Treating with Corid and poultry dust...too much?

[Futuregreenefarm]

So I have 8 chickens, about 8-1/2 weeks old, of which I am pretty confident 3 are pullets and 5 are cockerels (one has definitely crowed now)and I have every intention of rehoming the cockerels but I think they have mites as they scratch a lot and they're feathers are humped up on their backs a lot and I see them scratching in that area and their faces to. I don't want to give the boys away if they have mites. So I got the permethrin based poultry dust, cleaned their coop and dusted everything with it. I am wondering how to treat the birds when I am not able to handle them directly? Also, I noticed one looks like he is losing weight instead of growing, sometimes he will just sit down and today, I had a pullet sitting around instead of forging. I have also seen runny poop. So I decided to get Corid and treat them for that as well to be safe. That isn't too much to do at one time is it? And there is a lot of fighting and discord in the group. Is that too many males or just mite irritation and sickness causing stress? ( I will re-home the males and have a taker but I don't want to dump sick chickens on someone who already has an established flock.) Thank you for any input.

 

[RollingE]

Likely your fighting issues are due to your ratio of hen:cock. Males will learn fairly quickly to try and lay claim to hens. Is the fighting only going on within the cockerels, or are the hens fighting as well?

As for mites, have you checked under their wings to be sure you know what youre treating? Treating chickens for unconfirmed ailments is never a good thing, especially when doing so with unnatural substances.

How much experience do you have with poultry? Are you certain that the squity poops arent just a normal squirty poops? All chickens will have a fairly regular squirty poo now and again.

I would suggest cobfirming the mite issue by looking at the skin under the wings and around the vent. There are some lovely resources online that will show you what a normal chicken poo looks like as there are about 5 or 6 different types that are all normal, and all gross!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

You can give Corid and Permethrin at the same time.

The dust is hard to administer if you don't want to handle each bird. The only way is to get it into the base of the feathers at the vent and under the wings. Using a nylon stocking filled with the dust as a powder puff works.

Otherwise, you are better at buying the liquid permethrin, like Gordon's Poultry Spray, and spraying the birds on the roost.

Corid goes in the water.

It is likely having 5 boys rather than sick birds. Sick birds don't tend to fight. Crowded birds do however. And males, as they age, will challenge each other, and the others, especially if crowded.

LofMc

 

[Lady of McCamley]

...also, at 8 weeks they are likely in a juvenile molt which causes a lot of the scratching and poor feather appearance. I agree to check for visual confirmation of mites/lice.

Coccidiosis will cause huddling with a fluffed appearance and runny poo. The surest way is to take a fecal to a vet, but Corid won't hurt them, so you could treat as a matter of course.

LofMc

 

[Wyorp Rock]

So I have 8 chickens, about 8-1/2 weeks old, of which I am pretty confident 3 are pullets and 5 are cockerels (one has definitely crowed now)and I have every intention of rehoming the cockerels but I think they have mites as they scratch a lot and they're feathers are humped up on their backs a lot and I see them scratching in that area and their faces to. I don't want to give the boys away if they have mites. So I got the permethrin based poultry dust, cleaned their coop and dusted everything with it. I am wondering how to treat the birds when I am not able to handle them directly? Also, I noticed one looks like he is losing weight instead of growing, sometimes he will just sit down and today, I had a pullet sitting around instead of forging. I have also seen runny poop. So I decided to get Corid and treat them for that as well to be safe. That isn't too much to do at one time is it? And there is a lot of fighting and discord in the group. Is that too many males or just mite irritation and sickness causing stress? ( I will re-home the males and have a taker but I don't want to dump sick chickens on someone who already has an established flock.) Thank you for any input.

Can you post some photos of the chicks, humped up feathers and their poop?

I'm not understanding your question of how to treat the chicks if you are not able to handle them(?) If there are mites, then you would dust them with the Permethrin powder, back of neck, under the wings and under the vent. Wear gloves and a face mask if you need to.

At 8 1/2 wks, they are probably still going through a juvenile molt, could it be that you are seeing keratin sheaths that are/were surrounding the feathers and sloughing off? Do your chicks have access to loose dirt for dust bathing?

What breed are the chicks and what are you feeding them? If you feel that you have one that is not growing/gaining, get his weight now so you can monitor whether he's putting on weight or not.

Corid is Amprolium(a Coccidiostat) that goes in the drinking water, it only treats Coccidia, so there should not be any contraindications of using Permethrin poultry dust in conjunction with the Corid.

 

[Futuregreenefarm]

Likely your fighting issues are due to your ratio of hen:cock. Males will learn fairly quickly to try and lay claim to hens. Is the fighting only going on within the cockerels, or are the hens fighting as well?

As for mites, have you checked under their wings to be sure you know what youre treating? Treating chickens for unconfirmed ailments is never a good thing, especially when doing so with unnatural substances.

