PLEASE HELP, chick infested with fleas!

[Chik697]

I work for a farm and the girl who I work for is very busy. She recently asked if I wanted a peacock chick with splayed legs because she feared she didn’t have the time to treat it. But that chick is not the point of this thread, she also gave me a baby chicken to give it company. Due to me working there from what I saw its background was its mom ran off and came back with her chicks, this chick being one. And the lady put them in a coop and took away the moms (she also found another mom) because they didn’t want to adopt her new pea chicks and were pecking at them. Now the chick that I have seems to preen a lot and and I saw fleas and also what looked to be mites crawling all over it. I give my own birds permethrin 10 baths but never seen a chick with it. Since being in water can rapidly drop its body temperature I also don’t want it to get eaten alive. I believe this could have been due to it hatching in the wild or my bedding having it. If you guys know what I should do please give me some ideas. The chick also cries a lot and I fear it is calling for it’s mom. I never removed a mom from her chicks before so I don’t know if it is still imprinted.

 

[akitafriendakita]

It's fine to give chicks a bath if the water is just proper temperature/comfortable, and also you gently blow dry it before it's cold for too long. Make sure it's basically completely dry after. I've done it many times for my dirty chicks.

The chick is crying because it's lonely [and likely uncomfortable too with the mites/fleas.] Can you get another chick for it? They can basically die of loneliness/depression eventually [unless you are willing to spend your entire day entertaining the chick/keeping it company,] they're social animals.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I give my own birds permethrin 10 baths but never seen a chick with it.

Permethrin is safe for use on chicks.. I've done it before.. using a cotton ball to apply.. never had to do baths.. just a bit under each wing pit, right below the vent on the abdomen, and at the back of the neck where the head meets the neck.

ETA: anytime I did have to bathe a chick.. following up with gently blow drying was also done before returning to the brooder or flock.

 

[Chik697]

It's fine to give chicks a bath if the water is just proper temperature/comfortable, and also you gently blow dry it before it's cold for too long. Make sure it's basically completely dry after. I've done it many times for my dirty chicks.

The chick is crying because it's lonely [and likely uncomfortable too with the mites/fleas.] Can you get another chick for it? They can basically die of loneliness/depression eventually [unless you are willing to spend your entire day entertaining the chick/keeping it company,] they're social animals.

So then should I go to tractor supply and get a few friends? I assume then the pea chick it doesn’t consider as a friend. I should definitely try and treat it first because I don’t want it to spread to the others. Thank you so much for your response!

 

[akitafriendakita]

So then should I go to tractor supply and get a few friends? I assume then the pea chick it doesn’t consider as a friend. I should definitely try and treat it first because I don’t want it to spread to the others. Thank you so much for your response!

I would do that once treatment is done and you know they can safely be with other chicks! Until then, if you have time, hang out with the chick and keep it company. Depression seems to hit them pretty rapidly and sometimes they will give up on eating, especially a young chick which can basically fall over and die instantly once they stop eating for a day.

Hopefully a few intensive baths and the recommended permethrin from the other commenter will fix this issue fast so you can put him/her in with other chicks!

 

[Chik697]

I would do that once treatment is done and you know they can safely be with other chicks! Until then, if you have time, hang out with the chick and keep it company. Depression seems to hit them pretty rapidly and sometimes they will give up on eating, especially a young chick which can basically fall over and die instantly once they stop eating for a day.

Hopefully a few intensive baths and the recommended permethrin from the other commenter will fix this issue fast so you can put him/her in with other chicks!

Oh lord that’s so stressful. It isn’t eating ether. I still have all my other birds to feed but I will try my best to keep it alive. I only expected to be careing for the peacock and now the chick is worse. I am spending time with them and it finally is quiet after I got pooped on probably have fleas and woke me up a million times at night to check if they were ok. But now they are sleeping peacefully I guess. I will do a treatment after I’m done with my other birds and spend as much time with them till I can get to tractor supply and hopefully have a break. Also could return it but at this point it is just as much work as just keeping it and getting some friends.

 

[Chik697]

Oh I just realized it has eggs on its face around its eyes that makes me think it probably was not my bedding. I tried to take a picture but the chick is all black so it is not picking up on camera at all…

 

[akitafriendakita]

Oh I just realized it has eggs on its face around its eyes that makes me think it probably was not my bedding. I tried to take a picture but the chick is all black so it is not picking up on camera at all…

I would clean that away during the bath, having dirty sticky feathers makes them very uncomfortable and will distract them from more important tasks like eating.

 

[Chik697]

I would clean that away during the bath, having dirty sticky feathers makes them very uncomfortable and will distract them from more important tasks like eating.

I saw the chick eating and it did drink a ton so that’s a great sign! I just put the permethrin with a Cotton ball under the wings, near the vent and behind the neck and tried to remove the eggs with a flea comb but unfortunately they are really lodged in it’s fluff and the chick is too small and fragile for me to actually apply pressure and get them out. Especially the placement is horrible right above the eye. I find it a little concerning that the chick was wobbly right after though. After the chick is dry I’m going to remove the bedding and put paper towels. I did see flees before but after I put the permethrin I saw a ton of mites coming all to the surface. I tried to pick as many as I could off by hand and smushed them with my fingers. I will have to keep an eye on the peacock chick because the mites might move to it too. Poor little guy did not have a great start to life it just keeps preening and scratching. It doesn’t have an egg tooth so I assume it wasn’t just born and maybe that’s why the mites are so bad.

 

[CombNWattles]

@azygous @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive
Anything else Chik697 should do?