Grey face on black Orpington-photo included

[Yvonne49]

Hi All,

We have acquired a flock of Orpingtons with the purchase of a property. We have no previous experience with chickens, but my my my aren’t I learning a thing or two!!

One of our black Orpingtons faces is grey. All the other black and blue ORPS have red faces and combs. I don’t know when it turned grey as we have only owned her for a month or so and I am just learning about things to look out for on our chickens. I also don’t know how old she is. I did notice today that while the other chickens went and explored and found different areas of shade to sit in, she just stayed in the same spot, sitting in dust, not even in sight of the other chickens.

We do have a MASSIVE lice and mite infestation. It seems the old owners just didn’t do anything about it and left the chickens to their own devices. Today I started the extremely long process of cleaning out the coops - there are approx 6-7 side by side touching, so all coops are infested. It’s horrible. Lice drop on our heads and bodies whenever we go into a coop to check for eggs etc. I feel like we are constantly washing our clothes and bodies to be rid of the lice that have dropped on us!!!

Anywho, I’m sure that is nothing in comparison to what our girls are experiencing. Today I cleaned out all the bedding and litter from one coop, washed it all down as best I could, poured boiling water on the roost where the main infestation of lice seems to be, then sprayed all surfaces with a solution of water, cooking oil and dish detergent (we also have red mites and this was suggested in another forum). I let it all dry, then sprinkled with demataceous earth, put in new bedding and sprinkled again with DE. I also went around to all the dust bathing areas the girls use and sprinkled them with DE. I caught as many of the girls as I could and dusted them in DE. The few that I couldn’t catch will get done in the morning before I let them out of the clean coop. The other 6 pens they have access to have been closed, preparing for me to clean one or two a day until I am done. It is only me cleaning them out and it’s a huge job - plus, the weather is approx 35 degrees Celsius!! The poop is about 10cm thick...I honestly don’t think the old owners cleaned them at all, I think they just put new bedding on top. I have quite a few more questions that I will post in the next few days, just need to get photos to accompany my posts. Anywho, here is a photo of our girls face that is all grey...any suggestions on what it could be?

 

[DobieLover]

Welcome to BYC!
Where are you in the world?
Sorry you are dealing with such a nasty infestation.
Unfortunately the DE isn't going to rid your birds or their coops of the lice and mites. You need to spray everything with permethrin if that is something you have access to. It looks like this:

You'll also need a spray bottle to mix up the correct concentration of the solution for application. The directions are on the bottle.
Follow the directions for dilution and spray the coops down, paying particular attention to crevices where the bugs like to hide. I would put a fan on the coop after treatment to speed drying.
The birds will need to be sprayed as well. They do not need to be soaked. Spread the feathers and spray the skin around the vent, under both wings and the back of the neck.
The treatment will have to be repeated in 5 to 7 days to kill the lice/mites that will hatch from the eggs.
The hen with the gray face appears to have a secondary fungal infection. This can be treated with miconazole cream. You can pick this up at any pharmacy in the athlete's foot treatment section.
I would also support the chickens with a little Nutri-drench or equivalent in the water. Again, not sure where you are in the world and what is available to you.
Good luck.

 

[Eggcessive]

Opps, Dobielover posted while I was writing. Welcome to BYC, and I am glad that you are tackling this big job of getting ridd of mites, and trying to make the conditions better for the flock you have inherited. The hen’s face in the picture could possibly have favus, a fungal infection, although mites may also be the problem. Favus causes chalky white skin, and is best treated by miconozole or clotrimazole, antifungal creams that you may find in your first aid aisles. Lotrimin and Monistat 7 are some brand names, but generics may be less.

You really are going to need some permethrin 10 spray to get rid of your mites. DE is not going to do the job. Where are you located, state or country, since we can recommend products and where to find them?

The coop, nest boxes, and roosts can be sprayed, and the chickens as well with permethrin. A spray bottle can be used. A quart or pint bottle with mix with water to make enough to use to start. The bottle has instructions, but I use 15 ml or 1/2 ounce per gallon.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here are some pictures of favus fungus:

 

[Eggcessive]

Favus

 

[Eggcessive]

Favus

 

[Yvonne49]

Welcome to BYC!
Where are you in the world?
Sorry you are dealing with such a nasty infestation.
Unfortunately the DE isn't going to rid your birds or their coops of the lice and mites. You need to spray everything with permethrin if that is something you have access to. It looks like this:

You'll also need a spray bottle to mix up the correct concentration of the solution for application. The directions are on the bottle.
Follow the directions for dilution and spray the coops down, paying particular attention to crevices where the bugs like to hide. I would put a fan on the coop after treatment to speed drying.
The birds will need to be sprayed as well. They do not need to be soaked. Spread the feathers and spray the skin around the vent, under both wings and the back of the neck.
The treatment will have to be repeated in 5 to 7 days to kill the lice/mites that will hatch from the eggs.
The hen with the gray face appears to have a secondary fungal infection. This can be treated with miconazole cream. You can pick this up at any pharmacy in the athlete's foot treatment section.
I would also support the chickens with a little Nutri-drench or equivalent in the water. Again, not sure where you are in the world and what is available to you.
Good luck.

Thank you!! I am from Victoria, Australia. I purchased some Coopex today after your advice. I can’t seem to find permethrin here-even online, except from amazon and eBay with exceptional shipping charges
Coopex comes in powder form, and you mix it with water, I’ll post a photo of the sachet. I called our local grain store and he said that he had been cleared of Coopex in the last week alone due to people purchasing it for red mite! Oh the joys. I’ve done some reading about it online, and people don’t used it on the chickens.

The girls were not happy with me this morning, kicking them out of the coop again, and it’s SUCH a hot day. I know you said dusting them with DE won’t help, but I figured it couldn’t hurt, got them all on the way out of the coop this morning.

Do you think that clotrimazole would be ok to use on that grey face orp? I think it sells under the brand name Canesten.

 

[Yvonne49]

Also, when you say “secondary” fungal infection, does that mean it started somewhere else??