Northern Fowl Mite

[chrismahon]

Well given the name you wouldn't expect it in the South of France. When we got here in September there were no little birds. Now the woodland is inundated with them. The Blue Tits arrived in December followed by Sparrows and Blackbirds. With them came Northern Fowl Mite which infested the Bantam Leghorns in the far coop. Nasty little things dig under the skin and feed on the flesh. It makes a real mess of the bird. They were treated with one dose of Frontline spray successfully. But the NTM then spread downwind affecting each coop in turn until they have infested them all -the last one was discovered yesterday. The birds were checked for it last week with no sign. The speed they multiply is frightening -faster than red mite. It would appear from research that these mite can survive off the host for up to two weeks. Fortunately the Frontline dose is effective for a month. So we intend to treat every bird with a low level dose in one go to try and wipe it out.

So beware all, that when these birds return to the UK in Spring there could be a NFM outbreak. Your birds need checking every few days. Look around and below the vent. Cocks tend to be worse or first affected. They are red when fed and about half the size of a pinhead.

The treatment dosage we apply is 3 squirts of the small bottle (100mL) per Kg of bird bodyweight which is 1.5mL. From the large bottle (250mL) it is just one squirt and not very controllable. We transfer the large bottle into the small to administer accurately to the skin by parting the feathers.

For control of the problem we will do all the birds in one go at 1 squirt (0.5mL) per Kg.

 

[chrismahon]

Just to update. 6 months on and we've been hit by northern fowl mite again. Bit slower spotting it than I would like. Despite checking Boris, the bantam leghorn, over I didn't spot the problem. I wasn't until he stopped crowing with his usual frequency he got a really thorough inspection. The usual spots to check, hackles and around vent, were clear. I found them on the back of his lower neck. The hens had been pecking the feathers around the front of his neck, presumably because they were falling forward to an area they could reach. Usual treatment was successful. Also found them on Basil, Buff Orpington, in exactly the same location -back of his lower neck.

I have to assume it's a temperature thing somehow. Been very hot here with the popholes left open and fitted with a mesh door for extra ventilation. So may be worth checking all over any suspect bird and not just the usual places.

 

[foxy]

We are plagued by outbreaks here too Chris, having our birds free range I think puts them at more risk, and it is so hard to spot! Grrrrr......

 

[chrismahon]

We've got a lot of wild birds around here at the moment Foxy, particularly Blackbirds, which have reared their young already. Funnily enough I have been making an effort to let Boris and his girls out to free range over the last few weeks, because they were getting very bored in their run. As a result perhaps, he has again picked them up -poor little chap. Being so small it affects him rather badly.

 

[BabyBantam]

Chris, would ivermectin or something else kill them too, or is it just frontline? Also, apart from seeing them physically, how else would you know the chooks may have them? I ask as loads of wild birds in the garden and on a major migratory route for all sorts, including ospreys

 

[foxy]

I find NFM really random, and so far with just one exception it's the cockerels they target. I am always checking and sometimes the only evidence is what looks like a small greasy or wet area of feathers, and then on closer inspection you can see the tiniest of flecks, almost like dirt. I use Frontline, and if I find a small scab I treat with sudacreme as well. I don't find them too hard to treat, mainly because I think catch it early, but it really is uncomfortable for the affected bird. At Beanwood the poultry area edges our wildlife area and wood so we have a lot of wild birds here, so we have to keep an eye out.
Hope Boris perks up soon Chris Poor chap..SatNav (one of my boys who has had NFM) sends his sympathy...

 

[chrismahon]

Ivermectin has been used BB but seems, from posts on accidentalsmallholder, to be pretty ineffective really, as Frontline spray kills them in one hit and Ivermectine needs several treatments. As Foxy says, NFM is really difficult to spot. You will see greasy/ dusty spots at the base of feathers like usual lice do, but much smaller scale. Then you will see scabs on the skin surface. If you look through a magnifying glass the scabs move -they are a teeming mass of NFM feeding under the scab and eating the host. The most difficult of parasites to spot without doubt.

 

[BabyBantam]

Sounds it just checked poor nancy and not a sign. We get so many birds through here, as on the exe estuary. Had curlews and oystercatchers one day last year which was a very odd sight to wake up to. Lice are my main probelm, but dust bathing seems to work well.

 

[chrismahon]

We've had another case of it. This time it was a previously unaffected cockerel Chester and it is below his vent and all over his underbelly. We got thinking about the location of these mite. Chester has them in a usual place, Basil and Boris had them in an area that has never been sprayed with Frontline before. Wondering if the Frontline spray doesn't actually spread very far in a chickens skin system and stays in it far longer than expected, 6 months?

 

[chrismahon]

Hit again. Bottom our pet cockerel has been a bit quiet this week. Put it down to the weather but my wife spotted two tiny dark areas either side of his comb under the feathers -mites! Checked his vent area and a fresh outbreak has started just above. So Frontline on a cotton bud for the areas on his head and a spray around the vent. Will check him all over today and every other bird as well as several have been quiet and perhaps it isn't just the weather after all.