Rooster isn’t responding to treatments

[Djripke78]

We have a 7 year old giant white Cochin rooster named Hank. For about 12 months we have been struggling with him over-grooming and pulling out his feathers. A few of the hens had started pecking on him, especially on his feet and the tops of his wings. We initially thought the damage to the feathers on his wings and feet were due to the constant pecking from the hens. So we purchased a spray that was specifically designed to stop that behavior and it worked great! No more hens pecking on him.
But he has continued to groom constantly, tearing out feathers under his neck, under and on his wings, abdomen, and legs. I read that mites and lice will cause this behavior so we purchased a spray for killing mites but had no success. He continued to pull put his feathers.
About 4 weeks ago I noticed that he has gotten considerably worse. So I completely cleared out the coop, down to the bare wood and applied DE to all the roosts, nesting boxes, floor and cracks/crevices where my chickens have access to. I did see what appeared to be mites (tiny, flat brown bugs with six legs) in the nesting boxes and some kind of tiny black shiny beetle type bug. I treated all my hens and my rooster with DE applying it on the back of their necks and down their backs, under their wings, under their necks and on their breast. It seems to be helping my oldest hen who has also just recently (last 4-6 weeks) began pulling the feathers from her neck and breast area. Her skin is no longer as red and inflamed looking, but she has continued to overgroom, as does my rooster. But my rooster is in terrible shape and does not seem to be improving at all. I‘ve done one application of the DE once a week for the last three weeks but it doesn’t seem to make any difference.
Hank has pulled most of the feathers out of his neck, breast, abdomen, lower legs, side and tops of his wings and the area under his wings. The skin is very red and angry in many places. So I’m asking for suggestions from others for possible treatments. We’re trying to stay away from conventional chemical type treatments, but at this point I’m open to suggestions since nothing we’ve done so far is helping And I’m sure he’s miserable.
I’ve attached two photos of Hank taken before the DE treatment started about 3 weeks and one photo of my hen who has starting to show similar feather pulling behaviors. Both of them seemed to be effected in the neck area first, and with my rooster it’s just spread all over. I can attach more recent photos if needed to show the increased feather loss and inflammation if it would be helpful.
Thank you for any suggestions.

 

[nuthatched]

De is totally ineffective and causes serious respiratory system issues for you and your chickens, please wear a mask when you next clean out your coop. You are going to need the big guns, you can get some permrethrine poultry dust and or spray, or some ivermectin. Here's some more info.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-fleas-dealing-with-external-parasites.74599/

 

[Smileybans]

Have you seen any bugs on the birds? Are these the bugs you saw in the nest boxes?

I would also treat with permethrin. It doesn’t hurt to spray the chickens and the coop. You will have to treat twice. The initial treatment and then a week later to kill anything that might have hatched out. There’s powders and sprays. I use both. I mix the powder in with my bedding once a week and spray the coop down, to keep flies away mostly, every other week. If treatment doesn’t work could his feather plucking be stress induced? Or boredom?

 

[Djripke78]

Yes, the little black bugs looked like these you have pictured. I also saw tiny brown mites in the same area.
Since posting this thread I have done two permethrin treatments on my entire flock, each one 10 days apart, including cleaning out the coop both times and applying permethrin to the entire inside concentrating on the roosts and nesting boxes. So far the majority of my flock are looking and behaving much better, but the two I originally posted about are still struggling, especially my rooster, he looks awful. I have purchased ivermectin and plan to administer it on my rooster while keeping him isolated. Hopefully this will provide some kind of progress forward. He has plucked out more than half his feathers. The areas that are exposed (tops of wings, neck, breast, legs/feet) are red and swollen and it doesn’t help that the hens continue to peck at all the bare areas on his body and feet If we aren’t diligent about keeping those areas covered with Vaseline. Most of his tail feathers are gone and there are tons of tiny black spots at the base of the feather shafts where the skin is exposed. His feathers look dirty and tattered. I don’t know why the permethrin didn’t help him and after researching I honestly feel more overwhelmed. Our hope is the ivermectin will be the answer. We’ve never had anything like this occur with any of our birds and we’ve raised and kept hundreds of chickens for almost 20 years.

