Mites: I've tried EVERYTHING

[4 the Birds]

A good insecticide dust will take care of them. I use Python Dust found at tractor supply. It is safe to dust anywhere as well as on poultry and any other livestock. DE is great for certain pests and dries up things nicely but not a "cure all" for insects.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Most off the shelf dusts contain yellow sulphur. I buy it for $3-50 a kilo and sprinkle through the coup and in the nest boxes. We also use it at shearing time on the angoras. Bugs don't like sulphur !

 

[ellend]

You betcha! Mine are Northern Fowl Mites. I hope I'm winning, but have little faith. Winters are a loss here; can only "effectively" treat in winter because of the cold, dampness, and wind. I found I had to use TWO drops of ivermectin pour-on each for my tiny OEGB's for roundworming, so I'm guessing that the one drop I was using for mites (these birds weight one pound) might not have been quite strong enough. Diatomaceous Earth (D.E.) did exactly NOTHING. Permethrin powders and sprays helped, but didn't do it. Last week I bathed each bird, let her dry, and used two drops of ivermectin pour-on, while at the same time I poured permethrin spray all over the walls of the (small) coop, sprayed the roost bar, and removed the sand from inside the house and it's annex. I washed the sand in water, and after draining it I added permethrin concentrate. Do I think they're gone? Can't see any, but I doubt it. I have a dirt run, and surely there are some that got missed here and there. I'll continue the spraying of the house and the drops on the banties, and hope to get rid of them before winter. I feel so badly for them, being bitten. A word on Poultry Protector; it really does knock them dead when I saturate them, but too expensive to dip the birds in it, unfortuately! I do use it in some of the cold (non-freezing) months to at least kill a bunch of them around their vents, as this is where most of them are on mine. Can't get the girls very wet, though, in the cool months.
Good luck! Keep us posted.
Do you have any other predator-proof structure you could use during the warm months, to try to get them away from the hiding mites while you treat, and let the hiding mites die off before the winter months?

 

[ellend]

Oops: error in above post; guess I SHOULD preview!
"We can only effectively (somewhat effectively) treat in the winter" (I meant SUMMER)

 

[gwenakinyi]

Are there any trees nearby or over coop/run (wild bird nests?). Have you tried Adams tick and flea spray on the most heavily infested areas of the chooks? Do you have a jeweler's loupe and/or magnifying headset (ID precise offender)? I'd think, at this point, some liquid preparation would be most effective.

Thanks for the links, I just read them both. I'm not familiar with Adams tick and flea spray. I wonder if our farm store carries it...I know they are infested with the Northern Red Fowl Mite. I'll try finding that spray; otherwise I'll do another bath in Dawn dish detergent, and try changing my coop and nestbox bedding to sand for 6 weeks or so, at least long enough for the buggers to die off. What a pain!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:. A word on Poultry Protector; it really does knock them dead when I saturate them, but too expensive to dip the birds in it, unfortuately!"



Here is a page with dipping instructions and takes 6 oz. of concentrate. I use Poultry Protector myself sometimes in the coop and have been wanting to try the dip.
http://www.mannapro.com/products/poultry/poultry-protector/nutritional-information/

 

[ellend]

Thanks for the info! I never stopped to wonder if there was a concentrate available; I've been buying those little spray bottles for around $8. a pop!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote: http://www.naturesenzymes.com/?p=2489
This is the website I order from...I buy the gallon.

This may be the same stuff as what is in your spray bottle. I don't know.

Oh and for some reason the free shipping button didn't work for me...just wanted to warn you on that. There are probably other websites that offer the gallon size if you need it too.

 

[ivan3]

gwenakinyi wrote: I know they are infested with the Northern Red Fowl Mite.

? http://www2.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef516.asp

Northern Fowl Mites are usually a relatively easy parasite to rub out (we helped our neighbors with an ugly infestation - primarily Eprinomectin (an Avermectin like ivermectin but with a zero withdrawl time - in ruminants) with two treatments (applied directly to skin) ten days apart. Adams tick and flea is sold about everywhere and is for use in dogs and cats. However, this will help clean up butts that are heavily infested (apparently NFM's prefer the feathers near rooster fundaments instead of hen fluff and will often be the first to be colonized). The `Red' mites are much harder to treat for (if it is of interest, Tea Tree oil is a potent acaracide and can be painted/sprayed into cracks and crevices - do NOT apply directly on the chooks - if other preparations aren't available) as they can remain in a viable state for an extended period and then start infestation all over.

 

[Dudu]

I'm not sure of the kind of mites we sometimes see on our birds, but whatever they are, Stomoxin (containing Permethrin, I believe) is what we use - it's liquid for horses (for the flies between their legs?), we dissolve it with water, fill a large sprayer with a pump and go around the yard spraying the birds, the perches and the nests. It kills them practically instantly.
Then again, maybe we haven't seen the really aggressive or resistant mites yet, thank God we have been able to get rid of ours.