Please help... What do I try next?

[peewee]

My two drakes have what appears to be fleas around their eyes. I have DE'd and lymed the dirt in their run. I have also bleached all of their house and toys, feeders and waterers. I have been putting Vaseline around their eyes and face two times a day to try and smother the fleas but it doesn't appear to be working. I have even dusted the birds with DE a couple of times a day as well. Nothing I have been trying seems to be helping them. In fact they seem to be getting worse. What else can I try to help with my babies? Are these even fleas or are they a type of mite? Where would they get anything like this and what can I do to prevent this from happening again? Never had to deal with anything like this before.

 

[EmAbTo48]

I would recomend if you've done all that, it might be time to just head to a vet.

 

[LLCoyote]

I'd try a vet. They may be able to give you specific power for poutry that can be applied right to the bird. I don't know if you've tried this but I would suggest not letting them back into their perminant pens until they are finished with the fleas completely or they will reinfect them. Fleas are terrible to get rid of and take a lot of time to eliminate completely. Good luck

 

[Speceider]

Doesn't look like fleas (birds don't get fleas). Looks more like Avian Diphtheria (Fowl Pox). Spread by mosquitos (they often bite around the eyes. Head, face and feet are most commonly affected, but may spread to portions of the feathered body. No real treatement, but road spectrum antibiotics are helpful to control secondary bacterial infections.


Clint

 

[dianaross77]

I recently found mites on my silkie chickens. They looked like tiny fleas. I used poultry dust on them and the coop and the box they sleep in. Sevin dust works too. I just put a little on a microfiber rag and used it like a powder puff.

 

[peewee]

Thank you everyone for their replies.

Speceider, What is on my birds is some sort of "critter". If birds do not get fleas then can I assume that they could be mites or, heaven help me, some sort of tick? I looked up the Avian Diphtheria and what my birds have is nothing like what they are describing for this virus. My birds have no noticeable swelling around their eyes but they are slightly irritated. What looks like "swelling" in the picture is because they just got out of the water and washed most of the Vaseline goop off.

dianaross, The sevin dust is something that I have not tried. I will be going to the store tomorrow to see if I can find this. I will give it a shot and see if it looks like it is going to help. If not I will take the boys to the vet. Will do this if I have to but I could definitely do without the bill for that one.

Anyone else have any ideas?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Quote:
I wonder if it's what I have heard people call stick tight fleas? a while back someone was talking about their chickens having them around their eyes. I use Epernix pour-on on my ducks, chickens and goose. you put drops on their skin at the base of their neck where the wings begin, like you do frontline for dogs. Epernix will kill any external and enternal parasites. If you decide to go with the sevin dust, I don't know how you'd keep it out of their eyes. Ivermectin pour-on works like Epernix except with epernix there is no egg withdrawl.

 

[tbitt]

I have no clue. I just wanted to tell you that you are doing a good job at trying to figure this out.

The picture is a very good one, I'd love to hear what the vet says and how to cure it.

Please follow up with us often, this very well could end up being a thread that will help others later on.

Good Luck to you boys!

 

[agregg15]

Birds don't tend to get fleas, they usually get mites and from the picture, they look like mites. I would get permethrin and dust it around their pen and coop and on the ducks (don't get it in their eyes or near their bill.) You can pick it up at TSC or Walmart. I used it on one of my indoor birds which had mites and it worked. Here are some helpful sites : http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/metiram-propoxur/permethrin-ext.html http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/Permtech.pdf

 

[70%cocoa]

Quote:
That's exactly what I thought when I saw the pic (though we call them 'stick fast fleas' here).

Something like the product that Miss Lydia used will work - Eprinex. Or anything that contains ivermectin, selamectin (Revolution for dogs does), or moxidectin. If you can buy Revolution for dogs in the US put a few drops on the skin, not on the feathers, at the back of the neck or between the shoulders. Remove the swimming water for a couple of days to make sure it isn't washed out. I would treat all of your birds.

What kind of floor do you have in your coop or run? The trouble with stick fast fleas is that they live in the soil in the bottom of the coop/duck house. The eggs are laid in the soil and the larvae dig down and then re-emerge at a later stage in their life cycle. The best prevention is a concrete floor or some other kind of floor that they can't burrow into - rubber mats or linoleoum would work too. So, if it is stick fast fleas, I'd have a think about where the larvae are burrowing and do something about that too. Google will help you work out how to deal with the house.