mites, mites, mites

My biggest concerns were: effectiveness, and can I safely eat the eggs? Does the Frontline impact the egg safety? I'm all in (at $180!!!) for the Elector for that reason, and have enough to last ten years, but know that this isn't the only choice.
 
Permethrin is very inexpensive, effective, and approved for poultry. Frontline is only approved for pets, not livestock, and isn't meant for chickens! One of the issues is that it's going to remain in the hen's egg yolks probably for her lifetime, so not approved for use there. The rules and considerations for products used for pets are not the same as what's good for livestock species, where eggs and meat are eaten by people. Mary
 
I battled mites for much of summer. I'm in New Zealand and the products available here are pretty limited. What eventually worked (after trying many ineffective products) for me was spraying my birds with Vetafarm Avian Insect Liquidator once a month (just don't use it if you intend to eat your birds) and painting the roosts, nestboxes and floor with neem oil diluted 1:1 with water. A bit smelly but I haven't seen one since. I regularly run my hand under the roosts now to check none have come back - they love sitting under the roosts.

DE is useless - I found hundreds, possibly thousands, crawling round quite happily in the thick bed of DE I had in the bottom of my nestboxes.

I too got bitten my the little suckers - so itchy!!!
 

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