Mites that won't die... HELP

[HeatherTheMommy]

ok so this all started on Sunday. A month or so ago I got a beautiful polish hen and I had her quarantined. I never saw mites on her but I realize I only checked typical areas. I didn't really check her crest. Big mistake. So the other day I picked her up and was sitting with her looking at her and petting her crest when I noticed tons of red mites in her crest. She is in my silkie flock so of course all of my silkies have them also. I checked my main flock and ayam cemani flock and a few here and there had a mild case. So Sunday evening/ night I treated every single bird with ivermectin pour on. Even the chicks. I also cleaned every coop and put In new bedding and sprinkled poultry dust on the roosts, nesting boxes and floors. So then Monday still saw mites on the silkies. Decided to give it another day. Same on tuesday and I sprayed them with poultry protector. Yesterday the silkies were still full blown infested in their crests mainly. So I dusted each silkie mainly their crests and vents and also dusted the polish. This morning I caught the polish and she still has mites in her crest. I once again dusted her crest. I'm assuming I'll need to dust all the silkies again. I'm getting so frustrated because this is so much work and it's a lot when you have many chickens and other animals and I have two small kids. It's hard to even find the time. What can I do now before I lose my mind? I'm 90% sure I'm dealing with northern fowl mites because they're red and living on the birds not the coops and I also see eggs in the feather shafts. Please help me I've never had a pest problem in my chicken years and I'm feeling so down and defeated

 

[EggSighted4Life]

It sounds like northern red mites, though it is strange the poultry protector is not working. How many days have you been spraying their crests for? Poultry Protector normally needs about a week or so to start working. The mite sprays and treatments are mostly designed to kill the eggs, so the mites might live a few more days, but eventually will die and not be able to reproduce. The infected areas must be sprayed or treated every day for a week.

I see bugs start dying the INSTANT I spray them with Permethrin. And there is NO need to treat everyday.

Also note that mites have shown resistance to many treatments and so you might be dealing with some of that.

 

[Folly's place]

Try permethrin spray concentrate (we get Gordon's from TSC). Spray everyone at night when they are roosting. Much easier, cheap, effective, and easy to spray the walls of the coop too. Yuck! Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Gordon's permethrin spray concentrate is available at TSC here; you could call your local stores about it. Only buy something that's labeled for poultry! I'm not sure about the Bronco; it's got other ingredients, and only mentions horses on the bottle. Citronella isn't the best for chickens to inhale.
Ivermectin is on the unapproved list, although it does kill mites and many, but not all, internal parasites. Don't reapply it, go to the permethrin spray instead. Permethrin dust will work, but is much more expensive, difficult to apply, and really won't get into the vertical coop areas. Wear at least a N95 dust mask (paint stores have them), gloves, long sleeves, etc. when you are using any product. Mary

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I got the permethrin 10 and followed the instructions and sprayed it on almost every bird. I'm confused how this works tho by just spraying it on the vent and under wings

Well, I think it's oil based (causing the residual effect). I think when you spray those areas, it still spreads a little on the skin. (Think, many flea treatments for dogs just get the drops spread along the ridge line of their backs or even just at their shoulders and still work) But also those are the most active areas for chickens and the bugs will crawl across as they travel around. What I can tell you is.. that is how I do it and despite some feather damage which caused me concern and took a bird to the vet to verify I didn't have depluming mites which are microscopic, so not visible to the naked eye AND also NOT treatable by permethrin (Ivermectin is required). He confirmed I did at some point have parasites but there was no current evidence of activity. So I am confident that spraying those areas is effective and efficient, though I get and appreciate your line of thinking! Things need to make scense to me as well.

I'm not sure why you only got "almost" every bird. The ones that didn't get sprayed may become the sole target of any surviving pest. I get EVERY bird. But making sure not to use more often than indicated in order to help avoid the pest building resistance which has been shown to happen with many products including permethrin.

It is my understanding that there is NO egg withdrawal period from permethrin WHEN used according to directions, though it should be on the label. Sometimes labels are tricky and have things written under the label which you have to peel back to see. I have not yet with held any eggs and also not experienced any noticeable illness from it.

