Red mites - can they kill a chicken?

[Tinabrina]

I have a 'Black star' chicken , who is about 6 months old, who suddenly, in the space of 7 hours, went from being well, to extremely ill, in fact I'm not sure she'll make it till morning, she is lying motionless, breathing slowly & hardly opening her eyes & lying strangely on her side, she looks so ill .
I have just come back from holiday & I had taken my chickens to the lady that I bought them from, as she does chicken boarding & the hens looked fine when I fetched them back on Monday, but I noticed on Tuesday that my black star hen wasn't laying eggs any more, although she seemed pretty normal & okay in herself, this morning she still hadn't laid her egg, but she was eating & making her usual noises, then I went to see them again this evening & found her lying in a strange way, in fact I thought she was dead at first, but I can't understand what has happened to her, so I started checking her & only then did I notice that she had red mites, in fact my other two have them too, so I sprayed them all & cleaned out & sprayed their house & disinfected that, but I can't imagine that this is why my hen is so ill.
Can red mites be so disastrous to hens, can mites kill them?
I am really worried, can anyone help please.!

[doormouse]

I know red mite can be debilitating as they feed on blood but that sounds a bit quick to me...I wonder if she had a stroke? I've only had experience of ex-batts, not younger chook diseases but is there any chance of infection where you boarded your chooks? - may be worth a call first thing to that boarding lady - hopefully if she's a genuine animal lover and has contracted something in her business she will fess up to you

My other suspicion is egg bound - calcium tablet, aspirin, warm bath to see if she can pass anything. If it is mites though, I have as a last resort once used my cat Frontline - one pipette between 4 chooks - not recommended but it worked for me.

I so hope she lasts in time for us to help you narrow it down...please post any other symptoms or info - what's her poo like, comb colour, squidgy/hard abdomen, crop, wormed? etc and I'm sure you'll get lots more advice in the morning M

[Tinabrina]

Thanks Doormouse for taking the time to reply to me, but sadly when I checked on her this morning she had already died, I expected it really, as she was so very ill, but it was still sad to see her lying there.
I took my other two to the vet this morning & he has put them on antibiotics for a week, as they are a little under weight & have swollen throats & slight chest infections, which is strange, as they are both eating very well
The post mortem on my blackstar would be over £200 with all the blood tests & biopsies that he'd have to do, so I decided not to go ahead with that, although I would like to know why she died so suddenly, but I suppose it wouldn't bring her back.
Thanks again Doormouse,
Best wishes,
Tina.x

[MEGAN]

Tina - Red mite can kill chickens if the infestation is bad enough. They can also make them weak so they have trouble fighting infections.

[doormouse]

So sorry to read that Tina - I kind of expect these things with my batts, but one so young and seemingly healthy... I don't know about normal prices for post mortems and the like but yes, that is a lot of money...it is more important I think that she had a good and happy life thanks to you - and she didn't suffer a long illness...hope the other 2 rally for you! M