Ivermectin Topical Dose

[Holly67]

My 3 girls have a stubborn mite problem, the vet gave me happy jack's flea and tick powder (Permethrin), I dusted them three times and it didn't work. The next step up is apparently ivermectin. I can't afford to have the vet do it, so I picked up the above at my local hardware store, it's off-label to use it on chickens so the instructions are for cattle, goats, etc....

The dose rate is 1 mL for 22 pounds of body weight. The weight of ea chicken is approx. 4 pounds. According to Google, there are 20 drops of liquid in 1 mL. So 20 drops ÷ 22 lbs is approximately .91. which would equal 3 - 4 drops per chicken. Sound right? I'm so afraid of overdosing. Has anyone used this exact product / brand? It's a topical application, I haven't read how to apply it yet but I'm assuming it will go on upper back/neck where they can't reach it. Kind of like giving your cat or dog a liquid flea medicine dose. Any input greatly appreciated!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Are you cleaning out and treating your coop/housing including nesting boxes, roosting bars, nooks crannies with the Permethrin in addition to treating your hens? If you don't eliminate the mites from the housing, you'll not get rid of the mite issue regardless of what you use.

Ivermectin dosing is found in this link.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mites-lice-now-hen-growling.1242981/page-2#post-19965544

 

[Holly67]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I did do a cleaning. The vet didn't tell me I could dust housing / environment with perethrin so I used a coop cleaner spray. I wasn't sure how toxic perethrin is to use in their environment. Is there the possibility they could consume it when they scratch around? I'm sure how concerned to be about that. Anyway another cleaning is absolutely an order. But I would like to use the ivermectin I picked up also. Hopefully I got the dose right, would like to proceed soon.

 

[Holly67]

Oops, just saw the ivermectin dosing link you left. I'll check it out.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You can find Permethrin concentrate at the feed store and mix it up yourself following the chart instructions on the label. It's more economical to buy that way when treating large areas like a coop.
Just treat housing early in the morning on a fairly nice day so the spray will dry. Keep the birds out of the coop while you are spraying if you wish.