I have a modest mite thing going on. In spite of completely cleaning the coops - vacuuming, washing down all cracks & framing joints with 10% bleach solution - once a week, and washing roost bars daily & spraying bleach solution where they meet the walls. I am also fairly liberal with the DE in coop bedding & outdoor dustbathing & gathering areas. Vermin love chickens as much as we do.
Today, at the advice of one who has used this with good results, I picked up a small spray bottle of Frontline (active ingredient Fipronil) from the vet. I went out when the birds had roosted, but when it was still light enough to see, and made my way down the roost bars. I gave each bird one spritz under their right wing. I wore long rubber gloves and massaged the dose in their skin/ feathers after spraying. I also wore a dust mask, but that's just me. I was advised to both spray under each wing and above and below the vent. But I didn't; maybe I'll regret it.
The other thing I am going to pursue is purchasing some potassium sorbate. That's the stuff winemakers (and others) use to inhibit the growth of yeast & mold - it's one of the lesser bothersome to mankind & beast preservatives, although some are still sensitive to it. It happens to be the active ingredient in a ridiculously pricey spray bottle of poultry protector I purchased awhile ago, and have used up by spraying it in the joints where the roost bars meet the coop walls. Potassium sorbate is very affordable. I plan to drive to a beer & winemaking store & buy some (shipping costs from an online purchase are wicked). I'll make the same 1% solution that is sold as a "concentrated mite spray." Potassium sorbate is an acknowledged miticide.
Please speak with your favorite, trustworthy DVM about fipronil/ Frontline spray use for poultry. I am not an expert.
Good luck with your creepy crawlies!
...... I have just dusted them all with permethrin, but it sounds to me like ivermectin is the quickest, easiest, and most effective method. If I go out and get Ivermectin this afternoon, should I wait to apply it, or could I apply it later on today? Also, any suggestions on letting my chickens out and keeping peace with my neighbor would be greatly appreciated. I was thinking about asking him if he would mind stretching 18" high poultry netting across the front of his garage till he gets a door......who builds a garage w/o a door???
