Please help diagnose possible mites

[BlueJuniper]

My chicken Quiche is about a year old, and I have never had any problems medically wise with my chickens until now. My poor girl scratches her neck, and even the other girls pick on her more than usual. She has a bare patch under her neck, and there are strange clumps of abnormal material. She is also very broody. Don't know if that would effect anything or not.


Please, please, please help me and my poor chicken.

 

[Tlmcq]

Not sure bout the clumps, but broody birds will pull chest feathers out to line nests.

 

[Pyxis]

Clumps like that are likely lice eggs. They are very itchy, so it makes sense that she will be scratching at herself. If she has them, the others do too. Their cases just might not be as severe yet.

What you want to do is clean the coop out and give it a good dusting with Sevin dust, or you can spray with permethrin, but do NOT use permethrin if you have a cat, as it is highly toxic to them and WILL kill them.

Then, you can dust the chickens will Sevin too. Use the foot of an old pair of pantyhose cut off to make a powder puff, put the Sevin in it, and dust them all over. Or you can spray them down with the permethrin too, it's safe for them, but again, not if you have a cat.

You will need to repeat this again in ten days to kill the new lice that will have hatched from the eggs, since these treatments will kill adults but not eggs.

Don't try to use DE or anything like that, it's not going to touch the problem. DE might work as a preventative, but it does not work to clear up an active infestation.

Oh, and you cannot catch the lice from the birds, so don't worry about that.

 

[Glenda Heywoodo]

Well I would say you have lice in the chickenhouse
5% Sevindust Is banned for use on chickens these days
se the permethrin spray sold most every where. It is sold o Amazon
I would do this: PUT ON PLASTIC GLOVES SO NOTHING GETS ON YOUR HANDS WHILE SPRAYING THE CHICKEN OR TREATING THE CHICKEN HOUSE.
first spray the chickens individual when they are locked up in chicken house in the morning, inside the chicken house
then as you spray each chicken completely and toss it out to the chicken pen
When done spraying the chickens,
CLEAN THE CHICKEN HOUSE from top to bottom.
And when done cleaning out the chicken house before adding bedding do this
take a can of kerosene and can of car oil and mix it.
Then take a paint brush and pant all the cracks in the wood with the kerosene and car oil mix good.
then add the bedding and the hens an be let back in after several hours you have let the chicken house soak up the mixture painted on the cracks in the wood.
This action should keep the lice from living.
PS as for any and all cats, they should not be around the hen house any ways.
If not lock them up till you done working on the chickens and chicken house.

 

[BlueJuniper]

Thank you guys so much for the feedback. Would any of these sprays work for the purpose? Also, how many times will I have to spray each chicken?

 

[azygous]

Permethin spray is authorized to use safely on poultry as is spinosad (Elector PSP which costs more but is far safer for all animals.)

To be sure it's lice your flock has, inspect the skin around the vent area. You will see tiny red "dots" moving around. You will also probably see lice eggs "cemented" to the feather shafts. These are impossible to get rid of without yanking out the feathers.

The above treatments will kill active lice, but if you use permethrin, you may need to treat again in a week or so to get any lice that hatch since the first treatment. Spinosad kills the eggs, so no followup is necessary.

 

[BlueJuniper]

Thank you so much!

 

[Eggcessive]

Everyone has given good advice. Live tiny tan bugs should be seen when parting feathers. There are 2 types of chicken lice--the most common choose the under vent area, while the other prefer the neck area or under wings. Lice eggs hatch every 10 days, so retreatment is needed with permethrin, so the hatched eggs don't multiply. Coop treatment and fresh bedding is usually necessary as well. I would look at the bumps to see if they might be peck marks that have become pus-filled as well.

 

[BlueJuniper]

I have been frantically looking through my hens feathers, and the little balls can't be pecks from the other chickens. The little balls are at the base of the feather follicle, and are clumped around it.

I got powdered permethrin, and fluffed it under her feathers. I also deep cleaned the entire coop and run, and sprinkled the powder.

Thank you all so much for your feedback.

 

[Pyxis]

Make sure you get the other birds too - if she has it, I'd bet money the rest do too, just not as severe as her yet.