ONE Chicken keeps getting mites

[NathanNeighbour]

I have ONE chicken among my 5 that consistently gets mites... covered in them, and her feather around her vent look muddy/dirty/nasty. Her vent looks fine, and she lays daily. But usually every 4 - 6 weeks I find her hiding, away from the others, and she has mites everywhere.

The strange thing is that the rest of the birds look good. I mean, she is COVERED in mites and I can't even find one on the others. Is this normal?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

She may be ill with something.

Mites require retreatment at 7 days to break the life cycle. Additionally, bedding and nesting material must be tossed to prevent a reservoir of mites in the coop that brings back the infestation. Coop must be treated with dust or spray (permethrin or other), and birds dusted everywhere but the face with poultry dust (or sprayed with poultry-approved insecticide). I use permethrin.

I would dust her and then the next day after the bugs have died, give her a dipped bath in shampoo and really clean her up. You don't want to do this until those bugs are dead.

Make sure she is spotlessly clean, and dust her again after she dries (blow her dry with hairdryer).

Be on the lookout for signs of illness. (Is she skinny? Diarrhea? Crop OK, for example.)

Your others should be dusted and redusted as well, because they can hide very effectively in the feathers. They move very quickly if they are the NFM.

I hope this helps!

 

[Violetsfeathers]

Okay, this thread is a little old but I have the same problem, one of my chickens has mites, none of the others do. She never lays, and has awful feathers, otherwise she's fine. I dusted her with dietematous earth a couple days ago and I am going to give her a bath tomorrow. I think she still has some live mites on her though

But why don't the other chickens have them?
Can I give her a bath before the mites die?

 

[Violetsfeathers]

Also:
Will dawn dish soap kill mites?

 

[nova12821]

I had one hen with mites. I sprayed a mite & lice spray around her vent (where I could visibly see eggs as well), then dusted her with an insecticide powder (Seven Dust). I treated all my other hens as well even though there were no visible signs of mites. A week later, I treated them all again. Then I soaked my hen using a gentle baby shampoo. You could use Dawn, but I recommend a gentler shampoo. Now I have a clean happy healthy coop!

 

[Violetsfeathers]

I would use the dawn so it would kill the mites. I don't think a gentler shampoo would do that. Do mites drown?

 

[MrsBrooke]

They use Dawn on baby ducks and seals to get the oil off them with no ill effects. I use Dawn to bathe my dog, and kills the fleas, so I can't imagine why it wouldn't work on mites!

Personally, Sevin dust all day long... But always do what you feel is best!!

MrsB

 

[enola]

What do these mites look like? Are you sure they aren't lice?

 

[Violetsfeathers]

They are northern fowl mites. I washed Muffin in dawn soap, I could see all the little black dots coming off her and floating in the water. Then I washed her with pet shampoo and blow dried her and put her in a clean pen (by herself because she is also injured) I think she will feel happier tonight without the things crawling all over her.

 

[Violetsfeathers]

I checked muffin today, I saw a mite.