Bare Bottoms !

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Our 4 girls are doing great as they approach their first hatchday.
However,3 of them have feather pecked bare red bottoms. I see from other contributors that this could be depluming mite. Also one recommendation was carbolized vaseline as a treatment.

Can anyone please confirm the success of this treatment and its application and where best to purchase it ?

In all other aspects of their day to day life they are great, lovely red combs etc. They have a good mixed diet and have opportunity to free range everyday. They lay every day and are very happy girls.

Many thanks

Lisa :)
 
Hi,

Yes, check them over for lice and mites and treat if necessary, bare bottoms can be caused by lice / mites. Make sure you check carefully between the feathers under wings and look closely around their bottoms.

Ivermectin is often used by vets (a few drops on the skin) to remove lice / mites.

If they are feather picking one another, try to see when they are doing this. Are they confined for a time when they are bored and getting into bad habbits? If they have free range over a reasonable area, they should be happy and not be doing this.

If you are sure they are free of mites / lice then I would look to coating the feathers that are near with one of the many anti-peck products to put them off picking at any more.
 
Thank you Tim for your prompt response.
Info I've read says that the depluming mite is too tiny to be seen by the naked eye. We regularly check them over and there is no sign of any other mites. Not knowing there was such a mite as this we thought they were feather pecking, so we've been using anti-peck spray. But still the problem has persisited.
And we don't witness any feather pecking.
Going to give the vets a call to enquire about treatment and will report back on its success.

Many Thanks.

Lisa :) :)
 
Hi Lisa,

Depluming itch mite (Cnemidocoptes gallinae) is usually found on the neck. Around the bottom, it is normally Northern Fowl Mite (they are much more common) or lice - Louse eggs look like granules of sugar at the base of feather shafts near the bottom / back end.

Ivermectin isn't effective for depluming itch mite but pyrethrum based powders can help (something like Buzz Busters or Johnson's Flea and Louse Powder?) although one of my books says they are hard to contril and to cull :o

Obviously best to get your vets recommendations though.

Calcified Seaweed (if you can find it) is very good for plumage / feather regrowth and I would use a handful of crushed dried catfood to top up protein levels. (Not dogfood because this protein isn't derived from animals, it comes from cereals).

Tim
 
I've been battling with this for some time, it worked it's way through my hens from the darkest plumed through to the lighter ones, only one or two still look unaffected. The ones which have had the problem the longest now have sore red skin. Dry dusty remnants of feathering around the bald bits and thinning feathers on their necks too.

I first tried fixing a possible feather pecking situation with no results, gave additional protien and supplements and still nothing. Then I treated for red mite, even though I've not seen any, still no luck. Inspecting the birds for any infestations has shown up nothing at all.

So I've finally concluded that it's Depluming Mite (I'd never heard of it until I had to start investigating possible causes on the internet), everything I've read of the symptoms fits the bill exactly!

Today I popped to the vet and got given some Panomec (Ivermectin) 0.4ml to give orally, to be followed up in one week by a second dose. I read that overdosing poultry with Ivermectin is dangerous so I'm a little leery about it...

I just wanted to check, because the vet didn't seem entirely knowledgable poultry-wise, that the dose was right and what amount of time I should allow for egg withdrawal, which is something she was unable to tell me for sure although I do know the withdrawal period for milk now! :-)07 She guesses a month.

I think my hens are pretty desperate now and I really want to get stuck in and get this sorted out as a matter of urgency so if anyone has any specific advice about this for me I would be very grateful!

As a side note, I found an excellent amount of info on a 2005 thread of PoultyChat; for such an ancient thread I was surprised that on the two occasions I visited it there were at least three other people reading it at the same time. Does this point to there being something of an outbreak perhaps?
 
I have read (I think it was in Victoria Robert's book) that Ivermectin isn't effective for Depluming Itch Mite? I will check next time I am home.

As I remember it was Pyrthrium based powders that had some effect...

I think they are very hard to remove because they bury themselves in the feather folicles (if that's the correct spelling!)

