Mites and two flocks...what do I do?

[Newchickey]

I have a flock of 18 just over a year old. This spring added 14 new girls with their own small coop and addition to the original run that is temporarily divided with hardware cloth. They have been living next to each other almost three months and my gentle big girls, about six of them have visited every now and then in the small run.

2 weeks ago I was set to blend the flocks, the little girls were almost 18 weeks and 22 weeks, when I discovered mites in the small coop. I have been tackling that for 10 days now. First removed the roost, the supports for them (thats where they were hiding in mass was behind those!) bedding, everything and cleaned real well. Looked online and got a recipe for cleaner. And a garlic juice and essential oil spray for the girls and the coop. That was all I could do that day, as we are very much in the country and couldnt get anywhere to get anything else.

Days later got Garden and Poultry dust and ordered Poultry protector. Everyday I have been removing the roost and the supports. I have cleaned out bedding a number of times and dusted the bottom and along the edges well before adding new bedding. I got the poultry protector yesterday and sprayed everything. I noticed they die on the spot, yay! Sprayed the girls at the vents and under the wings really well.

Again today removed the roost.cleaned them well. I have discovered. If I lay the roost on the wood saw horse at each end, as the day gets warm and bright. I got out and flip them over. Each end under neath will have a collection of them and on the saw horse. Wipe and kill, spray and kill, clean up real well so I know whats new, let it sit again and flip a few hours later and repeat. There is definately less and less, and I can tell the poor girls are sleeping better.

So,..My question is, they are really crowded in the little coop now. I cant imagine that I can get every single mite, or know that I have before blending the flocks. What the heck do I do? I have thought about locking them out of the little coop at night, the run is secure and there are branches there they could roost on.

Do the mites leave the girls during the day and trek back down the roost at night to feed? I havent been able to see any eggs on their feather bases anywhere. How long or what would be my clue I can blend these flocks and let the little girls have much more room for the night?

Thanks everyone for your help!

 

[MorganC]

Natural remedies are difficult to work with because of all the toxins and chemicals poultry raisers have been using to get rid of pests like mites. Believe it or not, mites will actually develop a tolerance for treatments so be sure to alternate and not favor one product over the other.
There are two types of mites; night mites and day mites. Go figure right!
The day mites will stay on the girls all the time, until the host dies or the mite itself dies and then will fall off. Be careful when you treat them as to protect yourself because they can come over to you for a short bed and breakfast! (EW!)
The mites that come out at night live in the cracks and crannies in the house and will only come out to suck blood from your girls, then when the daylight comes, the scamper across the roosts back to their abysmal hiding spots. You will know if your girls have this mite problem by looking on their breast skin and skin and the skin around their abdomen; if it is bright red and inflamed (think fire engine red and slightly raised above the skin around it, plus slightly rough to the touch) you got night mites.
I would say as soon as you are sure (maybe like 90-95%) they are parasite free, you can blend them for as long as you like, but watch for bullies! In any flock there is a certain % of parasites and those are usually kept in check by the birds immunity, its only when the balance scale is tipped (i.e. something in or around the bird is off) that you start developing problems and things start becoming noticeable.
A good preventative measure is putting diatomaceous earth in their dust bathing pockets. That way they can have a little extra oomph when they naturally are trying to rid themselves of parasites.
***I know a lot of people don't like to use the d-earth because they believe it can cause blindness in birds if gotten in their eyes but I have been using it and promoting it for over 20 years and never once had a problem.

As far as roosting goes, if they all have a spot on the roosts and nobody is on the floor, you are fine. You can always kick them out in the nice weather at night, just watch for coons and pe-pe's (skunks) as they are very good about finding openings in fencing.

Hope this helps!!

 

[Newchickey]

I just checked a couple of the girls with light feathers, I dont see red on their chest at all around vent or anything, I have never seen one on them. But when I realized what was going on I went out in the middle of the night and the poor girls were just figiting something crazy and biting at themselves.

The mites are 99% red, there are a few black ones here and there. I dont see them in the coop in the day either, they are hiding out. So assume they are leaving the girls during the day? All I have to worry about is eggs on them if I move them and lock them out of that coop?

I have gotten them on me, thats how I figured it out. For a number of nights in a row after going out to the two coops to make sure everyone was settled down, I would be sitting on the couch and feel like a hair brushing across my forehead. After a couple nights of this I finally jumped up and ran to look in the mirror and this tiny black spot was walking across my head. I looked in both coops and saw nothing. after a couple more nights of it it dawned on me. I went out to the little coop. When I stick my head in, my hair brushes on the top of the door frame. Thats when I would get one, shone the flash light up there, yup, tons of crawlies....

Next morning I started my cleaning routine. I have been cleaning and killing for the last 10 days. 4 different products, so one is gonna get them. The poultry protector seems to kill them on the spot. I have just been worried about them carrying them into the big coop, where I seem to be having no problem at all.

 

[aart]

Keep treating birds and entire coop(all the cracks and crevices) for 14 days straight, that should get all the ones that are hatching.
Might take longer if it's bad infestation. ...just keep checking in coop at night to look for them and at their hidey holes during the day.