- Mar 25, 2024
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Howdy! This is my first post on Backyard Chickens. I am a first time chicken keeper. I've learned a lot from other threads on this site. However, I haven't found an answer to my particular problem.
I mail-ordered chicks (from Chickens for Backyards) back in July of 2023: three Buff Orpingtons, three Lavender Orpingtons, three Speckled Sussex (one is a rooster), and three Salmon Faverolles. Their names are Maisie, Leeli, Sadie, Elsie, Janie, Minnie, Brynn, Molly, Brie, Mari, Debbi, and the rooster Alek. Yes, I know Brynn doesn't rhyme with the others. She was supposed to rhyme with Lynn but he ended up being the rooster.
My chickens are suuuper sweet. They veeery rarely ever pick at each other. They all are very good friends and love to be together. They also absolutely love hugs. Even my rooster hops up on my lap to get hugs anytime I sit down. We have a little couch in the aviary and, if I sit down, at least five or six will hop up on my lap or snuggle next to me.
They don't free-range because of so many predators in our area (we have a resident hawk named Pippin), but they have 400 square feet of space total (not counting the coop): 100 sq. ft. enclosed run with a tunnel to a 300 sq. ft. netted aviary.
We get about 7-10 eggs per day. They are clean and regularly shaped.
They always have access to good healthy food, water (sometimes with acv or an oregano mix), oyster shells, alfalfa pellets, etc. They have a dust bath of peat moss, diatomaceous earth (don't come at me for it), homegrown sage (when I have it), and sulfur. Admittedly, I think I ran out of sulfur or just didn't add enough right before the symptoms I'm about to explain occurred.
They had all been in good health -- with beautiful feathers.
-Feather Loss-
March 2nd: I suddenly noticed my SS, Brynn, had lost all her bum feathers. Her skin was very flaky and red. I cried cause I thought maybe she was dying. I did as much research as I could but it just scared me more. We did everything we could to help her. She got a good bath and hen-healer lathered on the area. In the morning, the skin looked very healthy and wasn't red at all.
March 3rd: I took her over to my neighbor to see what she thought. She was super helpful and almost positive it was feather mites/lice (Phew! She wasn't dying like I thought.) We checked the other hens out to see if it had spread to them. My rooster, Alek, had lost some bum feathers as well and his skin was bright red (it didn't calm down from a bath). We cleaned the coop and run from top to bottom and treated everything we could with Gordon's Permithrin -- 1:200 dilution. We sprayed the hens that day with a Pyrethrin spray that we ended up realizing had expired a long time ago. It was given to us by someone else, and we hadn't checked the exp. date.
March 5th: We sprayed them with Gordon's Permithrin. The affected chickens got epsom salt baths every night when the skin flared up red. They got blow-dried. Then we applied hen-healer to their bums.
March 15th: I noticed Elsie, Janie, Minnie, and Maisie had started to lose back feathers. The Lavs had lost the whole feathers, whereas the Buff had lots of broken feathers and a couple bare spots in addition. I didn't really know, but I assumed this may be from mating? To be safe, we treated them again ten days after first use of the Permithrin.
March 21st: We hoped everything was alright but then I noticed my other SS, Molly, started losing bum feathers as well. We treated once again (each time was a freshly mixed solution), seven or eight days after the previous treatment.
I have noticed all along that around the bare areas, there is a lot of flaky skin. The skin isn't red at all, but it's peeling. We spray blu kote on the bare areas. They are all eating and drinking well.
-Poopy Feathers-
Their poops are normal (to the best of my knowledge) -- maybe a little watery occasionally (I'm also assuming this is cecal poo.) The dropping board usually has well formed poos. Their vents looks okay. I did noticed that two hen's vents were ever so slightly wet with something sort of yellow. But it really was barely anything. I don't know if that's normal or not. Poo keeps sticking to their bum feathers and caking on (especially Brynn back when she had bum feathers). I trimmed them a while back (which is part of why I didn't notice Brynn losing feathers) and it lasted about a month before they got covered in poo again. The dirty feathers also tend to drop out or just remain as a bare shaft. I have no reason to think it is a feed issue; They eat very healthy.
So all this to say, should I be concerned about mites or lice still being present? Is it even mites or lice? None of the tests I have done that people suggest have shown proof of mites. Is the flaky skin from lice or is it another issue? Is the poo sticking to feathers something I need to be worried about? I don't know anything about worms, but they didn't seem to have any other symptoms. I am going to try and do my own fecal test soon to see if there are any worm eggs present.
I haven't noticed any lethargy or other symptoms mentioned in regards to mites, lice, or worms.
If you have made it through this lengthy post, I thank you. I love my chickens so much and I want to do my best to take care of them. I would appreciate advice from some experienced chicken keepers. Thank you again.
