More mite questions

123ChickieLou

Chirping
8 Years
Nov 14, 2011
189
4
98
Louisiana
I have a lone chick that lives in a hutch up off the ground. It's a silkie and I bought it locally. Since I got it, it's had a growth on it's beak near and covering the nostrils. The fungus/tumor/whatever is growing and no surrounds the top madible/beak and is even in the roof of the poor thing's mouth.

Today I picked it up for the first time in a couple of weeks and found mites covering the area under it's wings. I'd noticed before that its feathers were sparse but didn't think much of it. The chick is white and, of course, its skin is dark so it didn't alarm me that I could see dark areas.

I'm not expecting this little guy to have along life anyway as it has that unsightly growth. In fact, the other two of the three chicks I got from this lady have died. This is such a happy little chick that I decided to let it live out what life it has. Until now.

I have three other birds sharing the pen. The little mite ridden chick is and has been quarantined (only by circumstance) in a hutch and isn't in contact with the others. One of my hens is hatching eggs right now and the other sleeps up on top of the parakeet's (bird #3) cage which sits on top of the hutch.

I suppose it is possible that all three have mites. I checked the two hens' feathers and didn't see anything awry. I checked all the way to the skin, I didn't see anything flaky or missing, just nice full fluff. I didn't check the parakeet :/

What should I do about this little one covered in mites? I don't want the new hatches getting them, or my other hens and parakeet getting them.

If you're still reading- here's what I'm thinking: I can move the broody and babies because they're in a pet carrier (that's what she chose as her nest). Then I can spray down the hutch, remove its bedding and dispose of it, rake the ground around it, get rid of that and finaly dust the hutch and ground around it.

If I need to just spray an ddust everything and everyone, I will. I know some may say to do it anyway as a precaution. That's fine, but what about the hatchling(s)? Will any of this make them sick?

I really think (and hope) that this chick came here with problems and probably brought the mites with it. I've never had any problems with this with my other chickens. I've raised many other chicks here and not had a problem.

One last thing- this little one with the mites can't close the tip of her beak all the way. Could this be why she got so infested? Could it be that they all have these mites but are able to pick them with their beaks and this one can't?
 
At the very least, dust the one with the mites and her living area - repeat in 10 days. AND keep a close eye on the others. If you want/can, post a picture of the growth. Maybe someone can shed some light and help!
 


This my little infested baby. I'm sure it is doomed but I wanted to let it live out what life it has. The growth rate of the 'whatever that is' has slowed down as far as I can tell. It came on slow, then really took off when I moved it outside and has now slowed down.

I don't really care to dispose of it. Even if I did, I'd have to take measures for the other chickens.
 
Last edited:
You yourself stated that the bird appears to be doomed and you are correct. The growth appears to be canker which is very contageous to other birds. I recommend that you cull her, that will also end your mite problem.
 
See, I love good, common sense, direct advice. Thank you. Now, I really want to use that hutch for my hen and her brood; what measures should I take to see that they don't become infested?
 
One more thing- I found this white webby looking stuff under one of my feeders. Is that mite webs? It better not be! Dang it!! The first time I saw it was in the plastic bin I was rasing the little silkie in. I thought it was a mold or something, like the water had spilled over into the hay and I missed it and this grew there under the feeder. Why does this keep growing under the feeders???
 
One more thing- I found this white webby looking stuff under one of my feeders. Is that mite webs? It better not be! Dang it!! The first time I saw it was in the plastic bin I was rasing the little silkie in. I thought it was a mold or something, like the water had spilled over into the hay and I missed it and this grew there under the feeder. Why does this keep growing under the feeders???

Dust your hutch with sevin dust. You can put a pile of it at the door to the hutch and then hit it with a leaf blower full blast. I guarantee you the dust will get in every nook and cranie. Wear a mask.
As far as the white webby stuff, I'm not sure about that. I use 3 gallon metal containers as feeders. Sometimes when I lift the lid off the top to refill the feeder, I see cobwebs draping down from the sides. I've never seen any bugs though and simply brush it away with my hand. I believe it might be caused by feed dust, not sure. My birds are bug free and if I suspected something out of the ordinary, I''d know about it right away. I dont know if yours are the same from what I see in my feeders sometimes.
 
Thanks, I'll take the seven dust route. Lucky me, I already have some masks.

As for the feeders, i never saw this until I got the chicks that all had problems. Two died on their own and the third is shown above. Btw- I did resolve her issue this afternoon. I used vinegar and baking soda. That method worked like a charm.
 
Ok, now I see what appears to be Canker on two of my adult (the on ly teo adults I have) birds and I'm guessing it has spread to the babies of one of the adults although I don't see it. Obviously this means that my entire "flock" has this. NOW what?? Do I cull them all or let them go with it until it finally gets them? Do I try to treat it? HOw does one treat canker? Is it contageous to humans or can humans give it to chickens?
This is so frustrating!
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom