Those of you who have battled mites please advise

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snaffle

snaffle

Songster
12 Years
May 27, 2009
299
14
221
Illinois
Never had mites before this spring that I know of.

I have dusted with sevin (at least 4 times this year)
cleaned the hen house and dusted with sevin and diatamacous earth

put frontline plus on

Put a garlic bulb in the drinking water and have left it there for a week or more at a time.
I have done that 3 times this year.

cleaned the hen house and sprayed with permethrin

Sprayed daily with permethrin after dusting with sevin

put cedar shavings in the nesting boxes


I have been bad about repeating in 10 days.

This last time it was 12 days.

I am spraying with permethrin daily on the roost and edges of the floor.

I have 20 chickens in my chicken house and it is no joy to dust them all.

Just about the time I see new feathers coming in on a hen or two, I will see another one or two loosing feathes.

What did you do to finally get rid of the mites?

I am pretty sure they were brought in my birds. Opened our new chicken house in the spring of 2014 and there are 15 spruce trees around the chicken yard that are full of birds.

The young and older chicks that are being raised in the barn are not showing signs of mites.
 
Free Feather said:
Are you sure it is mites?
Click to expand...
I know it is not lice because I do not see them.

I never see any little black mite.

There are no feathers in the hen house or outside but there are bare areas on several of my chickens.
One hen looked as if someone used a scissors and cut off feathers.

After dusting ... after a week or so I will see new feathers coming in...
 
snaffle said:
I know it is not lice because I do not see them.

I never see any little black mite.

There are no feathers in the hen house or outside but there are bare areas on several of my chickens.
One hen looked as if someone used a scissors and cut off feathers.

After dusting ... after a week or so I will see new feathers coming in...
Click to expand...
Perhaps they are eating eachother's feathers.
 
If you don't see mites, then don't treat for them.
Copious applications of poisons aren't doing any good for the health of the birds and may be creating resistant insects......
.........not to mention killing 'good' insects and destroying a balanced insect population.

If it looks like the feather was cut off good chance it is the birds biting off the feathers.
New feathers won't grow in right away unless they were fully 'plucked' out or until a regular molt.

What are you feeding?
How big is your coop?
 
Our hen house is 10 x 20 and I have about 18 standard chickens in there. If the others are plucking out feathers, why is the skin around their rears so bright red?

They also have access to a very large chicken yard during the day
 
Last edited:
What are you feeding?

I don't know what causes that bright red skin.
I've had several case of bald spots on backs and/or butts, some get very red and other haven't.
Done tons of searching and have yet to find a real cause....it eventually cleared up.
 
I definitely would tell you to stop using Sevin.

I had a terrible outbreak of mites this year from 5 chicks I brought in. After cleaning my coop out and having nothing in there I sprayed everything with Neem oil. I waited 5 days and repeated. I dusted the nest boxes with DE.

Still I had several hens that were not responding.

Turned out I had wiped out the mites. I had a few that went into molt (a little late for that now in your case). I had 5 that turned out to be roos! They were picking each other's feathers out.

I would back off treating environmentally. You could be getting a reaction to what you are using. Also, your girls could be getting stressed. Some questions to ask:
1. Has there been a population increase and my hens are stressed by too many in too little space- so they are picking?
2. Did I change foods at any point? That can cause weird reactions
3. Is the heat adversely affecting my gals?
4. Do I need to worm (boil garlic, thyme and oregano and put in the water)?

Again. I would back off and let their systems settle. See where you are in a week or so. Try only one environmental change at a time and stay away from pesticides that can kill beneficial insects and cause toxicity in your birds. NEVER eat eggs while treating with Sevin.
 
Heron's Nest Farm said:
I definitely would tell you to stop using Sevin.

I had a terrible outbreak of mites this year from 5 chicks I brought in. After cleaning my coop out and having nothing in there I sprayed everything with Neem oil. I waited 5 days and repeated. I dusted the nest boxes with DE.

Still I had several hens that were not responding.

Turned out I had wiped out the mites. I had a few that went into molt (a little late for that now in your case). I had 5 that turned out to be roos! They were picking each other's feathers out.

I would back off treating environmentally. You could be getting a reaction to what you are using. Also, your girls could be getting stressed. Some questions to ask:
1. Has there been a population increase and my hens are stressed by too many in too little space- so they are picking?
2. Did I change foods at any point? That can cause weird reactions
3. Is the heat adversely affecting my gals?
4. Do I need to worm (boil garlic, thyme and oregano and put in the water)?

Again. I would back off and let their systems settle. See where you are in a week or so. Try only one environmental change at a time and stay away from pesticides that can kill beneficial insects and cause toxicity in your birds. NEVER eat eggs while treating with Sevin.
Click to expand...

Heron's Nest Farm said:
I definitely would tell you to stop using Sevin.

I had a terrible outbreak of mites this year from 5 chicks I brought in. After cleaning my coop out and having nothing in there I sprayed everything with Neem oil. I waited 5 days and repeated. I dusted the nest boxes with DE.

Still I had several hens that were not responding.

Turned out I had wiped out the mites. I had a few that went into molt (a little late for that now in your case). I had 5 that turned out to be roos! They were picking each other's feathers out.

I would back off treating environmentally. You could be getting a reaction to what you are using. Also, your girls could be getting stressed. Some questions to ask:
1. Has there been a population increase and my hens are stressed by too many in too little space- so they are picking?
2. Did I change foods at any point? That can cause weird reactions
3. Is the heat adversely affecting my gals?
4. Do I need to worm (boil garlic, thyme and oregano and put in the water)?

Again. I would back off and let their systems settle. See where you are in a week or so. Try only one environmental change at a time and stay away from pesticides that can kill beneficial insects and cause toxicity in your birds. NEVER eat eggs while treating with Sevin.
Click to expand...
There has been no birds added. No change of foods. No heat yet... already wormed.

So what would you use instead of sevin? Remember I have close to 20 chickens in the hen house. Not easy to treat that many.

I know this has to be mites. Every time I dust the chickens, I will see know growth of feathers. Please every one do not tell me that I can not see a new growth with in 5 to 7 days because I can. :)

This is not just red skin loose feathers thing.The hens are not pecking each others feathers. Remember I see new growth after every dusting. Some of the birds are already growing in new feathers. This also is not a molt.

I will buy some neem oil but am not sure how any of you are spraying it since oil tends to sit on top of the water,.
 
I have also put oregano flakes in each nesting box.

I am doing as much as I can...

When this summer is over I need to sell my older hens... can not do that if they have a problem. Wouldnt be ethical.
 

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