) that this is good for mites and you only have to spray their legs right where the feathers start. Any more advice? I may just be freaking over nothing. On a happier note, I got my first eggs and now they are laying like crazy. 20 weeks old!!

 

[Judy]

It could be pecking, mites, both, or something else. The spray is fine. It's not a bad idea to treat for lice/mites preventively. When mine have lost feathers on their back just above the tail it has been pecking or mating, occurring when I have too many roos.

http://ucanr.org/freepubs/docs/8162.pdf

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

 

[andrealeec]

I don't think it's mites. Last night I went into the coop with a flashlight and checked all of them and couldn't find any mites. I just don't get why they are picking on the roo!! I was watching them before the went up to the roost and the girls were picking his tail! So I guess I have to put out more things for them to eat during the day to keep them busy. Just to make sure I am going to strip the coop and spray poultry protector, and spray them with the frontline...