Silkie thread!

[Sonoran Silkies]

Lice and mites can and do happen, and it is not always obvious from simply looking at the birds. At times of stress, most health issues can escalate, and shipping, even under the best of circumstances, is stressful. However, a bird that is being shipped should be treated at least a day or two beforehand, regardless of whether issues with bugs are suspected. Now most treatments will not kill eggs, so you would probably have to re-treat a week afterwards, and probably a third time as well to completely break the cycle. But that depends on the particular products used.

My preferred method is to bathe in a flea/tick shampoo labeled for cats or dogs. For a really bad infestation you can use human lice shampoo. Make sure to completely rinse the product off; white vinegar in the rinse water helps with this.

Dusting needs to be with either a permethrin/pyrethrin or carbaryl based product. Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is useless against an infestation. There is some evidence that it can help prevent them. Note that most of these powders/dusts are very drying to the skin, and that itself could cause itching.

You can also use a flea/tick/mite spray formulated for dogs, cats or birds. Lice cannot live long off the birds; mites can, so if you find mites, you will need to thoroughly treat all housing and replace all bedding.

For the bird that is still lethargic, keep an eye on its poop. Scrambled or hardboiled eggs are a good plan, and gatorade or pedialyte added to the water. If there is not a rapid improvement, consider treating for coccidiosis and/or worms.

Note that wild birds are probably the most common vectors of lice & mites, and even of worms, although earthworks and cockroaches are also important worm vectors.

 

[lil mama]

Maybe she needs a little boost after all she has been thru,boil or scramble her an egg yolk and mix in a little yogurt.Poor little thing,what are you using to treat the lice?

thanx I will do that today! I am using Sevin.

 

[lil mama]

I'm glad you addressed this. I too am new at chickens this year, and have been buying adults or older chicks and having them shipped. The first 4 transactions went well and I couldn't be happier with my chickens. The 5th time, though, I bought a Buff-Barred Cochin rooster and 3 Silkies from a fairly well-known breeder. She sends me a PM and says "They're shipped, BTW you'll have to treat them for mites because I saw some." I was furious! How irresponsible is it to knowingly send mite-infested birds half way across the country? Indeed the rooster was covered in bugs and eggs, so bad he lifted his hackles and shook his head every few minutes. I wanted to return them to her but she just kept giving me the run-around. My husband was so mad and we were so unprepared to deal with mites that we got rid of these birds. Pretty expensive lesson to learn.
The only good thing about that whole ordeal is that in the meantime I had been working a deal on some other Cochins, and when they came I inspected them before just putting them in with the rest of my flock. They had bugs too. Not near as bad, and I didn't see any eggs, but my current flock is completely bug-free and I want to keep it that way! I had been reading a lot after the other birds, so I put Frontline on these birds (the kind you put on dogs) and put them in a barn we don't use, in a wire dog crate on a cement floor, which I also dusted with Premectin. It's been a little over a week now and I haven't seen anymore bugs. I don't know how long I'll keep them in quaratine but I'm not ready to put them in with the rest of my flock just yet. This breeder had said she was unaware of the bugs, and I don't believe she intentionally sent me infested birds.

Needless to say this all has soured me on buying anymore birds. I have been reading this and other threads and see it happen again and again.
Breeders need to be more vigilant in sending CLEAN birds to people!

I agree! Dont sell infested birds?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: For brachydactyly, think of it like this. Spread out your hand and consider the forefinger and thumb to be the equivalent of the hind toes, and the little finger the equivalent of the outer toe. Now imagine that the littel finger stops short at the knuckle or joint instead of being a complete finger. That is brachydactyly.

Polydactyly is the presence is extra fingers/toes. For humans, that is a number in excess of 5. For birds it is in excess of 4. The gene is VERY variable! Also, incubation temperatures during the first few days can affect the appearance or lack of extra toes. It will not make extra toes appear that are not genetically present, but it can modify the expression when the genes are there. It is documented in genetic literature that it can be suppressed if the temperatures are low. I'm not sure if higher temps would cause extra toes (beyond 5) to form or not. Hutt has a pretty good discussion on polydactyly, and a number of photos of different expressions of polydactyly.

