Hi All,

 

My hen has developed scaley face and I need to remove her from the aviary. She is feeding one chick at the moment, who is nearly 4 weeks old. If I remove her, will the father keep feeding the chick?

Yes, mothers can be removed safely at this stage. Many hens will look to breed again, my do, so I end up having to remove them around this stage anyway. Dad will feed the chick.

Yes, mothers can be removed safely at this stage. Many hens will look to breed again, my do, so I end up having to remove them around this stage anyway. Dad will feed the chick.

 

 

Thank you Dave.

Just removing your hen & treating her for scaley mite, probably wont fix the problem if she has in fact got mite, as these will have probably spread to the chicks & other birds that she has came in contact with. There are various ways of treating this mite, usually I use Ivermectin if you can obtain it, one drop on the skin of every birds should fix the mite problem & if using this method you wouldn't even have to remove the hen.

Edited April 20, 200817 yr by Norm

As Norm says, no need to remove the hen ...just treat her where she is. In my experience Scaly is NOT as highly contagious as people seem to think. I had a hen and cock who both developed scaly face amid their breeding and feeding of chicks. The chicks never got it. One of those chicks developed scaly face at age of 2 years. I treat as I find in the aviary with spot on ivermectin..only those that have it and the other couple of hundred are just fine.

As Norm says, no need to remove the hen ...just treat her where she is. In my experience Scaly is NOT as highly contagious as people seem to think. I had a hen and cock who both developed scaly face amid their breeding and feeding of chicks. The chicks never got it. One of those chicks developed scaly face at age of 2 years. I treat as I find in the aviary with spot on ivermectin..only those that have it and the other couple of hundred are just fine.

 

Thank you. Does anybody know a vet in SA where I could acquire the magical "one-drop ivermectin"...I actually live on Kangaroo Island and the vet here and a couple I have consulted in Adelaide have all said Parrafin Oil. I've read on the forums about ivermectin...I'd also love to get the one to put in their water every so often too, for maintenance.

 

In the meantime, not sure of how quickly it would spread I did remove the hen and I have started treating her and the father is looking after the chicky just fine.

See if you can find a sheep farmer that uses it, as it’s quite expensive & mostly sold in too large a pack for just a few birds & some vets wont give you any, as it’s only registered for sheep, goats etc