Udate!...still need a bit of direction please.. - Page 2

Sevin dust has DE in it. Scroll down in this link:
http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=brands&id=19022001

Sevin dust may have DE in it but not nearly enough for my purposes. I usually mix several pounds of DE with about a cip of Sevin.

Glad you tried the upside down dusting. It works best that way because the feathers are away from the body and more Sevin gets to the feather shaft and body. I have never followed a dusting with another a week later. I only dust once. It takes a while to see results (such as feather growth) so I leave them alone. You can check them in a few months to see if the mites are back. Also don't forget to rub Vasaline on their legs and combs. That smothers any possible leg mites or mite eggs.

I am glad I found this thread. I have seen some feather loss on one of my EE. I thought perhaps she was getting plucked a bit. Today I saw similar loss on my BA. I am fairly certain we have mites now and the loss is due to scratching.

I think I shall head out to get some sevin dust and .... oh my .... make my hens mad at me.
Thank you all for the great links.

Please allow me to offer my two cents.

1. no amount of dusting of birds will help if there is an "infestation" in the coop.

2. you must clean the coop as often as you can and dust , corners, nest boxes and anywhere these critters can hide. 

3. roosts should be brushed down with either mineral oil or rubbed with Vaseline covering all nooks and crannies.

4. each bird should be hand dusted paying attention to vent and under the wing areas. Use caution when working around the face.  IMO reading the label of Sevin. If it is not safe for me to breath than it's not safe for my birds. I prefer DE food grade.  I use Sevin sparingly for squash borer worms, so I have read the label.  ALWAYS wear a mask when working with any of these things.   

5. Treat each bird with a internal and external wormer.  I prefer not to use Wazine as it requires tossing of eggs and this is may be a hobby but I can not afford to throw money away.   

A  50# bag of DE is or was $42 delivered to my door over a year ago and I dust the walls, nest boxes , floors and even the sand/dusting box in the run.  Just put a mask on and throw the stuff everywhere. 

This is what I use to worm and I've not had a mite problem in three years which is how long I've kept chickens.  Remember an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  Thanks for listening.   

For now I am dusting the roosts and floor with DE and Sweet PDZ to make sure everything is as dry as can be. I will inspect the birds in depth tonight.
I took all pine out of the coop and put the DE and PDZ down then added shavings sparingly. I am thinking I do have an issue since the necks of 2 birds are bare on the front. I am thinking their fluffy bottoms do not look so fluffy either. I will let you know what I find.

Hoping it is nothing.

Be sure to throw a good amount of DE into the shavings cuz the chickens will roll around in them. Mine always do. 

yup,
After noticing one of the newer hens showing signs of feather loss I gave her a thorough inspection. I found little bugs crawling near her vent and I immediately went in and got the poultry lice and mite powder. Gave them all a good dusting, cleaned out the coop, sprinkled everything with the dust. and plan to do so again in ten days.  I had this one before, with new hens, and did the exact same thing. it worked
good luck!
-Roxy