 

[littlecritters]

For brachydactyly, think of it like this.  Spread out your hand and consider the forefinger and thumb to be the equivalent of the hind toes, and the little finger the equivalent of the outer toe.  Now imagine that the littel finger stops short at the knuckle or joint instead of being a complete finger.  That is brachydactyly.

Polydactyly is the presence is extra fingers/toes.  For humans, that is a number in excess of 5.  For birds it is in excess of 4.  The gene is VERY variable!  Also, incubation temperatures during the first few days can affect the appearance or lack of extra toes.  It will not make extra toes appear that are not genetically present, but it can modify the expression when the genes are there.  It is documented in genetic literature that it can be suppressed if the temperatures are low.  I'm not sure if higher temps would cause extra toes (beyond 5) to form or not.  Hutt has a pretty good discussion on polydactyly, and a number of photos of different expressions of polydactyly.

Thank you!

 

[lil mama]

Lice and mites can and do happen, and it is not always obvious from simply looking at the birds. At times of stress, most health issues can escalate, and shipping, even under the best of circumstances, is stressful. However, a bird that is being shipped should be treated at least a day or two beforehand, regardless of whether issues with bugs are suspected. Now most treatments will not kill eggs, so you would probably have to re-treat a week afterwards, and probably a third time as well to completely break the cycle. But that depends on the particular products used.

My preferred method is to bathe in a flea/tick shampoo labeled for cats or dogs. For a really bad infestation you can use human lice shampoo. Make sure to completely rinse the product off; white vinegar in the rinse water helps with this.

Dusting needs to be with either a permethrin/pyrethrin or carbaryl based product. Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is useless against an infestation. There is some evidence that it can help prevent them. Note that most of these powders/dusts are very drying to the skin, and that itself could cause itching.

You can also use a flea/tick/mite spray formulated for dogs, cats or birds. Lice cannot live long off the birds; mites can, so if you find mites, you will need to thoroughly treat all housing and replace all bedding.

For the bird that is still lethargic, keep an eye on its poop. Scrambled or hardboiled eggs are a good plan, and gatorade or pedialyte added to the water. If there is not a rapid improvement, consider treating for coccidiosis and/or worms.

Note that wild birds are probably the most common vectors of lice & mites, and even of worms, although earthworks and cockroaches are also important worm vectors.

Thanks for all the info. It was very obvious that she had lice. As soon as I picked her up I could see the eggs all over her beard and by her ears. I want to worm her too but I am afraid to do too much at once.

 

[Whittni]

OH. MY. GOSH. These ugly little birds started showing up in my pen eating my chicken feed last week and NOW MY FLOCK has MITES! GAHHHHHH....I'm not selling hatching eggs for a while or eating the eggs for at least two months after I have this cleared up. Nasty little birds brought mites, the red kind. I used the rest of my poultry powder to try and help and I was only able to dust around 7 or 8 birds and then the bottle ran out. Its the kind that costs $10 at the feed store. GAHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhh! And that is how I feel, I feel like a nasty chicken keeper, these birds are kept in a clean enviroment

and its so sad.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

OH. MY. GOSH. These ugly little birds started showing up in my pen eating my chicken feed last week and NOW MY FLOCK has MITES! GAHHHHHH....I'm not selling hatching eggs for a while or eating the eggs for at least two months after I have this cleared up. Nasty little birds brought mites, the red kind. I used the rest of my poultry powder to try and help and I was only able to dust around 7 or 8 birds and then the bottle ran out. Its the kind that costs $10 at the feed store. GAHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhh! And that is how I feel, I feel like a nasty chicken keeper, these birds are kept in a clean enviroment

and its so sad.

Put some ivermectin in the water and treat both your clock and the wild birds that are bringing in the mites...

 

[Whittni]

How do I treat the little yucky birds? I just hung my feeder and waterer in the coop so the little birds hopefully won't go in there...

 

[Hawkeye95]

How do I treat the little yucky birds? I just hung my feeder and waterer in the coop so the little birds hopefully won't go in there...

They will still go in the coop, trust me. I currently have a wild bird that built a nest (without me realizing it) and now there are baby birds in the rafters! I am not cruel enough to dump out featherless baby birds. I'm going to treat everyone in the coop, even though I see no signs of mites or lice... I figure it's a matter of time there.

The ivermectin is something you can get at any farm store.