Broody hens and lice/mites

It has been a very long time since I had to deal with this. This morning when I was feeding my birds I noticed a hen constantly shaking her head. One close look and I could see that she was infested with small, quick moving, dark looking parasites-Mites? What is the current treatment? My biggest concern is for my hens that are brooding; one is due to hatch chicks this week. What is the best way to treat a broody who will be hatching soon?

A poultry science professor that has bred award-winning chickens and teaches poultry disease at the University said roost mites kill more broody hens than anything else. Those may or may not be roost mites but I’d certainly treat them now.

I specifically asked him about withdrawal times for eating the eggs if you treated hens with Sevin and dusted their nests with Sevin. He said none. The eggs are perfectly safe to eat immediately. I know that’s not your question but maybe it adds to the conversation. I did not ask about any other treatment.

I’ve seen you on the forum enough to think you’ve probably seen some people ranting and raving against Sevin. You may be one of them, I don’t know. If it were me I’d treat all my chickens, not just the broody and her nest, with Sevin. If it is roost mites I’d also treat the entire coop and change out the bedding in the coop as well as in the nests.

There are other effective products out there, often containing Permethrin as the active ingredient. That can work too. But I would treat now. In my opinion the risk from the mites is much greater than the risk from the treatment.

You can treat them as you wish with whatever you wish. They are your chickens. Personally I’d use something I have confidence in.

Ridgerunner said:

A poultry science professor that has bred award-winning chickens and teaches poultry disease at the University said roost mites kill more broody hens than anything else. Those may or may not be roost mites but I’d certainly treat them now.

I specifically asked him about withdrawal times for eating the eggs if you treated hens with Sevin and dusted their nests with Sevin. He said none. The eggs are perfectly safe to eat immediately. I know that’s not your question but maybe it adds to the conversation. I did not ask about any other treatment.

I’ve seen you on the forum enough to think you’ve probably seen some people ranting and raving against Sevin. You may be one of them, I don’t know. If it were me I’d treat all my chickens, not just the broody and her nest, with Sevin. If it is roost mites I’d also treat the entire coop and change out the bedding in the coop as well as in the nests.

There are other effective products out there, often containing Permethrin as the active ingredient. That can work too. But I would treat now. In my opinion the risk from the mites is much greater than the risk from the treatment.

You can treat them as you wish with whatever you wish. They are your chickens. Personally I’d use something I have confidence in.

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Thank you for your response. I intend to treat all the birds and coop as well. Sevin is what I have, but I'm wondering what is the safest way to treat the birds; especially those that will be hatching soon. I've gone online and the Information I am seeing is contradictory.

Is Sevin-5 safe to use on a nest where chicks will be hatching soon?

Once you get the mites knocked back, presumably by using the Sevin, the maintain control by providing broody with access to a dust bath. I make so such is at least 10 feet from nest so hen is more likely to use it.

I would use Sevin on the nest where chicks are going to hatch. I consider mites and lice more of a risk.

I would use permethrin, because it works fine and is approved for use in poultry. Carbaryl also works, but is not approved; that's why there's no withdrawal period, because it's not approved. You must treat, or birds can/will die over this. Mary

Folly's place said:

I would use permethrin, because it works fine and is approved for use in poultry. Carbaryl also works, but is not approved; that's why there's no withdrawal period, because it's not approved. You must treat, or birds can/will die over this. Mary

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All have been treated. The birds are healthy, well feathered, and laying more eggs than we can use. I expect no further problems. Thanks to everyone for your advice. As I said in my first post, it has been a very long the since I dealt with mites and I didn't want to make a mistake that would costs me a bird. Getting old and the memory is faulty at times. Thanks again.

I have read the opposite about Sevin from what RR cites:

Posted it here....just added more info there.

Aart, I read a lot of conflicting information on the internet, some from really respectable sources. There is a lot of different research, sometimes looking for different things or using different parameters. And a lot of times experts will just disagree. You get different opinions from experts in practically any field.

I’m lucky enough to have one of the top University Poultry Science departments in the country just up the road at the University of Arkansas. I’ve had the opportunity to learn a lot from their professors specializing in disease/medicine and poultry reproduction. That’s not to slight any of the other professors, it’s just those are the ones I’ve come into contact with. Both have bred prize winning show chickens and enjoy breeding chickens just for fun. They’ve played with backyard flocks since they were kids. They also work closely with the commercial chicken industry. Tyson donated enough money to that department to make it one of the top in the country. Tyson is headquartered here.

While they can have their own opinions, I think they strike a pretty good balance between commercial, show, and backyard flocks. They certainly have the experience. Since I’m not an expert in this field myself, I’ll go by my local expert. We normally agree on things but it looks like this is something we’ll just have to disagree on.