Urgent!!! Awful mite infestation killed three hens while we were on vacation! WHAT DO I DO?

[EEforMe]

Upon inspecting the bugs in their feathers and the bugs in their coop it looks like they might have both mites and lice!!! I took one of each and looked at them under a microscope and the ones in their feathers looked like what I saw when I searched “chicken lice” up on google and the ones in the coop looked like what I saw when I searched “chicken mites” up on google. Pls tell me I’m wrong and it’s just part of their life cycle or something. What do I do???

Without pictures no one's going to be able to verify it for you

Here’s the pics:
What I found in their feathers:

What I found on their coop:

 

[Tookie]

Here’s the pics:
What I found in their feathers:
View attachment 3185042
What I found on their coop:
View attachment 3185041

The first pic is a lice and the second is a mite.

 

[EEforMe]

The first pic is a lice and the second is a mite.

Dang. So they have both

 

[CFLRanching]

Yes defintely looks that way, and you are very, very welcome. Hope you can get it all taken care of in them. Just be vigilant with it. It's not fun, but you can get rid of them; just remember about retreating for the second cycle.

 

[M Brennen]

I’m following this thread. I currently have a bird dying of a severe mite infestation. She started with what appeared to be sour crop. I brought her inside and tried treating her for that. She stopped eating and I never realized she was so infested with mites i
until two weeks later when I was covered in them. I treated her and both my coops with Elector PSP. None of my other birds appear as dire as she does. It’s been 5 days since treatment and she is still completely covered in mites. Temperatures here are currently in the 20 degree range. Is there anything I can do for her?

 

[Eggcessive]

I thought that Elector PSP killed mites right away. How was it mixed? I haven’t used it, but did you follow the instructions for chicken and the coop? Since you say she is still covered in mites, can you get some ivermectin pour op or other ivermectin to use? The pour on dosage if it is 5 mg per ml, is 0.1 ml for each 2 pounds of weight placed on the back of the neck over the spine. I would have to check on oral or injectable dosage. Most pharmacies will give you a 1 ml syringe without a needle free for giving medications to pets and babies. Those are handy with such low doses.

 

[MidwestIsBest]

I’m following this thread. I currently have a bird dying of a severe mite infestation. She started with what appeared to be sour crop. I brought her inside and tried treating her for that. She stopped eating and I never realized she was so infested with mites i
until two weeks later when I was covered in them. I treated her and both my coops with Elector PSP. None of my other birds appear as dire as she does. It’s been 5 days since treatment and she is still completely covered in mites. Temperatures here are currently in the 20 degree range. Is there anything I can do for her?

What did you end up doing for this? I have the same situation currently. I have elector in route and treated with ivermectin 2 days ago and permethrin tonight but she was still covered tonight when I applied the premethrin so ivermectin didn’t do a thing. She looks really bad. I’m syringing her water with vitamins and electrolytes but she is just gasping and looks awful. They are all over her. Seems to have came out of nowhere as I had no signs of an issue and then bam she went down. Obviously missed whatever signs there were but I need to know what to do now to try and save her. I hate seeing any animal suffer. Breaks my heart

 

[Wyorp Rock]

What did you end up doing for this? I have the same situation currently. I have elector in route and treated with ivermectin 2 days ago and permethrin tonight but she was still covered tonight when I applied the premethrin so ivermectin didn’t do a thing. She looks really bad. I’m syringing her water with vitamins and electrolytes but she is just gasping and looks awful. They are all over her. Seems to have came out of nowhere as I had no signs of an issue and then bam she went down. Obviously missed whatever signs there were but I need to know what to do now to try and save her. I hate seeing any animal suffer. Breaks my heart

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mite-infestation.1557781/#post-26395055

 

[M Brennen]

What did you end up doing for this? I have the same situation currently. I have elector in route and treated with ivermectin 2 days ago and permethrin tonight but she was still covered tonight when I applied the premethrin so ivermectin didn’t do a thing. She looks really bad. I’m syringing her water with vitamins and electrolytes but she is just gasping and looks awful. They are all over her. Seems to have came out of nowhere as I had no signs of an issue and then bam she went down. Obviously missed whatever signs there were but I need to know what to do now to try and save her. I hate seeing any animal suffer. Breaks my heart

I’m s sorry you are dealing with this. I ended up euthanizing the sick bird. After treating her with Elector PSP twice (the second time I wiped her down with it) she was still covered with them. I know what you mean about coming out of nowhere! i dont see them on any of my other birds, but bought Ectoline and treated them with this too. I suspect the ick bird had an underlying condition as well and bring her into my warm house encouraged the mites to blossom. Good luck.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I’m s sorry you are dealing with this. I ended up euthanizing the sick bird. After treating her with Elector PSP twice (the second time I wiped her down with it) she was still covered with them. I know what you mean about coming out of nowhere! i dont see them on any of my other birds, but bought Ectoline and treated them with this too. I suspect the ick bird had an underlying condition as well and bring her into my warm house encouraged the mites to blossom. Good luck.

I responded with a sad face and now I feel I have to explain it. It was not meant in a judgmental way, but to express sympathy that you had to deal with a sick bird in your flock and it had such an unfortunate outcome. Having read a few of these threads, it seems that sometimes a bird has an underlying issue that they successfully hide from their owners, but the parasites are not fooled and they take over. The rest of the flock, being in good health with good immune systems, are not attacked. That's just my opinion anyway.