How much experience do you have with poultry? Are you certain that the squity poops arent just a normal squirty poops? All chickens will have a fairly regular squirty poo now and again.

I would suggest cobfirming the mite issue by looking at the skin under the wings and around the vent. There are some lovely resources online that will show you what a normal chicken poo looks like as there are about 5 or 6 different types that are all normal, and all gross!

Thank for helping. I am new to chickens as I am sure you could tell. I haven't looked at the chicks up close as they do not allow me to handle them. To make a long story short, they came to me via an untamed hen who basically follows a neighbor's rooster around. She hatched them and showed up in my yard and we were able to herd them into a quickly bought prefab coop where she stayed for about 4 weeks with them and then returned to the rooster afterwards. I kept the chicks but she had already taught them to be leary of humans and I have worked hard to try to tame them but they still won't let me pick them up or hold them to inspect them. But I have seen small black bugs in the coop and that's another reason I treated as well.

The runny poop has been going on for about 3 days. I thought originally it was from dairy I was feeding them (cheese) so I stopped doing that but the runny poop did not stop and seems more are doing now. I thought one might have been pink tinged and this prompted me to start treatment also.

 

[Futuregreenefarm]

...also, at 8 weeks they are likely in a juvenile molt which causes a lot of the scratching and poor feather appearance. I agree to check for visual confirmation of mites/lice.

Coccidiosis will cause huddling with a fluffed appearance and runny poo. The surest way is to take a fecal to a vet, but Corid won't hurt them, so you could treat as a matter of course.

LofMc

Thank for helping. I would handle them if they permitted but if you see where I replied to Rolling E, you might see where I am not able yet. I do understand about the spray now so thank you. I had thought of molting...there are alot of feathers in the coop these days when I clean it out. But I have seen small black bugs in the coop also.

The chicks are ruffled appearing a lot but I honestly don't know if it's from sickness or the bickering going on. They don't appear to be huddling, only laying down at random times and singly, not in groups like resting per say.

 

[Futuregreenefarm]

Can you post some photos of the chicks, humped up feathers and their poop?

I'm not understanding your question of how to treat the chicks if you are not able to handle them(?) If there are mites, then you would dust them with the Permethrin powder, back of neck, under the wings and under the vent. Wear gloves and a face mask if you need to.

At 8 1/2 wks, they are probably still going through a juvenile molt, could it be that you are seeing keratin sheaths that are/were surrounding the feathers and sloughing off? Do your chicks have access to loose dirt for dust bathing?

What breed are the chicks and what are you feeding them? If you feel that you have one that is not growing/gaining, get his weight now so you can monitor whether he's putting on weight or not.

Corid is Amprolium(a Coccidiostat) that goes in the drinking water, it only treats Coccidia, so there should not be any contraindications of using Permethrin poultry dust in conjunction with the Corid.

I will try to get photos, yes. Thanks for helping. They are not very tame and do not allow me to handle them regularly. They came to me by way of an untamed hen in the neighborhood who showed up in my yard. They do have access to dust bathing. They are allowed to free range a few hours in the evenings and have 2 places that I watch to make sure they are disturbed looking. They are mixed breed and I feed them Dumor chick started 20%. I was giving treats a lot and I have stopped except once a day so they will eat the starter feed and hoping it would help with the runny poop. I was using the treats to help tame them and hopefully train them but I have cut back wanting them to be healthier more so.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I kept the chicks but she had already taught them to be leary of humans and I have worked hard to try to tame them but they still won't let me pick them up or hold them to inspect them. But I have seen small black bugs in the coop and that's another reason I treated as well.

The runny poop has been going on for about 3 days. I thought originally it was from dairy I was feeding them (cheese) so I stopped doing that but the runny poop did not stop and seems more are doing now. I thought one might have been pink tinged and this prompted me to start treatment also.

The chicks are ruffled appearing a lot but I honestly don't know if it's from sickness or the bickering going on.

They are mixed breed and I feed them Dumor chick started 20%. I was giving treats a lot and I have stopped except once a day so they will eat the starter feed and hoping it would help with the runny poop.

Wait until they are roosting to catch them - you can get them off the roost when it's dark - either early in the morning or when they go in at night.
If you can get pictures of those bugs, that might be helpful as well.

I look forward to the photos, please include some photos of the chicks so we can see what they look like, we love chicken photos here!

A daily treat is fine in my book. I like to give mine a small amount of scratch, veggies or eggs. My LOVE scrambled eggs so that's something you can try. If they are quite rowdy, split the eggs up into several bowls. I get cheap bowls at the dollar tree (3 for $1.00?) and just spread them out so no one can control the treats.

 

[RhodeIslandRed5]

Here's a photo of the liquid Corid. It can be bought at Tractor Supply.