OH NO! Do my chicks have mites? What do i do???

[Tannubyky]

Quote:
On the floor, they have a small ladder in the brooder, but they don't quite have the balance or the desire it seems to roost yet.

 

[Judy]

You pat them with the sock, yes. Some varieties are only on the birds at night, and on roosts/in bedding during the day. Yes, it will put some dust in the air, and whether you use a permethrin powder or Sevin, you should really wear a mask.

But at two weeks I think picking and just erratic feather growth are probably the cause. Where would they get the mites at two weeks? Are they outdoors? Mites and lice are ordinarily carried in by wild birds -- they can get them from the birds just flying over and dropping some --- but at two weeks?

If they are picking, they can definitely include the stomach area. Those might be the easiest to pick, actually. Are they perhaps too warm? How big is the brooder, for how many chicks?

 

[Tannubyky]

Quote:
I thought maybe they brought the mites home from the hatchery or somehow we brought some from the feedstore when we brought home their feed or ???.

They're in a large rabbit? cage, it's something like 4ft x 2ft it has 2 heat lamps, 1 on either end but they are well dispersed along the whole cage. They aren't huddled under the lamps, or as far as they can get or panting etc. The lamps are up high so they can't burn themselves on it. They're currently indoors but have been exposed to outdoor dirt.

 

[Kittymomma]

Quote:
Agreed. I missed the post that gave the age--I type too slow. If they are picking and it's not just erratic feather growth chances are good they need more room I've never had chicks that young show any kind of aggresive picking. I've only raised LF laying breeds though so I suppose it could be different with other varieties.

 

[Tannubyky]

@kittymomma

Okay, well I'm thinking I'm probably just overly concerned since I haven't seen this before. I looked pretty close at all the birds and it doesn't look like any of my yellow ones are having this issue, so maybe it's something peculiar to the black breed ???

I'll continue keeping an eye on them, but they really don't seem to be picking at each other or in need of more space yet so hopefully it is just growth. I'm off to sleep now, so I'll have to answer any more questions tomorrow.... and if I notice anything more/peculiar etc. I'll definitely add that in. If it just turns out to be growth, I'll add that in too!!!

Thanks everyone!!! You've all helped ease my mind some!

 

[wenlo]

I have seen birds, especially young ones or on commercial farms, loose feathers on their bellies from sleeping on the ground, especially in waste. It does not explain the missing back feathers, but I bet it clears when they learn to roost. I do not think its mites or pecking. Uneven feather growth seems plausible. My BAs looked scraggly for awhile.

 

[Judy]

The rabbit cage, which I assume has a wire bottom, may explain the feather loss on the breasts. The two heat lamps concern me as there is no place they can get away from the heat so no way to tell if they are too hot. Chickens usually do not do well on wire. You might consider some pine shavings on the floor. How many are in there?

 

[Tannubyky]

@ wenlo
I hope BA stands for black australorp. I posted in another forum (what are these buggers) trying to ID the breeds we got, and the general consensus seems to be that the black ones are australorps!

@ ddawn & others with brooder questions
No, it is not a wire cage. It is one of those indoor pet cages that has a solid bottom with a splash lip about 6inches high. I found a similar picture of one on Petsmart:

We covered the bottom with bedding topped by paper towels. There are 24 chicks in there, (only 3 chicks per square foot of brooder.) We originally only had 1 lamp in the cage but they huddled under it so we placed a second one by the first on just one end of the brooder. That made too much heat as they were spread out in a horse-shoe shape around the lamps. So we moved the second lamp to the opposite end and although well spread out now, they do like to hang out on either end close to the lamps. There is plenty of "middle" space for them to try to get away from the lamps if they want to. The lamps take up maybe 6 inches on either end, leaving more than 2 feet in the middle of the cage that is heat-lamp free. This isn't my first time with chicks so I can assure you that they're comfortable. I just never had more than 6 at a time, and have never seen the feather loss thing so that's why I was so concerned!

 

[Judy]

Well, that's a lot more info. I see why you are so puzzled. I wonder if they are just pecking for something to peck at, because that's what chickens do, and they have just learned to peck each other. I wonder what would happen if you took out the paper towels now, and let them peck at the bedding. Any chance you could give them a little time outdoors?

Oh, yeah, BA = Black Australorp.

 

[awesomefowl]

What I did for mites was buy a tube of that nasty livestock (poultry/cattle/horses) pesticite dust from Agway, and dusted them with plastic gloves on. But your babies look too small, so maybe DE would be safer.