Hi there, I'm in dire need of advice from this incredibly experienced group of chicken parents
Beginning of summer I took in 14 hens and roosters from a friend who got them during covid and then didn't want them anymore. I already had a flock of 18 mostly old hens who weren't laying much anymore so I thought a bunch of egg layers would be great. Super wrong, I stupidly had never thought to check them for bugs and turns out they were infested. I discovered this soon after taking them in when one of my older hens got really sick and I noticed she had mites when I was taking care of her so I checked the rest of the flock and they allll had mites and fleas and they all seemed to be thinner and just looking rough. I immediately got the help of my husband and we spent all day cleaning the coops ( I should note we had to add on to our coop because of the new roosters were fighting so there is now sections of coops with dirt floors..) And giving everyone flea baths with a kitten tea tree flea shampoo. I unfortunately chose to go the more natural route with that tea tree flea soap, using herbs, changing the type of bedding, using diamaceous earth, garlic spray on them every morning adding garlic to water also nutridrench and probiotic powder to help immune systems. And now it seems to be worse than ever, not only do I see them crawling on my flock and making some of them get horribly sick but I even see them on the coop doors and feed dishes. I honestly feel like burning it all down. Most of the flock is free range aside from the new roosters so there's so many locations around the property where they hang out (that ive been putting diamaceous on)
So long story long I'm done with trying all the natural stuff I need to get the big guns out especially before winter hits. Are there any bug bombs out there formulated for poultry? Any flea baths that are potent but won't harm my chickens? And products I should be using to scrub down the coops? Any and all help is incredibly appreciated!! Thank you
Beginning of summer I took in 14 hens and roosters from a friend who got them during covid and then didn't want them anymore. I already had a flock of 18 mostly old hens who weren't laying much anymore so I thought a bunch of egg layers would be great. Super wrong, I stupidly had never thought to check them for bugs and turns out they were infested. I discovered this soon after taking them in when one of my older hens got really sick and I noticed she had mites when I was taking care of her so I checked the rest of the flock and they allll had mites and fleas and they all seemed to be thinner and just looking rough. I immediately got the help of my husband and we spent all day cleaning the coops ( I should note we had to add on to our coop because of the new roosters were fighting so there is now sections of coops with dirt floors..) And giving everyone flea baths with a kitten tea tree flea shampoo. I unfortunately chose to go the more natural route with that tea tree flea soap, using herbs, changing the type of bedding, using diamaceous earth, garlic spray on them every morning adding garlic to water also nutridrench and probiotic powder to help immune systems. And now it seems to be worse than ever, not only do I see them crawling on my flock and making some of them get horribly sick but I even see them on the coop doors and feed dishes. I honestly feel like burning it all down. Most of the flock is free range aside from the new roosters so there's so many locations around the property where they hang out (that ive been putting diamaceous on)
So long story long I'm done with trying all the natural stuff I need to get the big guns out especially before winter hits. Are there any bug bombs out there formulated for poultry? Any flea baths that are potent but won't harm my chickens? And products I should be using to scrub down the coops? Any and all help is incredibly appreciated!! Thank you
have a good night all - Mikala
