tiny pale brown shiny bugs on chicken butt picking feathers out

[newbiechickenowner]

Please help. I have had the worst luck with my batch of chickens. I built a beautiful coop. Brought in chickens that were raised at a farmers for the first 3 months and I have had nothing but nightmares with them. We have had some picking others feathers out, BUT NOW I started noticing random feathers being plucked out of the birds and some dandruffy and they just look "rumpled". I had checked for moving things before and hadn't found any, I have treated them for round worm, a respiratory disease and NOW we I finally found tiny pale brown shiny bugs (they are longer than wide with pointy ends on each end) around one of the barred rocks butts. So, I have yet another problem. I use sand in one part of their coop and shavings in the other. I even use shavings in their run and rake them up and dispose of them and replace them to try to make sure that we get out as much of everything as possible. I was told the dryer the environment the better as far as when we had our roundworm infestation. SO>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> PLEASE HELP! Questions:

HOW do I RID them of this??????????? I can't stand crawling things. I feel like I am covered with them and know that is probably not possible given the limited contact I just had...think I am just creeping myself out.

Please be detailed. How do I get rid of them. can I EVER get rid of them completely???? Please tell me yes.

Do I have to disinfect my entire house, clothing, children, etc or live in fear that we have somehow carried them in and/or on us?

They are laying very well.

I look forward to your help.

 

[KellyHM]

They are either mice or lites (or both). Although they can get on you they can't LIVE on you b/c they're poultry specific. You need to Sevin Dust all the birds, as well as their environment. Do this every 2 weeks (to kill the new hatches) until the bugs are gone. Get rid of all the bedding possible and spread Sevin Dust on the rest. If you're diligent about it you CAN get rid of them, but it will take a little time. The good news is they won't kill the chickens in the meantime...unless they have a HUGE infestation...they're mostly just an irritant.

ETA: If they are mites you can also kill them by putting Ivomec on the chickens, but then you shouldn't eat the eggs. With the Sevin Dust the eggs are still edible b/c it's just a topical.

 

[newbiechickenowner]

Is there a way to tell which they are by the descriptoin that I gave?

 

[KellyHM]

They sound more like lice to me, but not really sure. Lift up the wings and look right in the corner...that's where the lice like to "congregate." Lice will also lay eggs on the base of the feather shafts, usually the feathers of the upper neck.

 

[newbiechickenowner]

good tip I will look when I head back out. What do the eggs look like? Have you seen them?

 

[KellyHM]

They're just tiny white balls and there are usually quite a few on each feather shaft. I recently noticed some on some chickens I bought. When you Sevin Dust them you will see all the mites/lice come to the top of the feathers (dying). Just make sure you ruffle the dust in their feathers to get down to the skin.

 

[newbiechickenowner]

I was just doing some more reading in an article and it said that the mites can cause the feather loss and "scabs" on the skin of the bird. Interestingly, I had noticed that a couple of my birds had patches or areas where the feathers had completely fallen out and there were small scabs here and there on teh skin. I wonder if this has been going on for awhile even though I hadn't been able to find a "moving" parasite. We have just had nonstop problems. I love these chickens and love taking care of them, but it is just getting too much. I have since read that a lot of people don't recommend getting them after they have been raised on a farm for several months because they are usually compounded with problems. They say to get them from hatcheries. I wish I had known that before. Now the kids (and I) are attached to the existing crew and I just want to get them healthy. Do you have to hold the eggs while treating with this Sevin dust? Have you heard of

permethrin or
"Poultry Protector"?

They were in the article too.

 

[KellyHM]

The permethrin will kill them too. You don't have to get the eggs b/c the dust won't kill them...that's why you have to retreat when the eggs hatch.

Hatchery chicks can have their own issues too. If you really want to be safe you should hatch your own eggs next time.

 

[newbiechickenowner]

I want to bring in 4-5 more to replace the lost ones and that is what we were thinking of doing is hatching some of our fertilized eggs in the spring. I am sorry...what did you mean by you don't have to treat the eggs....?

How often do you do the 7 dust? Has this happened to you before? Thanks SO much for your time !

 

[KellyHM]

I thought when you asked "Do you have to hold the eggs while treating with this Sevin dust?" that you were talking about the lice eggs, but now I realize you meant the chicken eggs.

You can still eat the eggs (or at least I do) since the dust is just topical. I just started dusting the new ones I got, but I'll be doing it every 2 weeks.