One of my chickens just died- should I be worried.

[menagerie2]

Hello,

We have/had 3 chickens up until today ( we got them last summer so they were all about 1 1/2 years old). Over the hot summer, we had an outbreak of redmite so had been treating the birds and the coop. Only 4-5 days ago, I completely cleaned, scrubbed and disinfected their coop and powdered the birds.

Througout this, one bird has been fine, but two of the birds have started having bald patches, where their feathers are missing. I assumed this was to do with itching from the red mite maybe.

Anyhow, yesterday I was out in the garden with them and all seemed fine, and this morning I went out to fetch eggs and one was dead, in the nest box.

I am not sure now if I need to be worried about the other birds. I assumed feather loss was to do with mites but been trying to read online today and have been reading about pecking and various other causes. Surely pecking can't kill the bird though, can it? Could it just die from stress if it is being pecked?

Can red mite be fatal? What other things can kill the bird? I am just worried now either that the mites are worse than I thought, or that one chicken has been bullying the other and I didn't notice, so trying to figure out what I could do. I also have witnessed any pecking- although to be honest, I don't just sit and watch them all the time, but when I have, I never see any pecking.

I know it's all a little vague but don't really know what to think as I am a novice chicken owner.

I appreciate any info

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes they can be pecked to death, but you would see blood or injury to the vent or elsewhere. Mites can make a chicken very anemic, and leg mites can even make feet fall of in extreme cases. What are you using to control the mites? Sevin dust is good. Here are two good sites with pictures and treatment for lice and mites:

http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8162.pdf and

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

 

[menagerie2]

Thank you for that.

I am not sure off hand what the stuff is that we have, as my husband bought it all and I've just been following his instruction but he's unfortunately away just now. I sprayed the whole coop with a mite disinfectant, and then had a powder to dust the birds with and then also put some down under their bedding.

Would mites cause the loss of feathers? From scratching, I suppose? I followed your link and didn't notice any infestations of mites on the birds themselves that are as bad as in those photos although I guess I've only inspected them in the day.

Its distressing as I thought the mite thing was under control and didn't think this sort of damage could come from them. I feel like such a bad chicken parent

I guess I am not entirely convinced that she died because of the mites, but maybe she did. I just want to figure it out so I can ensure the health and safety of the other two birds. One, as I mentioned in the original post, seem quite healthy and no patches really at all, but the other one looks the worse for wear and in regards to looks, I am surprised it wasn't her that kicked the bucket but the other one. A lot of her neck feathers are missing and she has a red sore on the skin.