getting rid of mites naturally?

so it looks like we have mites. after dealing with losing a number of chickens in the last 2 months (hawk, fox, mink maybe, and we had to have a few young silkie roos for dinner to balance things out), i am so not ready to deal with yet another issue..

several of our chickens and our big roo have black spots on their combs and waddles. haven't noticed it on the silkies. one hen is missing a patch of feathers on her back as of 2 days ago. i haven't identified the kind of mite yet, i am going to check tonight after dark see if they are northern mites or red mites. but it seems either way, i am in for an ordeal.

we had a hen with an injured hip recently that we took inside for a while. she was very lethargic, her comb turned pink, and she seemed to lose interest in everything. even though her injury was minor. now after ready up about mites i am thinking she may have been compromised by mites and had anemia, etc. unfortunetly she is dead now, we think a mink got into the coop somehow.. her head was gone a few mornings ago...

anyhow... i put a ton of fresh garlic in their water, and spread a bit of diatamaceous earth around the coop. but i am not sure what the next big step is. the coop is actually a horse stall in an old barn that we closed up and added some roosts and nest boxes in. there is hay on the floor and some hay bails too that they like to sit on and sometimes go behind some of them to lay their eggs.

have any of you gotten rid of mites naturally?? i am not willing to spray our coop or our chickens with chemicals. i need some real advice, thanks!!

Im going through the same thing. I gave my birds a bath in warm water, dried them off, and then put a heavy coating of DE on them. i also through a bunch of it in their coop. It had a ton of mites in there. After all that i havent seen to many around. I will blast the blast the birds again with powder in a couple days and hit their house again too. Maybe get rid of your hay bales and straw since its hollow and they live inside the shoots.

Unfortunately, if you are not willing to use chemicals you are in all likelihood going to lose your flock. I am sorry.

Good luck.

I tried the DE route as well. It was a bust. I use seven dust. You can do a search on here for killing mites and lice but most will tell you DE may help some with prevention...but not an infestation.

If i was to try the non- chemical way, it would be to mix tea tree oil, lavender oil, peppermint and olive oil with water in a sprayer. Reguardless, you would have to get rid of all the hay/bedding, and spray everywhere including the chickens. Also, some people claim listerine kills them on contact.

birdface, the thought of hand washing all 17 of my birds is a bit daunting, especially since a few of them really won't let me pick them up. i don't think that's an option, especially it being winter here. are you using 5% DE? or the usually 85% DE?
yeah i am thinking we'll have to get rid of all the hay and start over in there. unfortunately it being in an old horse stall, the floor of the coop is actually earth under the hay, so its not like i can powerwash in there..

CMV, that's kinda depressing.. thanks anyhow

lucky123, thanks for the info. so the essential oil mix you are talking about you would spray right on the chickens? that makes sense. i've used something similar for fleas on my dogs and cats. i'll have to ask my natural vet about this actually, he might have some suggestions. maybe neem oil could work too.

I have had my flock for about 16 months now and have tried to go the all natural route....DE. It does not work. I have been battling lice for 6 weeks.....using Poultry Dust from TSC rather than Sevin. Repeat dustings every 10 days......again not working. I want to do what is right for my girls and for my family, but their pain and suffering from infestations that can be taken care of with chemicals is the only option that is effective.

lucky123 said:

If i was to try the non- chemical way, it would be to mix tea tree oil, lavender oil, peppermint and olive oil with water in a sprayer. Reguardless, you would have to get rid of all the hay/bedding, and spray everywhere including the chickens. Also, some people claim listerine kills them on contact.

Click to expand...

I dont recommend tea tree oil. Here's a link:https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/408353/warning-tea-tree-oil-can-be-toxic

Actually, I believe neem oil does work. I agree, don't use tea tree oil. Pyrethrins will work and this is I believe a "natural" remedy, but they are active only for a short period of time as they break down in light, if I remember correctly. A pyrethrin/permethrin mix is fairly effective, commonly available as poultry dust or flea and tick spray, and from what I've read, a much less "serious" chemical than Sevin. Some use flea preventive drops for dogs and cats with good results. You would have to research this, but I believe this is not an insecticide as such. DE will not resolve the problem.

Try using Suspend on the area where the chickens roost and nest, it is biodegradable and will not hurt animals. Just google search for it by name (Suspend) on line and you will find it. It is about $40 dollars a pint and will kill any insect that crawls over it and will not wash away with water after it dries. The only insect I have found that it will not kill is ants.