 

[Smileybans]

Yes, the little black bugs looked like these you have pictured. I also saw tiny brown mites in the same area.
Since posting this thread I have done two permethrin treatments on my entire flock, each one 10 days apart, including cleaning out the coop both times and applying permethrin to the entire inside concentrating on the roosts and nesting boxes. So far the majority of my flock are looking and behaving much better, but the two I originally posted about are still struggling, especially my rooster, he looks awful. I have purchased ivermectin and plan to administer it on my rooster while keeping him isolated. Hopefully this will provide some kind of progress forward. He has plucked out more than half his feathers. The areas that are exposed (tops of wings, neck, breast, legs/feet) are red and swollen and it doesn’t help that the hens continue to peck at all the bare areas on his body and feet If we aren’t diligent about keeping those areas covered with Vaseline. Most of his tail feathers are gone and there are tons of tiny black spots at the base of the feather shafts where the skin is exposed. His feathers look dirty and tattered. I don’t know why the permethrin didn’t help him and after researching I honestly feel more overwhelmed. Our hope is the ivermectin will be the answer. We’ve never had anything like this occur with any of our birds and we’ve raised and kept hundreds of chickens for almost 20 years.

The tiny black bugs are springtails. They live off of decaying plant or organic matter.
If the permethrin isn’t doing the job another good spray is Elector PSP. I guess mites can become… immune to permethrin. Immune isn’t exactly the right word but it can stop working after awhile. Elector PSP doesn’t have that issue. Ivermectin will definitely help. Make sure to use it like the permethrin. 2Xs with a week in between. Blue kote could help your rooster. If you spray it on the areas the hens keep picking at then they should stop. They’re probably picking because of his exposed skin.
Can you get a picture of the tiny black spots on his feather shafts? I’m thinking they might be eggs. Or left over from the mites.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Poor fella. The Ivermectin should help, and the Elector PSP, too. Keep in mind that he probably won't regrow feathers until he molts, but the red should abate.

 

[HilaryAkin]

We have a 7 year old giant white Cochin rooster named Hank. For about 12 months we have been struggling with him over-grooming and pulling out his feathers. A few of the hens had started pecking on him, especially on his feet and the tops of his wings. We initially thought the damage to the feathers on his wings and feet were due to the constant pecking from the hens. So we purchased a spray that was specifically designed to stop that behavior and it worked great! No more hens pecking on him.
But he has continued to groom constantly, tearing out feathers under his neck, under and on his wings, abdomen, and legs. I read that mites and lice will cause this behavior so we purchased a spray for killing mites but had no success. He continued to pull put his feathers.
About 4 weeks ago I noticed that he has gotten considerably worse. So I completely cleared out the coop, down to the bare wood and applied DE to all the roosts, nesting boxes, floor and cracks/crevices where my chickens have access to. I did see what appeared to be mites (tiny, flat brown bugs with six legs) in the nesting boxes and some kind of tiny black shiny beetle type bug. I treated all my hens and my rooster with DE applying it on the back of their necks and down their backs, under their wings, under their necks and on their breast. It seems to be helping my oldest hen who has also just recently (last 4-6 weeks) began pulling the feathers from her neck and breast area. Her skin is no longer as red and inflamed looking, but she has continued to overgroom, as does my rooster. But my rooster is in terrible shape and does not seem to be improving at all. I‘ve done one application of the DE once a week for the last three weeks but it doesn’t seem to make any difference.
Hank has pulled most of the feathers out of his neck, breast, abdomen, lower legs, side and tops of his wings and the area under his wings. The skin is very red and angry in many places. So I’m asking for suggestions from others for possible treatments. We’re trying to stay away from conventional chemical type treatments, but at this point I’m open to suggestions since nothing we’ve done so far is helping And I’m sure he’s miserable.
I’ve attached two photos of Hank taken before the DE treatment started about 3 weeks and one photo of my hen who has starting to show similar feather pulling behaviors. Both of them seemed to be effected in the neck area first, and with my rooster it’s just spread all over. I can attach more recent photos if needed to show the increased feather loss and inflammation if it would be helpful.
Thank you for any suggestions.

Hey! Hope rooster is doing well. Just wondering what spray you used that worked so well against pecking. My hens are getting my roosters tail feathers badly.