-- Elspeth
Soli Deo Gloria
I mail-ordered chicks (from Chickens for Backyards) back in July of 2023: three Buff Orpingtons, three Lavender Orpingtons, three Speckled Sussex (one is a rooster), and three Salmon Faverolles. Their names are Maisie, Leeli, Sadie, Elsie, Janie, Minnie, Brynn, Molly, Brie, Mari, Debbi, and the rooster Alek. Yes, I know Brynn doesn't rhyme with the others. She was supposed to rhyme with Lynn but he ended up being the rooster.
My chickens are suuuper sweet. They veeery rarely ever pick at each other. They all are very good friends and love to be together. They also absolutely love hugs. Even my rooster hops up on my lap to get hugs anytime I sit down. We have a little couch in the aviary and, if I sit down, at least five or six will hop up on my lap or snuggle next to me.
They don't free-range because of so many predators in our area (we have a resident hawk named Pippin), but they have 400 square feet of space total (not counting the coop): 100 sq. ft. enclosed run with a tunnel to a 300 sq. ft. netted aviary.
We get about 7-10 eggs per day. They are clean and regularly shaped.
They always have access to good healthy food, water (sometimes with acv or an oregano mix), oyster shells, alfalfa pellets, etc. They have a dust bath of peat moss, diatomaceous earth (don't come at me for it), homegrown sage (when I have it), and sulfur. Admittedly, I think I ran out of sulfur or just didn't add enough right before the symptoms I'm about to explain occurred.
They had all been in good health -- with beautiful feathers.
-Feather Loss-
March 2nd: I suddenly noticed my SS, Brynn, had lost all her bum feathers. Her skin was very flaky and red. I cried cause I thought maybe she was dying. I did as much research as I could but it just scared me more. We did everything we could to help her. She got a good bath and hen-healer lathered on the area. In the morning, the skin looked very healthy and wasn't red at all.
March 3rd: I took her over to my neighbor to see what she thought. She was super helpful and almost positive it was feather mites/lice (Phew! She wasn't dying like I thought.) We checked the other hens out to see if it had spread to them. My rooster, Alek, had lost some bum feathers as well and his skin was bright red (it didn't calm down from a bath). We cleaned the coop and run from top to bottom and treated everything we could with Gordon's Permithrin -- 1:200 dilution. We sprayed the hens that day with a Pyrethrin spray that we ended up realizing had expired a long time ago. It was given to us by someone else, and we hadn't checked the exp. date.
March 5th: We sprayed them with Gordon's Permithrin. The affected chickens got epsom salt baths every night when the skin flared up red. They got blow-dried. Then we applied hen-healer to their bums.
March 15th: I noticed Elsie, Janie, Minnie, and Maisie had started to lose back feathers. The Lavs had lost the whole feathers, whereas the Buff had lots of broken feathers and a couple bare spots in addition. I didn't really know, but I assumed this may be from mating? To be safe, we treated them again ten days after first use of the Permithrin.
March 21st: We hoped everything was alright but then I noticed my other SS, Molly, started losing bum feathers as well. We treated once again (each time was a freshly mixed solution), seven or eight days after the previous treatment.
I have noticed all along that around the bare areas, there is a lot of flaky skin. The skin isn't red at all, but it's peeling. We spray blu kote on the bare areas. They are all eating and drinking well.
-Poopy Feathers-
Their poops are normal (to the best of my knowledge) -- maybe a little watery occasionally (I'm also assuming this is cecal poo.) The dropping board usually has well formed poos. Their vents looks okay. I did noticed that two hen's vents were ever so slightly wet with something sort of yellow. But it really was barely anything. I don't know if that's normal or not. Poo keeps sticking to their bum feathers and caking on (especially Brynn back when she had bum feathers). I trimmed them a while back (which is part of why I didn't notice Brynn losing feathers) and it lasted about a month before they got covered in poo again. The dirty feathers also tend to drop out or just remain as a bare shaft. I have no reason to think it is a feed issue; They eat very healthy.
So all this to say, should I be concerned about mites or lice still being present? Is it even mites or lice? None of the tests I have done that people suggest have shown proof of mites. Is the flaky skin from lice or is it another issue? Is the poo sticking to feathers something I need to be worried about? I don't know anything about worms, but they didn't seem to have any other symptoms. I am going to try and do my own fecal test soon to see if there are any worm eggs present.
I haven't noticed any lethargy or other symptoms mentioned in regards to mites, lice, or worms.
If you have made it through this lengthy post, I thank you. I love my chickens so much and I want to do my best to take care of them. I would appreciate advice from some experienced chicken keepers. Thank you again.
-- Elspeth
Soli Deo Gloria
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