POSS OUTBREAK OF NORTHERN FOWL MITE??

[elmwood]

Hi,

All 5 of my birds appear to be infested with northern Fowl Mite. After a phone consultation with the vet, it was suggested it was red mite. Due to the nature of the symptoms I have decided to treat for NFM as there are too many similarities for it to be red mite.

My pekin cockerel was affected the worst with a large cluster of greyish dusty matter firmly glued to the base of each feather around his vent and underbelly. The other 3 pekin girls were also in varying degrees of infestation, but our D'anver faired better, probably because she is far less fluffy. None of them had any under their wings, or on the backs of their necks, the vent area on each bird was mostly affected.

Immediately gave them all a 20 min warm soapy soak, which loosened the dead skin, which sadly came off in large sheets with perforations where the feathers had been. At the time I thought this was the egg sacs, but when dried I could see it was their skin. Their vents were covered in black scabs with very red red & sore/raw looking areas.......After 2 baths each, 2 rinses, frontline and sudocrem, 4 days on they are looking & acting much better, thankfully. Have pressure washed the houses, burnt the bedding and sprayed with Ardap. have got them on ACV and now adding vitamins to their drinking water, plus giving them extra mealworms. Also applied Xeno4540 to our rabbit, just in case.

How this happened all so quickly is beyond comprehension, and a total shock, as in 4 years of chicken keeping they have never had lice or mites. I am usually vigilant, and regularly use preventative measures but due to ill health have let my OH take over the daily routine during winter. So I havn't had my eye on the ball.

My questions now that the worst is over are:-
Is the crustiness on their faces and ears down to NFM or scaley face?
Should I continue with Frontline spray and WHEN should I give them another spray. (Applied on Tuesday.)

Have attached some photos taken after their baths, which are not very nice, but hopefully will shed some light. ALL advice/comments will be gratefully accepted, as this has completely taken me by surprise, and feel so terribly guilty that I have let my girls down to say the least.....





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[chrismahon]

Sorry to read about this Elmwood. We had exactly the same guilt complex when our pet cockerel was infested and we didn't spot it. Since then we have had many problems with NFM. Outbreaks seem to coincide with bird migration -they literally fall from the sky looking for a host. From the photos you were right to treat for that -the vet's suggestion of red mite was completely wrong.

All ours infested were treated with Frontline spray dosed at a maximum 1.5mL per KG bodyweight (there are 2 sizes of sprayer, one does 0.5mL per pump, the other 1.5mL per pump). Any others in the coop were given 0.5mL per KG bodyweight as a precaution. Just the spray was enough. We didn't bathe them. The scabs fell off a week our so later revealing clean skin. Usually hits the cockerels first.

Frontline shouldn't be re-applied until after a month. Personally I would only re-apply if necessary and not in the same areas because when we had a second NFM outbreak in the Dordogne, 3 months after the first, the mites avoided all the areas previously sprayed. So the first outbreak was around the vent and hackles, the second was on the chest and neck. So the Frontline dose stays in the skin areas sprayed on chickens far longer than the one month of cats and dogs. I don't know what would happen if the same areas on a chicken were sprayed a month later and doubt it would ever be necessary anyway.

Your first photos look like ear mites. Just apply a little Frontline on a cotton bud and wipe around the area. Spraying there is too close to the eyes.

NFM can survive off a bird for up to two weeks I read, so the treatment will be effective for longer than that. But birds overhead can re-introduce it at any time, so it's just another thing to look for. A breeder told be that lice eat NFM, so he doesn't eradicate lice on his birds completely. That may be true, but I haven't tried it.

 

[elmwood]

Hi Chris,

Many thanks for your support and advice........Think I needed to hear I was actually going down the right path and doing the right thing by them all. Will be applying ear buds dipped in frontline to their ears today, Thankyou. Did use frontlined buds to wipe over their combs earlier in the week, not realising their ears were were poorly too.

Thankfully, having checked them daily their scabs, sores, & red skin are all clearing up nicely and with the added bonus of a pleasant fragrance thanks to the sudocrem. Plus our Cuckoo is now also crowing once again, as did your "Bottom".

What an overwhelming experience this has been........

 

[chrismahon]

It is a very difficult thing to spot indeed Elmwood. Bottom sits on our laps every day and we still didn't see them. I think my wife felt a scab on his skin when we actually discovered them. Half his body was covered -must have been agonising. Our little Boris, the Leghorn Bantam, had a terrible infestation last year. We only noticed because he stopped crowing I think.

Pleased they are recovering so fast, just as ours did. The NFM seem to die almost instantly with Frontline so it's just the skin to heal. We used Frontline on our Basil, a huge Buff Orpington cock, last week. Noticed he hadn't grown many tail feathers this year. Very close inspection revealed the feathers were stunted in growth and very dry, even powdery. His 'parsons nose' was red but nothing was visible. Depluming mite I think they are called. Bury into the feather shafts and eat them inside. He was very quiet really- still crowing but looked tired. Day later and he's running around standing guard over his girls instead of sleeping in a corner- completely transformed.

 

[elmwood]

Hi Chris,

Glad to hear Basil is doing well ........ sadly our girls have a new re-infestation. When wiping their ears with frontline dipped cotton buds on sat for the ear mites thought I 'd give them another thorough onceover. Their vent areas were healing nicely and more importantly free from mites, dust, etc. HOWEVER as I systematically moved up along the bird through their feathers, again using a cotton bud to part the feathers, (as you would when looking for hair lice in children), I came to the centre of the cushion, where the "preen gland" is situated. There was a fine dusting of black dirt, like they had had a dust bath. BUT when I blew on that area nothing moved, so it clearly wasn't grit, dirt or dust. After inspection of the other 3 pekins, they all had the same peppery black small dots in the exact same place. It then dawned on me that these pesky mites had relocated on each bird and in the very same place. So with a fresh cotton bud dipped in frontline I applied & wiped the area clean. I am well aware that they have each had more than enough frontline, but to be honest I am not prepared to to let it develop full blown.

Nothing was evident on any of the areas I had previously sprayed frontline. So now, I will check a bird daily to eliminate any new or fresh areas they decide to inhabit. My girls are as good as gold, and not one of them protests when its time for examination- guess they realise they feel much better having being man handled. Our cockerel, Cocky has also had a new lease of life, but almost ended up in the mouth of our puppy yesterday- getting a bit too cocky!!

 

[chrismahon]

Fingers crossed Elmwood. Would be a shame if Cocky met his end in the mouth of a puppy, after all he has been through. Sounds like your NFM are rather persistent, but I'm sure you will get on top of it.