There is no withdrawal period for Ivermectin because it's not licenced for Poultry. Normally vets advise 28 days in these situations - some as little as 7 days, truth is, they don't really have any guidance because it's not been tested on food producing animals.
 
Ah, I see, I figure I'll allow a month then.

I gave the Ivermectin yesterday and I'm relieved that the hens all look chirpy this morning in spite of my concerns about dosage.

Other than that I took up a suggestion about sprinkling a little Pyrithrium based ant powder in the patches of earth that they dust bathe in. I did this three days ago and the redness of their skin has noticably reduced so I would say that seems to be having an effect. I'm putting a little in their bedding too.

Fingers crossed!
 
I've never heard of anyone using Ant powder - but I find Buzz Busters very good. It's not too expensive and comes in quite a large shaker tub.
 
MrsR
Please can you let me know if you ever had any feathers laying around, I have been fighting this for the past 4 months as feather pecking with various things(anti peck spray, purple spray/stockholme tar) have given cat food/cod liver oil/ chicken spice/ for nextra protein and vits but nothing seems to be working (even to the point that I have bought these bumper bits but do not like the idea of using them), I never see any feathers around (even when they maulted) , have seen the odd peck but nothing enough to produce the damage that is being done to the hens, maybe they have this depluming itch mite,
 
mazbaz said:
MrsR
I have seen the odd peck but nothing enough to produce the damage that is being done to the hens, maybe they have this depluming itch mite,
Click to expand...

Hens will eat feathers too - they are themselves 80% protein (which is why hens stop laying when they molt because they are using the protein to produce feathers).

Some animal feeds used to use feathers to give protein. I don't know whether they still do since the BSE days and the resulting changes in what could be used in feeds.
 
Heard that one firm got a whopping fine for adding feathers. Stopped now of course. I'm all for making use of waste food for chickens but that is a step too far.
 
Hi we have had the same kind of symptoms and on very close inspection have seen small lice aprox 1-2 mm in length that are a dark orange /brown in colour,. also there are what i believe to be grey eggs that look woolly stuck to the feather shafts in a small balls These mites have weakened the feather shafts to the extent that my hens are showing very red bare bottoms now . I have tried without much success diatom powder dusting and although it reduced the problem didnt stop reinfestation, so I have now taken the more drastic measure of bathing my birds in dog flea shampoo . This seems to have iradicated all the lice in one go although im not sure about the eggs on the feather shafts however thy did get very soggy and went to mush a bit like wet paper when wet I will repeat this a further 2 times over the next two weeks and will post up in here how I get on so keep looking in Hope this helps anyone out there but just one cautionary note. Be very careful not to get the shampoo in the birds eyes it stings and in worst cases could cause severe injury
 
Yes, diatom or Pyrethium based powders do work but they can get re-infested.

Ivermectin drops are sometimes prescribed by vets as they have a residual effect for 3 to 5 weeks afterwards,
 
I have been bathing my chickens for the past 2/3 weeks in dog flea shampoo, before I try the last resort of bumper bits (which I do not want to do), whether they have this mite, or they are just plucking each others feathers they do seem slightly better, it may be they don't like the taste of the shampoo, anyway fingures crossed it will keep on improving
 
An update !!
We still have bare bottomed chickens and in reply to mazbaz we also have no feathers lying about in the run and coop.
We have tried the following !!...
Anti Peck Spray
We've deloused them and their coop. ( Even though there was no evidence of any infestation)
They always have plenty of free ranging time in the garden and greens or swede etc. in the run.
I also did a bit of digging about on the old tinternet and found an organic site that explained that too much light getting into the coop in the morning, garden lights etc can disturb them. Apparently enough to cause this problem. So we ensured they were in darkness, kept quiet etc.
All to no avail..
Our girls are happy one yr olds. They lay everyday and are very healthy.
The only drawback is that 3 of the 4 have bare bottoms ! Our girlie with her plummage intact is the obvious culprit. But we NEVER see her peck the others and they socialise happily together as only hens do.
So we will continue with the antipeck spray, unless anyone else can advise us otherwise !
This is a very common problem for many owners and I hope we get to the bottom of it soon !!

Lisa x
 
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