# chicken staggering or balance issue (update)



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

My polish hen Hannah is staggering and shakes her head alot. She has gotten skinny. She is not listless or fluffed up. She's about 6/7 years old. Any ideas?


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I went out in
the dark with a flashlight. Surprise! I have a true case of stick tight fleas and they are caked around her eyes. This is serious. I look online, and what do I find first to kill stick tight fleas? DE, vinegar, vinegar and chlorox, aromatherapy, garlic. Chlorox and vinegar to clean the coop.

Some of the more intelligent ideas àre smothering with vaseline, permethrin spray (not in the eye), or Frontline on a swab, ivermectin. Now with ivermectin, is that used external or internal? I think I'll run outside and smother them with vaseline before I shower. And use premise spray tomorrow.

This is Not my chicken but exactly what she looks like.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

You can smother them with vaseline. But you'll need to pluck them off and then apply neosporin.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Okay. I figured I'd be doing some plucking.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Wow!!!Good luck with that.We had a nice bitter cold and our bugs are gone for the year.Are they as much of a pain as dog fleas?Did you get rid of the rats?


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## Wilbur's Mom (Aug 10, 2017)

I agree with smothering them with Vaseline then pluck them off. Will she be still long enough to get them off??


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Yea. She'll let me. I had also cut her bangs last night.

As I sit out there in the dark on a tool box with a flashlight and a bird in my lap in the pen, a little rat runs by and hides in the bait trap! Glad he's using it. I'll make sure he's got a snack in there.

Now I read about using frontline, and that's a liquid that you put a cc between a dog's shoulder blades. So should I calculate a dose and put a spot on that area between her shoulder blades? She does not lay anymore.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Karen, put one drop on bare skin on the back of her neck. I do the same with Advantage.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

You do? Well that makes me feel better, I have some right here!


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

I thought about that,too and wondered about it.It would be much easier than spraying their whole bodies.Every month I put it on my dog it occurs to me.Do you get the smallest dog dose for your chickens?Our bugs are gone now but they'll be back next year...........


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

My dog is 23 pounds. Whatever the vet gave in that weight range is fine. Really, there shouldnt be any issues with whatever weight range as long as it's no more than one drop. You can always use a half drop if you can manage it.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I found that 0.1ml contains roughly 1.5 drops. Roughly. It does sound easier than dusting -if it kills lice as well. Lice generally don't sucks blood.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Last night I flashlight I flashlight ed them all and they all have it. It's easy not to see because sometimes they just make a chicken look like she has eyeliner on. So I did handle everyone, put all my clothes in the wash changed my bedding and took a shower. They will settle for people and dogs and cats.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Karen. They arnt lice, they're fleas. Fleas suck blood, so the Advantage and/or Frontline should take care of them. Let us know how it turns out and good luck!


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I went out last night and gave them all a drop on the neck. Today I'll try to powder all the areas. I wonder where these things came from?


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

Probably some wild critter or bird who visited.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

They came from your rats.Rat fleas carry disease like the plague.You gotta get rid off the rodents.Since I started feeding the feral cats,they hang out in my yard and my starling problem I had for years is gone now(at least until it snows) and I haven't seen rodents but that doesn't really mean a whole lot.I'm not a cat lover but they have their uses.You're in FLA.,cats would be fine living outdoors and you would have to feed them just enough to make them stick around.If they don't work out,there's always the pound.You may find more pros than cons when it comes to cats.I love my feral cats and I don't have to pet them or even get close enough that it triggers my cat allergies.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

That would be my guess too. I just reloaded the bait stations, 4 of them. The bait gets eaten. I need to rake and put bug powder down . I have to be real careful of myself carrying them. Nasty things. But Hannah looks 100% better mostly due to eliminating constant itching.


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