Rooster abuse?

[yellowherb]

After getting to the root of the problem, you may try using a high protein food like Purina growth and plumage game bird. It's very high protein and should help with faster feather growth and stop any feather cannibals. Chickens will eat the feathers of other chickens when lacking protein. You will need to supplement oyster shells or another calcium source if using game bird food during a molt.

 

[enggass]

Going to clean coops and spray with Gordon's Permethrin 10 Solution tonight, then add some BOSS to their diet.

 

[JanetMarie]

I hope you check out that bird's abdomen that looks swollen. That seems to me to be the most urgent.

 

[enggass]

Abdomen is getting better. Cleaned and sprayed whole coop with Permethrin. Then just now went out and sprayed birds with permethrin. Hope the bald ones sprayed butt doesn't freeze off as it is going to get cold tonight....

 

[21hens-incharge]

The spray will dry quickly. I really hope that ends the issue for them. Mites/lice are no fun for anyone.

 

[Michaels1715]

Good luck with your hens. Was just browsing here while waiting (hoping) someone will answer my question. I wanted to mention though - I used "garden and poultry dust" on my chickens last year for mites. It seemed to kill the mites.... but it also killed my favorite chicken.

She was a 4 yr old RSL - a hen with personality and intelligence I have never seen equaled. Long story short - she was hit by a car when she was 1, and I nursed her back. Overall, she was pretty much back to normal, but at the end of every winter she would sit in the coop a lot - I think her legs hurt her. Almost like she was broody except she wasn't broody (although the sweetie did hatch chicks for me 2 years ago).
Anyway, since she was in the coop a lot – I think that's why the mites got bad on her. So I dusted her and the others. Everyone else went outside and ran around, dust bathing and free ranging, etc., but my sweetie stayed inside. I would carry her outside every day when she did this - at least for a little while, and kept her separate from the others (partly to avoid the attentions of the rooster - which is why I think she really stayed inside). A day or two after dusting her, she stood in the grass preening herself, and I noticed there was still quite a bit of white powder on her. And here she was sticking her head in her powdered feathers while peeening.
I know, that wasn't so short. But I'll end it here because it's been almost a year and I'm still so upset with myself...
My baby went blind within a few days. I spent so much time trying to take care of her, but she was barely eating, and getting worse, and I didn't want her to sufffer any more than what I had already unknowingly put her through, so my vet put her down for me.

Anyway, I hope the product you used works and doesn't hurt your birds. I did have the same issue (feather loss) with one of my hens - I actually tried a hen saddle for a couple of months and it didn't help at all. It was mites, and once I got rid of them, her feathers regrew. Hope same for your girls. Best wishes.
~Sharon

 

[JanetMarie]

@Michaels1715 That stuff really is toxic to chickens, and in my flock the mites became immune to it. I use neem seed oil now, which is messy on the feathers, but works and is not toxic to chickens. I only have to treat the chickens that sit around a lot, or broody, and I had a rooster who had leg problems who couldn't dust bathe properly.

 

[aart]

Good luck with your hens. Was just browsing here while waiting (hoping) someone will answer my question. I wanted to mention though - I used "garden and poultry dust" on my chickens last year for mites. It seemed to kill the mites.... but it also killed my favorite chicken.

She was a 4 yr old RSL - a hen with personality and intelligence I have never seen equaled. Long story short - she was hit by a car when she was 1, and I nursed her back. Overall, she was pretty much back to normal, but at the end of every winter she would sit in the coop a lot - I think her legs hurt her. Almost like she was broody except she wasn't broody (although the sweetie did hatch chicks for me 2 years ago).
Anyway, since she was in the coop a lot – I think that's why the mites got bad on her. So I dusted her and the others. Everyone else went outside and ran around, dust bathing and free ranging, etc., but my sweetie stayed inside. I would carry her outside every day when she did this - at least for a little while, and kept her separate from the others (partly to avoid the attentions of the rooster - which is why I think she really stayed inside). A day or two after dusting her, she stood in the grass preening herself, and I noticed there was still quite a bit of white powder on her. And here she was sticking her head in her powdered feathers while peeening.
I know, that wasn't so short. But I'll end it here because it's been almost a year and I'm still so upset with myself...
My baby went blind within a few days. I spent so much time trying to take care of her, but she was barely eating, and getting worse, and I didn't want her to sufffer any more than what I had already unknowingly put her through, so my vet put her down for me.

Anyway, I hope the product you used works and doesn't hurt your birds. I did have the same issue (feather loss) with one of my hens - I actually tried a hen saddle for a couple of months and it didn't help at all. It was mites, and once I got rid of them, her feathers regrew. Hope same for your girls. Best wishes.
~Sharon

I'm assuming that the active ingredient in the "garden and poultry dust" was permethrin?
Sounds like maybe the dust got over-applied if it was still thick on bird 2 days later.
It definitely is a respiratory risk, for both birds and keepers, and should be handled and applied judiciously and with great caution.
Older and/or already compromised birds are certainly at greater risk.

@Michaels1715 That stuff really is toxic to chickens, and in my flock the mites became immune to it. I use neem seed oil now, which is messy on the feathers, but works and is not toxic to chickens. I only have to treat the chickens that sit around a lot, or broody, and I had a rooster who had leg problems who couldn't dust bathe properly.

What stuff?
Did you treat the coop cracks/crevices, and roosts, too?
Some mites do not live on the birds but in the coop structure.

 

[Folly's place]

Any product can be toxic if overused, and also, Michael's bird may have been ill with another problem that actually was the cause of her death. Did the vet do a necropsy? Mary

 

[enggass]

I treated the coop and all surfaces with a stronger solution then diluted and used on the birds based on the instructions. They all seemed fine this AM. I'll check back when I can determine the effectiveness of my treatments.
It is odd that only 2 hens seemed to have been affected by the mites. 3 other hens and my rooster didn't seem to have any issues. Assuming it's mites... Even the affected ones seem ok. Eating, drinking, ranging and laying.