But the Ivermectin stays in the system for a while and has been shown to pass into meat and eggs. I would probably withdrawal from that for at least 30 days. It is not even labeled (or approved) for use in poultry. Have you already been eating them?

 

[Folly's place]

I also think that there's no egg withdrawal for permethrin, when it's used as directed on the label. Rules change though, but I didn't see anything different this weekend when searching. You could call your state poultry expert (at the university) for the latest, or call the drug manufacturer.
Ivermectin will be in the eggs for a while and is not approved for use in poultry for that reason. You have to decide when to eat those eggs; I wait a week, for no really good reason, except it makes me feel better about it. Individuals who truly have adverse reactions to ivermectin (there are some) should avoid those eggs much longer.
If you look at the FARAD website, the topical use in cattle, which is approved, has these withdrawal periods; For meat, 48 days, and for milk, 53 days. LONG! It's a great drug, but it does linger. Mary

 

[Kiki]

If the ivermectin didn't work the first time don't re-dose them with it...it's not going to work.
Get the permethrin spray and treat birds and coop with it asap.
Retreat again in a week.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I would be leery of dusting near the eyes.

I might use the liquid and wet a cotton swab and run across their head (or dab right on top). This is what I do when I discover chicks with head lice.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Life cycle for northern fowl mites is 5-7 days. I'm saying if I still see mites tomorrow do I spray again?

No. That is the point of residual. I'm sorry, I don't have the directions. But treating more often than recommended will NOT give you better results. It will just subject your birds to excess chemicals and thus NOT be in accordance with the directions. Even though the life cycle the the NFM is 5-7 days, the residual should still be working for the permethrin. But the label I have has different lengths of time for re-treatment depending on the pest you are treating which is not because of it's life cycle but because of the effectiveness of the chemical on that species specifically. Some are 14 days while others is 21. So please see if it tells you on your label how often you should retreat for NFM.

I have a lot of birds as well, separate coops and such just like you describe. So we split it up into sessions as well. One group each night. The roosters, the Silkies, the full sized hens and so on. Keeping track so nobody gets treated multiple times I write it on the calendar otherwise my brain will be fried trying to recall and I won't get it right anyways. I NEED to WHEN my birds were treated and with WHAT and on what DATE. Their lives are in our hands and it's so easy to get frazzled. I didn't realize I even have to do spring butt trimming for a lot of girls. It is VERY time consuming. Hang in there...

Also, maybe consider down sizing.

I recently did. Sold off 27 birds and processed most the boys. Plus sold most the ducks as well. Decided to just focus on my Silkies, Marans, and a few pet status girls. It's a difficult decision, but eventually sharing the joy of some of my birds with others prevails! And even better, I'm REALLY enjoying my smaller flock! The 3 ducks now come around and check me out instead of hanging with their huge tribe and avoiding me. My pet status girls hang close on my chair or lap and chat. Less poo. Don't get me wrong.. I still have 3 ducks, 14 hens, and 8 cockerel/roosters. And there will be another outbreak of broody's and chicks wearing me down before I know it. But I am so exhausted by the end of summer from playing flock master that I just can't wait until winter comes and I can sleep a little!

Good luck. Your flock sounds beautiful!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I breed my silkies and ayams. My main flock is my egg flock. I did recently sell 5 hens and a dog killed 10 birds in July but I still have quite a few

So sorry for your loss.

Were you able to get their heads at all with the permethrin? I use a cotton swab or Q-tip. Also, gotta get rid of bedding and spray walls and roost and nest boxes. Maybe even the floor.

If you have done all that and still have problems then you might be dealing with some heavy resistance and need to start looking at Carbaryl or other treatments and alternate them. Getting a few under control I'm sure is a lot easier than dealing with an infestation. Sounds like you are dealing with an infestation. I have heard of dips and in fact had to do them when other treatments weren't working for one of my dogs. It was a long arduous process that took more than a month of dips.

Still cheering you on!