Scabby swollen faces. Northern Fowl mite infestation. Help pls!

[xxadrixx]

Hello I spent all last night reading every thread about swollen eyes and most don't look the same as my 2 girls. The poor things are all scabby. I don't think it is a respiratory infection because there is no boogers or sneezing or weezing when they breath. The mites startedin September and have been a never ending battle. But they never ever had anything like this. Last month the mites were really starting to clear up and I thought I almost had them all but apparently not. After reading all the threads it is probably because it's been raining and they haven't had a lot of dry dirt to do their dirt baths. So they mites came back with vengence I have been dusting with DE like crazy but still trying to be careful of the girls. They look so bad it looks like I've neglected them for weeks! I feel horrible. I filled up their food and water 2 days ago and they seemed just fine, I didn't inspect them closely though. I haven't been out in 2 days and they are in bad bad shape! I have just the 2 girls and one last night one eye was nearly closed up and this morning both her eyes are! I tried to wipe them with a warm cloth but they definitely don't like that. I put neosporin on the scabs so the mites won't go back around their face area. Gave them DE baths and (As the feed store instructed). Fed Kabob (one who can't see now) some yogurt. I was going to run out and buy Tylan because that's what seemed to work best after reading all the posts but that is more for respiratory problems. Will that help them with any infection and the swelling? I was looking into Ivomec also but that won't help with their eyes right that will just kill the mites...which i plan to get anyhow to keep the mites away. Then tempo SC and Adams all of which are for the mites right? But what can I do for their poor swollen scabby faces? I wanted to stay organic but whatever they need to fix this I am okay with, and I don't care about loosing any eggs. Please if anyone could could offer a suggestion on how to stop the swelling or knows a lot about Tylan

 

[casportpony]

DE didn't work for me... Get some poultry dust from TSC and dust all of your birds. Mite can kill birds if left untreated long enough. For my coops and perches, I use Sevin Spray.

 

[casportpony]

For their scabby faces, do some research on fowl pox. If it is pox, antibiotics won't help unless they have secondary infections.

 

[Kikiriki]

I have not tried this as I have not had mites, but I would if I did:

My son moved into an apartment and discovered a bedbug infestation. He does not use pesticides, so he was freaking out, especially because the little buggers are pesticide resistant, and hide in tiny cracks and crevices and in bedding.

He used alcohol. When it evaporates it desicates bugs. Community chickens site just had an article on using vodka for cleaning, and it works under the same principle: the bacteria is desicated when the alcohol evaporates.

So instead of poisonus isopropyl alcohol, go get a bottle of cheapest brand vodka and a spray bottle to spray down the entire coop and run area.

I would also do the soil...

Also, you might want to keep the chickens caged so they do not peck at each others wounds...

 

[xxadrixx]

I bought vetericyn to put on the scabs & i washed one with bug arrest pet shampoo. Poor baby was so infested. That def got the mites off her. But now I'm looking at pics of fowl pox & it looks very similar! we are going to the vet tomorrow b/c poor kabob can't even see. Culling is def not an option for me, i couldn't do it.

 

[casportpony]

While you're at the vet, ask him/her to set up a worming program that includes Fenbendazole and ivermectin.

 

[xxadrixx]

I found ivermectin at the feed store for only 7 bucks but its a giant dose for a horse. I'm afraid i will OD my girls. The smallest dose was for 200lbs. Do you know the dosage for chickens?

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Hello I spent all last night reading every thread about swollen eyes and most don't look the same as my 2 girls. The poor things are all scabby. I don't think it is a respiratory infection because there is no boogers or sneezing or weezing when they breath. The mites startedin September and have been a never ending battle. But they never ever had anything like this. Last month the mites were really starting to clear up and I thought I almost had them all but apparently not. After reading all the threads it is probably because it's been raining and they haven't had a lot of dry dirt to do their dirt baths. So they mites came back with vengence I have been dusting with DE like crazy but still trying to be careful of the girls. They look so bad it looks like I've neglected them for weeks! I feel horrible. I filled up their food and water 2 days ago and they seemed just fine, I didn't inspect them closely though. I haven't been out in 2 days and they are in bad bad shape! I have just the 2 girls and one last night one eye was nearly closed up and this morning both her eyes are! I tried to wipe them with a warm cloth but they definitely don't like that. I put neosporin on the scabs so the mites won't go back around their face area. Gave them DE baths and (As the feed store instructed). Fed Kabob (one who can't see now) some yogurt. I was going to run out and buy Tylan because that's what seemed to work best after reading all the posts but that is more for respiratory problems. Will that help them with any infection and the swelling? I was looking into Ivomec also but that won't help with their eyes right that will just kill the mites...which i plan to get anyhow to keep the mites away. Then tempo SC and Adams all of which are for the mites right? But what can I do for their poor swollen scabby faces? I wanted to stay organic but whatever they need to fix this I am okay with, and I don't care about loosing any eggs. Please if anyone could could offer a suggestion on how to stop the swelling or knows a lot about Tylan

Well, when it comes to the diatomaceous earth? I can't say that I've seen many have much luck ... lots of folks use ashes, but I'm still a fan of killing all parasites rather than merely reducing their populations (i.e. 0.25% permethrin w/in garden/poultry dust, which you could cut a bit further w/ the DE).

When it comes to their faces? Pictures would help, but I'll upload some of what I suspect you to be describing ... if I'm wrong? You be sure 'n lemme know, and upload the correct ones -- either of your birds, or of similar images.





If these look all too familiar? You're dealing with the dry type of Fowl Pox, for which there's really not all that much you can do, but keep 'em from having secondary bacterial/fungal infections, or pickin' one another's scabs, and makin' certain that you don't spread it to anybody else's birds.

 

[casportpony]

I found ivermectin at the feed store for only 7 bucks but its a giant dose for a horse. I'm afraid i will OD my girls. The smallest dose was for 200lbs. Do you know the dosage for chickens?

Ask your vet. I would not use the horse wormer on my birds.

 

[xxadrixx]

Sorry it took me a while to get back. It is indeed fowl pox. It doesn't have anything to do with the mites, that's just been another loosing battle. I had t put Kabob down She wouldn't eat or drink for 3 days.

Bouillon still looks absolutely horrible but she is still eating semi-normally, we have to help her eat and drink because the swelling around her eyes is so bad she has a hard time finding her food. we are giving her tylan 50 because we did start to notice a little weezing and some mocos coming from her nose. We are keeping her in a dog kennel in the bathroom to keep her a little warmer and to keep her away from the mite infested coop. I plan on bleaching that today. I was going to try the hot sauce method on the dirt, some people said that definitely works. Any other sugegstions for getting rid of mites in the dirt? Here are some pictures even in the last 4 days it has changed it looks less pussy and we are also putting iodine on the scabs. Which is to help them dry out and fall off. Things like neosporin and vetercyn keep them moist, opposite of what you want. I will try to keep this updated. So maybe this can help someone else out. I was so stressed trying to figure this out and it took me a while to realize it was fowl pox and then what to do from there