One of the health checks on the check list says; Check birds once per week for mites and lice (I get this), but then it goes on to say... View the cloaca area for small black dots. TREAT APPROPRIATELY!
Now, I did a google search on that and Im getting nothing. Can someone tell me what kind of nasty critter I would be looking for and how do I treat appropriately?
Ive got a zillion more pages to read thru Im sure Ill have more questions lol!
It sounds like they are still talking about parasites, like mites, which tend to cluster around the vent.
Yuck! how are those treated? They make a brief reference to a product called Hexol. Have you heard of this and if so where does it fall on the toxic meter?
Hexol is pretty much like Pinesol....a disinfectant....here is a site showing it.
http://www.shopthepost.com/hexolcleaner.html
I don't know whether it works on mites but I have used a powdered permethrin to get rid of lice. I found it at Tractor Supply, but I bet feed stores and even garden centers would have it.
I heard that you can use fireplace ask and make a mound of it and the chicken will dist herself and it will kill mites.... HUMMM anyone heard of this?
Yep--although I think taking dust baths in ashes helps keep them from getting mites...I am not sure that it will get rid of all the mites once they get them. Most wild birds have mites...they just don't get overrun by them.
Wonder if this is why my darling chickens were dancing in the hot ashes from the burn pile? They did a though job of dusting themselves after the pile cooled off. Made catching them at night a very messy business.
