I Bought Permethrin...Now What?

[Isabella6Storm4]

After battling mites in the coop for like 2 months now I thought I'd try liquid permethrin. I read the bottle and know how to mix it and I've heard people say to spray it in the coop. Should I just use, like, a pesticide sprayer?
Also, can you "dunk" the chickens into it? It's a pretty warm and sunny day with little to no wind right now.

 

[SchwartzLakeFarmNC]

I have never used directly on our chickens even though there are instructions on how to do that with the brand we purchased. I do use a gallon sprayer and spray down our coop and run every 2 months, we do this when the girls are out foraging as you need to have the coop air out for a few hours. We also found that calking all the seems and corners, anywhere a bug can hide will also be of great help, no place for them to hide. The stuff works great, kills all sorts of things and quick, just be sure to use the right ratios for indoor, and you might want to spray a few days in a row to be sure everything gets covered.

Maybe someone else who's used directly on chickens will chime in shortly.

 

[ChickNanny13]

2x above ... You can mix & use a gallon sprayer, if it was used prior for something else make sure it's rinsed out well. If you don't free range your birds but have a run, keep them out of the coop & use protective clothing/mask and mist spray every corner/crack, nest boxes, roosts & bedding, repeating in 7 - 10 days as eggs hatch. You can mist under the chickens wings & vent area; said to be the spots mites/lice like to gather; I'd do their back too but lift feathers.
I prefer using Garden & Poultry Dust (permethrin main ingredient) monthly under their wings, vent area and sprinkle their back area working it in. Plus I dust their CH shavings monthly with DE ... Many say they use DE for mites, I've read it doesn't kill but I use it around their enclosure and shavings as a preventative cause it's cheaper and I can use in the garden & yard; lots of wild birds.
I've read that you could also mist spray at night when they're roosting, again protective clothing/mask, spray as mentioned above and under the chickens as they roost. I never did this, I have a neighbor kid that dunked his fighting roo, it ended up not surviving.

 

[SchwartzLakeFarmNC]

X2 on the poultry dust, forgot about that, I've used it directly on our birds before.
We also use DE in the coop and run, never an issue when used sparingly, seems to kill off all the creepy crawlers. With DE and Permethrin a little goes a long way, don't over do it. I think keeping your area sprayed down on a schedule will help, as we have an increase in spiders and other things 3-4 times a year so we treat every 2 months, maybe every month in the fall until we see no more evidence of webs.

 

[NS Hawaii]

2x above ... You can mix & use a gallon sprayer, if it was used prior for something else make sure it's rinsed out well. If you don't free range your birds but have a run, keep them out of the coop & use protective clothing/mask and mist spray every corner/crack, nest boxes, roosts & bedding, repeating in 7 - 10 days as eggs hatch. You can mist under the chickens wings & vent area; said to be the spots mites/lice like to gather; I'd do their back too but lift feathers.
I prefer using Garden & Poultry Dust (permethrin main ingredient) monthly under their wings, vent area and sprinkle their back area working it in. Plus I dust their CH shavings monthly with DE ... Many say they use DE for mites, I've read it doesn't kill but I use it around their enclosure and shavings as a preventative cause it's cheaper and I can use in the garden & yard; lots of wild birds.
I've read that you could also mist spray at night when they're roosting, again protective clothing/mask, spray as mentioned above and under the chickens as they roost. I never did this, I have a neighbor kid that dunked his fighting roo, it ended up not surviving.

what is "DE"?

 

[Isabella6Storm4]

what is "DE"?

DE stands for diatomaceous earth

 

[NS Hawaii]

Thank you.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

If you've only got a few birds a little window cleaner size sprayer is fine too. I use the garden pump sprayer and a helper. I wear glasses and dish gloves and plan on changing my shirt. Let the helper use the sprayer. Grab one bird at a time from the coop, hold butt end up toward person spraying, rotate for belly the hold the bird to your chest as you spread out a wing, other wing and drop the bird and get another from the coop. You get the idea, spray all the fluff and really drench around the vent. You no longer need the helper. Dunking the birds would work well and you don't need a helper but you still need to apply the liquid that is left in the pail to all cracks in coop. A sprayer is quick and easy.

I then remove all liter from the coop and nest boxes. Bump up the strength of mixture and douse all cracks, roost pole and nesting box. Put in clean liter then grab a shower.

Repeat 7-10 days later but don't bother changing coop liter. I do change the nest box material again.

Permethrin 10 is cheap in the larger bottle with built in measure. The stuff doesn't go bad and you'll use it at least every two years. The sprayer I have anyway for applying copper on garden plants and fruit trees to mold.