Something wrong with roosters crown?

[EggSighted4Life]

I have noticed my roosters crown having black dots on it. It has little chunks out of it from gnats biting it. I will get a picture of him later if I can. He also has little bits of white going through all the crevices in his crown. Please help! I am worried they might also be mites along with the gnats. He rubs his crown against me trying to get it all off. He acts normal but I want him to be happy and comfortable.

Post pictures. Some black dots are scabs from confronting another chicken.

Don't worry about the white.. that's usually just dry skin. I would not be applying oil for any cosmetic reason..

Avoid using DE, as it is very ineffective in humid conditions or once wet. Ingesting it is not harmful in small amounts but inhaling it can be.

The only bugs that stick to combs are stick tight fleas. Using something PROVEN effective would be the wisest choice.

There was a gnat problem a couple years back in the US that was suffocating the chickens they invaded!

What country are you in? Why did you lose that many guinea fowl?

Sorry for those losses! Welcome to BYC, I hope your flock continues to thrive!

In the US, permethrin based "horse fly spray" is very effective at treating MOST external chicken parasites.. including using a dipped cotton swab on the head.

Let me offer a tiny bit of advice. You do not need to take every single bit of advice offered to you. It can be confusing and conflicting, and a lot of it is not all that helpful.

I first and second this statement!

Please get other opinions and experiences as there are a ton of bad advice on here given by people with only the best intentions of helping.

 

[azygous]

I might offer one other tip on how to weed out unhelpful advice on such a large forum as this and Facebook and YouTube.

That is to discern whether advice is coming from experience and has been tried and found effective and advice that is merely something the poster "read somewhere", this latter being something without much value unless it's something such as a link to a scientific study that supports what the poster is advising.

Just this past week, I watched with horror as a thread maker took erroneous advice over advice backed by experience and the hen died when it may have been possible to save her.

 

[SacredWaves]

Again, I simply stated what worked for me. Had you read my complete posts, you would see that I said it was very dry, and dusty. I also said not on the face, and that it was what I found helped. Of course picking through websites can be bad. It can also help. Sorry, apparently don't take my advice. It's cosmetic, and dangerous. I will take my leave.

 

[SacredWaves]

2 Links to begin your own research on DE.

https://cs-tf.com/diatomaceous-earth-for-chickens/

https://audreyslittlefarm.com/diatomaceous-earth-for-chickens/

https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/diatomaceous-earth-for-chickens/

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

Ssoutheast G

Let me offer a tiny bit of advice. You do not need to take every single bit of advice offered to you. It can be confusing and conflicting, and a lot of it is not all that helpful.

Diatomaceous earth (DE) is a respiratory hazard to humans and especially to chickens' delicate respiratory system, and it doesn't do much, if anything, to treat parasites. It's best to just say no to it when it is suggested.

Blu-kote painted on the black spots on the comb can help heal them and provide some relief to his discomfort. Oil and wound ointments are going to cause their own discomfort and make him want to shake it off. Blu-kote, when dry, isn't felt.

What is your location? It will help us understand the conditions you are dealing with and maybe we can help you figure out how to combat them to get some relief.

Southeast Georgia.

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

Again, I simply stated what worked for me. Had you read my complete posts, you would see that I said it was very dry, and dusty. I also said not on the face, and that it was what I found helped. Of course picking through websites can be bad. It can also help. Sorry, apparently don't take my advice. It's cosmetic, and dangerous. I will take my leave.

I will take whatever advice I get. Turns out I do have DE. I have only been putting a little bit around my coop ( Not when my chickens are around me).

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

Would putting (chicken safe) sand down help with bugs? We are trying to find some with no chemicals. Any idea where to get some while we are talking about bug prevention?

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

Again, I simply stated what worked for me. Had you read my complete posts, you would see that I said it was very dry, and dusty. I also said not on the face, and that it was what I found helped. Of course picking through websites can be bad. It can also help. Sorry, apparently don't take my advice. It's cosmetic, and dangerous. I will take my leave.

Your advice has been very helpful.

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

Post pictures. Some black dots are scabs from confronting another chicken.

Don't worry about the white.. that's usually just dry skin. I would not be applying oil for any cosmetic reason..

Avoid using DE, as it is very ineffective in humid conditions or once wet. Ingesting it is not harmful in small amounts but inhaling it can be.

The only bugs that stick to combs are stick tight fleas. Using something PROVEN effective would be the wisest choice.

There was a gnat problem a couple years back in the US that was suffocating the chickens they invaded!

What country are you in? Why did you lose that many guinea fowl?

Sorry for those losses! Welcome to BYC, I hope your flock continues to thrive!

In the US, permethrin based "horse fly spray" is very effective at treating MOST external chicken parasites.. including using a dipped cotton swab on the head.


I first and second this statement!

Please get other opinions and experiences as there are a ton of bad advice on here given by people with only the best intentions of helping.

I will past pictures in a few minutes. Four of my Guinea fowl got decapitated by raccoons. The other got eaten in the middle of the night. I gave one away because the flock was about to kill him. One recently got picked off by something in the middle of the day. One got eaten by a Eastern yellow rat snake, not venomous. And the other two got picked off aswell. One of the racoon attacks happened recently. The middle of the night attack was also recent aswell as with the middle of the day attack. I gave the one away recently aswell. As I am typing this, they are screaming their small one brain celled heads off.

 

[azygous]

You can get construction sand at any gravel and sand yard in town. You are no doubt fighting high humidity and spring is especially bad for gnats. More than half of them are capable of nasty bites if they're anything like the gnats in springtime along the Colorado River. I don't know of anything that will protect you.