What’s wrong with my rooster!

[M Brennen]

With long spurs growing rather inwards than backwards, older roosters will get irritations on their inner joints, as the long spurs scrape along the joints with every step they take. Sitting comfortably on the roosting bar is also a problem, as these spurs dig right into the legs.

I have seen it on some of my roosters and it stopped soon after trimming back the spurs using a Dremel and treating the irritated areas with salve.

Losing feathers this time of years is normal, as the birds begin their yearly molt. My roosters plumage looks rather pathetic at the moment, but they soon will be back to their former glory.

My rooster is only 14 months old. It appears I have a mite problem. I dont know if that would effect the Spurs or not.

 

[M Brennen]

DE may help reduce the mite load, but I've not found it super effective for active cases. I puffed permethrin (Poultry Dust) around the vent area of all my birds and mites were gone in less than 24 hours. I'm pretty much at the point in my life that I don't mess around with "probable" methods for anything. It's all or nothing, and permethrin will get the job done. It does wonders for my cabbage looper problem too.

Ivermectin or other oral mite treatments are effective for scaly mites, but permethrin and other poultry dusts are not very effective for scaly mites.

Is it safe to eat the eggs after dusting the chickens with permethrin? On article I read said there were traces of permethrin found in egg yolks 21 days after application.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Is it safe to eat the eggs after dusting the chickens with permethrin? On article I read said there were traces of permethrin found in egg yolks 21 days after application.

The container said it was safe. I haven't searched any further than that, sorry.

 

[LaFleche]

My rooster is only 14 months old. It appears I have a mite problem. I dont know if that would effect the Spurs or not.

The missing spur might have got caught somewhere and been ripped off. I don't think that it is related.