The chances are that its been "brewing" for months but became really
obvious as the scales of the legs lifted.

Once this happens then the result you have seen - scales falling off- can
occur one treatment.
Keep them in very clean house and run and treat all the birds as many more
times as you can over the next few weeks to make sure that ALL the mites
and emerging mites are dealt with.

Welcome -- crumbs, we are getting some great new Aussies here - can you
please export some of your warm dry up here and we will send you some of
our cold rain !

Get a chunky cockerel - like Susssex or Plymouth Rock or Australorp - and
then keep the girls you have now and use them to raise your table birds
You want to put birds in the pot before they are 18 weeks old preferably
to get really tender meat
So keeping your game girls is the right thing to do !

see above -- you may have found your impetus!

As soon as possible put in new perches if nothing else and considering
your location I'd use steel pipe, rod or square.

your wood perches with something oily (kero?)in the mean time as we find
the perch they roost on at night is our main source of re-infestation. I
use steel because it doesn't get cold enough here to cause problems like
it would in the northern hemisphere as well as being parasite proof. If I
get parasites in their shed I let them out and either spray it with
insecticide or burn it with the weed burner.

everything (I think its the pyromaniac coming out in me <g>). In autumn or
winter of course, not now or that bonfire Jill mentioned would cover half
the state in a short time.

So have you planned your new shed yet?

"Jill" <news@NOSPAMkintaline.co.uk> wrote in message
news:45841e06$0$8714$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader02.plus.net...

The chances are that its been "brewing" for months but became really
obvious as the scales of the legs lifted.

i must say i had wondered. would there have been the odd stray mite
egg left in the chook house or yard, & it's happened that way?

Once this happens then the result you have seen - scales falling
off- can occur one treatment.
Keep them in very clean house and run and treat all the birds as
many more times as you can over the next few weeks to make sure that
ALL the mites and emerging mites are dealt with.

oh good. i am cleaning their house as much as i can. gah, it's just
dreadful though. i feel like a slum landlord

Welcome -- crumbs, we are getting some great new Aussies here - can
you please export some of your warm dry up here and we will send you
some of our cold rain !

i would be happy to! (i don't suppose you could supply warm rain
instead, could you?)

we got 19mm in 24 hours recently, it was just
heavenly. lo, 4 days later i'm back to having to water the garden.
sigh!
Get a chunky cockerel - like Susssex or Plymouth Rock or Australorp
- and then keep the girls you have now and use them to raise your
table birds You want to put birds in the pot before they are 18
weeks old preferably to get really tender meat
So keeping your game girls is the right thing to do !

we'd love a rooster one day (i'm just not ready for that yet...). one
problem is that, er, nobody wants to be the one to Do The Deed on the
edibles. we'll have to sort that out. i volunteered to pluck it, but
i'm just not good about killing stuff. pathetic, is it not?

should we plan for a "chunky" one so the babies will be good-sized? i
must admit, _eating_ a game hen strikes me as barely worth the bother

see above -- you may have found your impetus!

indeed!! it's next on my list, now. i'm appalled that the ladies are
living in such squalor that they are buggy.

"Ginny" <glvl88REMOVETHIS@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:4585e27e@quokka.wn.com.au...

As soon as possible put in new perches if nothing else and considering
your location I'd use steel pipe, rod or square.

that's an idea - although we get rather cold winters. in their new
house(s), i am making them off the ground on wee stilts, with
termite-blocking on the ground, so the house will be immune to termites.
(famous last words). i have also heard about putting on boiled linseed oil
on the perches for bugs...(?) i shall have to get some stuff for the
perches tomorrow as well, although see below.

We use tree branches. Very cheap to replace if there's a problem,
and good on the chickens' feet.

They are great but just while the OP is trying to get rid of a mite

Amy Blankenship wrote:

We use tree branches. Very cheap to replace if there's a problem,
and good on the chickens' feet.

They are great but just while the OP is trying to get rid of a mite
infection possibly not wise as the branch might just give the mites
somewhere else to hole up :~(


--

regards
Jill Bowis

Pure bred utility chickens and ducks
Housing; Equipment, Books, Videos, Gifts
Herbaceous; Herb and Alpine nursery
Working Holidays in Scotland
http://www.kintaline.co.uk

They can last for a LONG time
Also the wild bird population will have been mingling with the previous
occupations and there is support for the idea that they can be vectors for
mites

oh good. i am cleaning their house as much as i can. gah, it's just
dreadful though. i feel like a slum landlord ;-)

What are you cleaning with ?

Something like Poultry Shield is a good idea

Plucking is a pain -- skin instead, its much easier. (snip)

should we plan for a "chunky" one so the babies will be good-sized? i
must admit, _eating_ a game hen strikes me as barely worth the bother
;-)

Ahh - what sort of Game bird have you got?
I was thinking more along the lines of Indian / Cornish Game - they are
more like walking tables
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGA/Cornish/BRKCornish.html

If you are talking about Modern Game
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Games/Mods/BRKModerns.html
then - yes -- you would expend more calories plucking the thing than
eating it !!!!

Don't be hard on yourself -- you are far from alone in this

"Jill" <news@NOSPAMkintaline.co.uk> wrote in message
news:458a4541$0$8738$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader02.plus.net...

They can last for a LONG time
Also the wild bird population will have been mingling with the
previous occupations and there is support for the idea that they can
be vectors for mites

we are inundated with wildlife here, & one thing that annoys both the
chickens and me is the parrots breaking in. so, probably. (this is yet
another reason i'm looking forward to the new set up - the old one
has trees within the yard, & the netting over the top therefore must
go around the trees, but there's no way to really seal it off
properly. and leaves & twigs fall over the top, which is a fire
hazard should a bushfire come our way. anyway, enough about that.

oh good. i am cleaning their house as much as i can. gah, it's just
dreadful though. i feel like a slum landlord ;-)

What are you cleaning with ?

the floor is earth, so beyond scrubbing walls etc, dusting chicken ddt
about, & replacing the straw in the house with neurotic frequency
(which is actually fine, as i'm composting the pooey straw for my
garden) i'm not sure there's much else i can do. i've been checking
the roosts after dark/in the morning but not found any mites.

Something like Poultry Shield is a good idea

what is that?

Plucking is a pain -- skin instead, its much easier. (snip)

now there's an idea! the first problem (killing one) isn't going to
go away, but at least there's a quick feather-removal method at my
disposal (should the first problem ever be overcome, that is)!

should we plan for a "chunky" one so the babies will be good-sized?
i must admit, _eating_ a game hen strikes me as barely worth the
bother ;-)

Ahh - what sort of Game bird have you got?
I was thinking more along the lines of Indian / Cornish Game - they
are more like walking tables
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGA/Cornish/BRKCornish.html

If you are talking about Modern Game
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Games/Mods/BRKModerns.html
then - yes -- you would expend more calories plucking the thing than
eating it !!!!

they're not modern games, but, i cannot work out what they are. at the
auction when dh was told, he heard either "english" or "indian" but
promptly forgot anyway they don't weigh much & they keep
themselves trim, but have the same shape as the cornish there. otoh,
two of my isas are giants among chickens, & would make any other
chook look pretty small in comparison, so there's that.

the floor is earth, so beyond scrubbing walls etc, dusting chicken ddt
about, & replacing the straw in the house with neurotic frequency
(which is actually fine, as i'm composting the pooey straw for my
garden) i'm not sure there's much else i can do. i've been checking
the roosts after dark/in the morning but not found any mites.

You are doing great -- keep treating the birds with the vaseline until
their legs recover and you have the new set up

Urm - Indian Game should make your ISA's puny <grin
Are they bantams?