Chicken mite infestation

What is the surest way to rid chickens of mites?

I dusted birds with seven, stripped coop, sevened coop, and bedded with fresh bedding mixed with a small bit of cedar, and DE. My mites have not come back. I recheck weekly. I did not have to redust with seven, but I have read that it is recommended. I also make sure there is DE in bedding each week when I strip bedding.

Is there a way to prevent them in the first place? Ours haven't gone outsie yet and I'd prefer preventative maintenance if we could

Not really although some swear by the use of DE. They pick them up from wild birds. One flying over can drop one off as a present.
sharon

If the birds are able to dust-bathe regularly, that helps a lot. Some visiting sparrow brought our girls a house-warming present of chicken mites (not northern fowl mite, thank heavens) and most of the time I do not find mites in the coop or on the birds (they get periodic checks). However, I have had the mites target broody hens more than once, and my poor crippled rooster as well. In those cases I hit them with the Sevin Dust and they've been clear since.

If you have a dusting station set up, I've heard that adding diatomaceous earth or even wood ash to the dusting sand/soil is helpful. The fine particulates really get down into the feathers, and the mites don't like that. I have also heard of someone adding Sevin Dust to the dusting station, but I dunno, seems like we might end up with some resistance to the chemical if the mites are exposed to it at low levels. So I tend to dust the birds instead, as needed.

Thanks everyone for the much needed advice. When I walk into my chicken pen, mites get on me. Will dust everything with sevin tomorrow. Can I just put each chicken in a cotton bag with their head sticking out to dust, or what is the best way?

I prefer Ivermectin as it worms them at the same time and seems to last about 6 months

When using Sevin dust, I have a small dish of it next to me and I basically work small pinches of the stuff into the feathers down at skin level, all over the bird. Don't get it in the eyes, ears, or mouth. You don't want to create a big cloud of it that you and the bird might inhale when the chicken shakes its feathers, so use it sparingly. A little goes a long way, and it's very economical.

There have been several posts about using Ivomec against mites. I haven't used Ivomec for feather mites, but I did use it for scaly leg mite on one of my roosters, and it worked great. The biggest question mark with Ivomec--if it's given orally--is egg and meat withdrawal times. I think I remember someone mentioning a topical Ivermectin solution, though; that might have a shorter withdrawal time. I'm fairly sure there aren't any official studies on the subject, though, and that's where it gets tricky--no official guidelines. If I were going to use it on birds I kept for eggs, I'd be worried about how long I needed to toss the eggs out. Ditto with using it on birds for meat.

I like the Sevin dust because it's not absorbed through the skin. This means that there's no withdrawal time for meat or eggs. But it has to get on the mites in order to kill them. If mites are exposed to really low levels, i.e. a bird that didn't get dusted down at the skin levels, some mites may survive. Ivomec, on the other hand, gets into the bloodstream, and when the mite bites the chicken, it gets a faceful! That's why Ivomec is such an effective mite-killer: it turns the chicken into a mite death zone.

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Sounds like a good idea to me. I have over 100 chickens and this sounds like something I could do with that many birds. Waiting for others to chime in on this idea.

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With all Ivomec products; including ivomec injectable (mixed in water for them to drink) and ivermectin pour on (administed on bare skin on the back of the neck)...egg withdrawal is 14 days. There is no egg withdrawal if eprinex is used, which is produced by Merial... the same company that produces ivomec products.