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Same here - at least I think that's what it is, haven't had time to do ALL the reading, but has some lifted up foot scales. I'm going to try castor oil, that's what @Beekissed does.
Maybe we could do an online side-by-side experiment where you treat one way, and i do another?
-Kathy
Sure - I haven't started yet, though, I still need to get the castor oil. I'm currently hurling all of my strength and energy into dismantling an enormous old brush pile (~15-20 ft high, about 20-30 feet in diameter) that apparently now has a fox den (my Lavender Ameraucana cockerel got out one day, and best I can tell, got dragged under there and dismantled). Fury will do a lot to fuel that sort of heavy work, but I sure am sore... Hindsight is 20/20, should have cleared this ages ago.
I DO have the spray already though. I very well may end up just spraying everyone and being done with it. We'll see what I have energy for.
@Beekissed actually initially brought it up because she also uses it to prevent frost bite. She coats the combs, wattles, and legs at night when they are on the roost once a season. I was having possible frostbite issues (which, in retrospect, wasn't frostbite)...I've got 48 birds right now, and would really hate treating legs individually, repeatedly, with some oily product or other. May leg mites never arrive here! I'm very interested in your results, in case it does happen. Mary
- Ant Farm
Ya, my birds are wet all day when it rains and our temps stay 40-50. Same thing they go to roost wet. So I've been waiting, but the time is coming and I don't think I will worry about it if our over night low is 40 ish. I feel kind of bad for not treating yet when I found them at least a week ago. By them, haven't identified, but crawling things for sure. Not infested or showing any signs at all. But definitely won't wait until it gets out of control.I treated our layer group of 22 birds on Christmas Eve when our nighttime temps were in the 40's with no problems. We had some Guineas show up (possibly dropped off) awhile back and I suspected they were the source of the Northern Fowl mites we were dealing with since they hang out with our free range group and share dust bathing areas. But since the guineas roosted high in the trees at night and were untouchable during the day, I couldn't confirm that until they decided to follow my free range birds to their coop one night. When I parted their feathers those guineas were loaded with mitesIt was a night in the teens and too cold imo to spray so I opted to treat the guineas topically with Eprinex I had on hand and I impatiently waited a couple of days for an above freezing night and then treated all the chickens in that coop to a nice permethrin shower (vent area, broad spray to the back from neck to tail, feet, legs and roost). My logic was that since the birds go out and get completely soaked in the rain in similar temps and go to roost wet without issues they shouldn't have problems with much less wet skin and feathers from permethrin. I'm hoping that I don't have to treat again this winter because I'm not comfortable spraying anyone in below freezing temps and I don't expect many opportunities for "warmer" nights until March.
OK.... so many decisions! Since we aren't having a serious problem, I can wait until it isn't raining and temps are closer to 50.
I didn't know my birds had any issues until my inside dogs and cats started scratching (no fleas whatsoever) and then I started getting bit which was awful. After tearing my entire house apart and cleaning like a crazy person I was still getting bit under my clothes. It finally dawned on me after watching my goofy lab rolling in the chicken dust bathing areas that she could be transferring critters from the birds although I never saw anything on them before then. I set my phone down in a nest box next to a broody when I was inspecting the birds and when I came back in the house there was a tiny gray mite on the screen. Grabbed that sucker with a piece of scotch tape and under magnifying glass saw what looks like Northern varietyYa, my birds are wet all day when it rains and our temps stay 40-50. Same thing they go to roost wet. So I've been waiting, but the time is coming and I don't think I will worry about it if our over night low is 40 ish. I feel kind of bad for not treating yet when I found them at least a week ago. By them, haven't identified, but crawling things for sure. Not infested or showing any signs at all. But definitely won't wait until it gets out of control. Ignorance is bliss, but knowledge is power.
I try to cover all the bases application-wise so I spray the coop interior during the day when the birds are outside then at night treat the birds. I will get the tip of the sprayer under the feathers give a quick spray behind the neck and by the preen gland. I then do a top spray to the whole back. I put the sprayer at skin level in the undercarriage, then they stand up on the roost and I spray the legs, feet and roost. It sounds like a lot of product on the bird but these are brief sprays and take maybe 15-20 seconds total per bird (I have about 80). I'm definitely no expert, I've done this 3 times since the fall although now that I've been able to treat the offending guineas I hope to have this under control now. I am very paranoid after having learned that I must taste like chicken lol.
I think most those questions are answered within the posts already here, have you read thru the entire thread yet?
Hi, welcome to BYC!
