Just found out yesterday that one of my girls has been suffering from mites for at least 3 weeks. :c
I dusted her with Sevin Dust last night, but I'm not exactly clear on how the stuff works. I've checked her for mites this morning, and I saw nothing. She's still powdery, as she's not ruffling her feathers or bathing herself. All she's doing is either standing stiffly or lying down. And I'm extremely worried because from what I can see, she hasn't eaten at all today. Three crumbs of feed, that's it.
Now, for the way too many questions.
And I'm sure I'll think of more...
Should I be confining her to a box away from everyone, even during the day? I wanted to let her range, but apparently she wants none of it, and wants to lie down.
Do I need to force feed her? I've never done that, and don't know how to do it.
I dust her again in 5-7 days, not before, not after?
Her comb/wattle is pale; her crop is...still squishy, but much less than yesterday, the day before; and her butt is still messy. Should I give her another warm water bath? The problem is the powder; I don't want to wash it out, but her butt should be clean sometime. No poop covering her vent, though. And speaking of poop, she's been pooping something that ominously resembles an egg, mostly white with a clear orangey-yellow spot. What might that mean? She hasn't been laying for approx. 3 months. Thought it might be normal, 'cause she's about three years old.
And WHEN might I be seeing some improvement? Will it be a while? I'm feeling a little hopeless about this.
As you can probably tell, this is my first time with chickens, and I've never dealt with a health issue before. It's disturbing how little I know about all this. D:
I dusted her with Sevin Dust last night, but I'm not exactly clear on how the stuff works. I've checked her for mites this morning, and I saw nothing. She's still powdery, as she's not ruffling her feathers or bathing herself. All she's doing is either standing stiffly or lying down. And I'm extremely worried because from what I can see, she hasn't eaten at all today. Three crumbs of feed, that's it.
Now, for the way too many questions.

Should I be confining her to a box away from everyone, even during the day? I wanted to let her range, but apparently she wants none of it, and wants to lie down.
Do I need to force feed her? I've never done that, and don't know how to do it.
I dust her again in 5-7 days, not before, not after?
Her comb/wattle is pale; her crop is...still squishy, but much less than yesterday, the day before; and her butt is still messy. Should I give her another warm water bath? The problem is the powder; I don't want to wash it out, but her butt should be clean sometime. No poop covering her vent, though. And speaking of poop, she's been pooping something that ominously resembles an egg, mostly white with a clear orangey-yellow spot. What might that mean? She hasn't been laying for approx. 3 months. Thought it might be normal, 'cause she's about three years old.
And WHEN might I be seeing some improvement? Will it be a while? I'm feeling a little hopeless about this.
As you can probably tell, this is my first time with chickens, and I've never dealt with a health issue before. It's disturbing how little I know about all this. D: