PLEASE HELP!!!! Mites? please see picture

[sandimaschick]

I have been dusting my birds with the powder containing permethrin. I have been treating them for a few months with no results. It just spreads to different parts of the birds. They are not picking at eachother and I never see feathers around. I did in the past make the mistake of leaving the coup door open and the wild birds coming in to eat the food. I stopped that months ago. Is this not mites? Can this be successfully treated? The powder I am using contains 0.25% permethrin. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

[welasharon]

I can't really tell from the picture but do you see bugs or is it that the feathers are missing?

 

[sandimaschick]

I do not see any bugs what so ever. I thought mites were microscopic but I could be wrong. The feathers in the infected area seem to get thinner and then just disappear altogether. And the Exposed Skin is red.

 

[chickcrack]

Hi. It looks like feather picking to me. If you suspect mites look at there vents. They are very tiny but you will be able to see them and they will be crawling around the vent area. You can put a bird on a white sheet of paper and give it a vigorous pet around her back end (in her bum fluff) then look for any of the specks moving on the paper. But what I'm thinking tho is that you have a feather pecker/eater in your flock if you aren't finding any feathers. Feathers are high in protein and if a bird is craving it they will pick and eat. I have one that only ever does it on the roost at night. I never catch her but her perch mate has missing neck and head feathers and now refuses to sit beside her! Hope you can get to the bottom of it.

 

[sandimaschick]

Thank you. It's just that all of the feathers are missing underneath the bird as well. And it does seem strange that only one of the birds is untouched and has perfect feathers. I appreciate your response.