What is your favorite dust bath mixture?

[Blooie]

Is pyrethrin and pyrethrum the same? I will look for it tomorrow and tractor supply. I am planning on emptying the entire coop and burning everything. I have poop trays set up with PDZ and I scoop them every two days. Shld I put any of the pyrethrin in there as well? Any other suggestions are appreciated.

"Oh, you are right - i did confuse the two and I'm so glad you caught that! Thanks! It is available at TSC, as is Neem Oil. I guess you probably could mite powder in the PDZ on the poop board Many mites don't stay on the chickens all of the time - they spend yhe day in cracks, crevaces, and bedfing, coming out at night to feed on the chickens so wherever you can stop them is helpful. As i said, all I use in their designated dust bath is dirt...plain old dirt. They also have a few spots in the yard they like to hit when they are out for daily foraging." Good grief! I'm not usually so illiterate! I just read what I posted the other day and I didnt understand half of it! Trying this on a new tablet probably wasn't a good idea! The keyboard even funtions differently than my iPad! Sorry! Edited: And as I just learned, the "quote" fuction doesn't work well either I'm going back to bed

 

[dmaldet]

Well I couldn't find the dust form so the lady talked me into the de. Also a spray form with .1 % of pyrethrin in it. I dusted them all this evening. Went better than I thought it would. I just hope the de is strong enough to get those buggers. I did all the birds even though I only saw them on my two polish hens. I am going to clean out and spray the coop tomorrow as long as weather permits the chickens to be out.

It was somewhat dusty in there because they flapped a little afterwards. Hope that is ok. So fingers crossed we have gotten on top of this.

I am also adding a sand and wood ash dust bath for in their coop too tomorrow. I will check them all in a day or two and see how it's working.

 

[Victoria-nola]

Well I couldn't find the dust form so the lady talked me into the de. Also a spray form with .1 % of pyrethrin in it. I dusted them all this evening. Went better than I thought it would. I just hope the de is strong enough to get those buggers. I did all the birds even though I only saw them on my two polish hens. I am going to clean out and spray the coop tomorrow as long as weather permits the chickens to be out.

It was somewhat dusty in there because they flapped a little afterwards. Hope that is ok. So fingers crossed we have gotten on top of this.

I am also adding a sand and wood ash dust bath for in their coop too tomorrow. I will check them all in a day or two and see how it's working.

We have not had mites here (knocking wood), but I dust my chickens with DE while they are on the roost, just every so often. One had to go to the vet and she tested completely negative for any sort of parasite, internal or external. The type of DE that is used is a food-grade product that is natural-- it is the skeletons of a tiny ocean creature, ground up into a flour-like powder. There is a type of DE that is dangerous to breathe or handle, and that is the stuff that is labeled for swimming pool filters-- it should NEVER EVER be used for anything else-- it is heat-treated and the particles are extremely damaging to the lungs. The food-grade product is not the hazard. Yes, it says to avoid breathing, but it's best to avoid constant breathing of any dust. When used as a dusting on the chickens, it's not any more dangerous to them than the dirt-dust they seek out, and it's totally natural for them to do that.

So again, I do not know if DE alone can defeat the poultry mites. I just wanted to offer this info about DE so that you don't have to worry about using it. Do be careful not to strew it all around the garden, however. It kills all insects, even the beneficial ones, including bees. Some gardeners have stopped using it at all because of this. I feel ok about using it in the chicken coop still, though.

--Victoria

 

[Stephine]

Instead of DE I use elemental sulfur for my chickens. I put some in their feed and just made them an in-coop dustbath (finally dawned on me that they needed one with this endless rain and mud outside) with some sulfur in it, too. The great thing is that there are not the concerns as with breathing DE dust, and the sulfur transfers easily from chicken to chicken, so even if not everyone uses the bath, everyone will get enough sulfur dust on them to keep bugs at bay. I read about it in the Chicken Health book and am always surprised not more people know about it. Makes taking care of them so much easier. No need to sneak up on them at night and dangle the poor unsuspecting hens by their feet while pummeling them with a powder puff!

 

[Shezadandy]

Compressed pine pellets (like for horse bedding) - can wet them down a little to break them into sawdust-- chicks and chickens alike delight in it!

 

[junkman56]

I use peat moss, wood ash, DE, and sometimes coarse sand in my chickens dust bath, I just mix it together with out measuring how much of each.

 

[ninjawesome]

Dirt.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

They dig in the dirt all summer making their own bath. In winter we provide an old wash basin filled with wood ash.

 

[rottlady]

I have one with sand peat moss and wood stove ash and my birds shun it in favor of shavings bathing

 

[madchuck]

we recently started using the ashes out of the fire and they seem to enjoy it