Hens losing feathers and red

[Herdwick sheep]

Some of out hens are losing feathers and very red. They look sore but are actually laying relatively normally and are not ‘acting’ sore.
As far as I can tell there is no red mite, they are not pecking at each other and we took one to the vet but they had no answers and gave a steroid injection but hasn’t seemed to help
Have just done with louse powder but nothing to see and they would be visible I presume?

Was wondering if anyone on here has any suggestions.
The shed has been disinfected with Fam 30 but we’ve done it before with that and not had this problem

Is affecting around half (10 of 21) and they all seem very happy otherwise

Hoping someone can shed light on it.

Thanks

 

[ploughman1963]

Mites? A dusting of diatomaceous Earth couldn’t do any harm and could sort it out

 

[copse]

Some of out hens are losing feathers and very red. They look sore but are actually laying relatively normally and are not ‘acting’ sore.
As far as I can tell there is no red mite, they are not pecking at each other and we took one to the vet but they had no answers and gave a steroid injection but hasn’t seemed to help
Have just done with louse powder but nothing to see and they would be visible I presume?

Was wondering if anyone on here has any suggestions.
The shed has been disinfected with Fam 30 but we’ve done it before with that and not had this problem

Is affecting around half (10 of 21) and they all seem very happy otherwise

Hoping someone can shed light on it.

ThanksView attachment 1065747View attachment 1065748

Will be red mites and will come out at night to feed on them . Have any died yet or don’t want to go back in house at night?

 

[Wilksy]

Looks like feather eating to me

 

[Herdwick sheep]

Thanks for replies



@copse
No. Everything is happy. All go back to bed in an evening with no problem at all and none died . Red mites would be seen on a hen wouldn’t they? Will give them a dusting with red mite powder and see if that helps. Louse powder and red mite powder different things?
Will Louse powder kill all mites ?

Feather eating? @Wilksy Anything I can do to help/stop that? Eating their own I presume as they aren’t pecking at each other

Thanks again for help.

 

[Wilksy]

I would suspect it’s another hen doing it, but catching them at it is tricky, and the one that’s being plucked will stand there daft as brush and let her do it, you could try putting something fowl tasting (pun intended) on the area, but necking the culprit when you find it is probably the surest way

 

[7610 super q]

Out with the Stockholm tar........

 

[Castle Farm]

The red is caused by sunlight after feather loss. Birds are in a moult. You can ether reduce the protein to hasten feather loss or up it to get the birds to grow more. The pituitary gland controls most bird functions including moult and egg numbers. It is affected by light intensity.

 

[steveR]

Red Mite is very easily controlled in our experience.... *

One drop of Eprinex Pour-On on the neck on each bird, and then move them away from the contaminated shed. Withdrawal periods should be followed, so dump the eggs for 7-10 days. However, if the birds are heavily infested they will often not be laying much. The treatment also cleans up some other parasite issues I believe..

Old fashioned creosote was excellent for red mite in sheds, but you need to leave the birds out of the shed for a while afterwards .

I said that any new shed put up woul be made from stokboard, which can be power washed!



*Off an american website several years ago!! So deffo off-label!!

 

[Sir loin]

You will not see red mite on the hens look in the tiny cracks and cavities in the shed and when you start itching you have found them. A mixture of fairy liquid and water sprayed liberally over the interior of the shed will not harm the hens and will kill mites by destroying their waxy cuticle (back).

 

[Herdwick sheep]

Thank you. Have looked tonight after dark and nearly sure it is mites of some description. Really surprised as just cleaned and disinfected it last week.
Obviously not far enough up the walls to get rid of all the mites.

Or Would mites jump back off birds back into shed ? Thinking they would stop on warm birds rather than jumping off again
Washing shed again tomorrow first thing and hopefully will clear it up.

Just a complementary question Will it need more than one wash or is it just a case of seeing if one clears the problem up? And if it doesn’t just keep washing till it’s sorted I presume

Thanks all for the help.

 

[hollister]

Make up a paste with DE and water and paint it on the perches. As it dries the mites have to cross it so will end up getting covered in it

 

[Dry Rot]

I had an infestation of mites in a breeding loft for goshawks. Obviously expensive birds so I was careful doing my research and could not remove the birds. I gave everything a liberal dose of white vinegar which killed the mites and didn't harm the birds.

 

[steveR]

I had an infestation of mites in a breeding loft for goshawks. Obviously expensive birds so I was careful doing my research and could not remove the birds. I gave everything a liberal dose of white vinegar which killed the mites and didn't harm the birds.

Mild acid.... Makes sense.

 

[steveR]

Red Mite is very easily controlled in our experience.... *

One drop of Eprinex Pour-On on the neck on each bird, and then move them away from the contaminated shed. Withdrawal periods should be followed, so dump the eggs for 7-10 days. However, if the birds are heavily infested they will often not be laying much. The treatment also cleans up some other parasite issues I believe..

Old fashioned creosote was excellent for red mite in sheds, but you need to leave the birds out of the shed for a while afterwards .

I said that any new shed put up woul be made from stokboard, which can be power washed!



*Off an american website several years ago!! So deffo off-label!!

I would add, that we tried numerous nostrums and treatments on the poultry to little effect we felt, until we used Eprinex.

I always power wash the sheds out before any treatment of teh building.

 

[Oliveau]

Spend a few minutes in the shed - If you have red mites they will soon start crawling about in your hair

 

[ollie989898]

I thought the mites didn't live on the birds themselves but in the structure of the housing. We routinely dust the floor, walls and perches of our hen house virtually every time it is cleaned out. It's diatomaceous Earth- the mites can't survive with it being present. Our birds have been in moult also and it is not unusual to look a bit tatty at the time.

Letting them have more space and some other things to peck at and eat probably won't hurt if it is pecking from other birds doing it.

You will be able to spot red mite if you look very very closely at the housing/perches etc. They don't like sunlight at all and soon go scurrying if exposed to it.

 

[TexelBen]

Exzolt in their water will sort them. I've tried loads of the other "treatments" nothing else touched them

 

[Netherfield]

sit inside the shed a while the little buggers will soon find you.

 

[Pasty]

Looks like a standard moult to me. Possibly out of sync due to warmer weather or some other stress. Could have a mite issue. As said, hang out in the shed and you'll be crawling in a minute or 2. Mites cause most damage while the birds are roosting. Also, make sure they have general stuff like dust baths on hand.