ALL the mites!!!

[chrys64moore]

I am at my wits end with all of the various assorted mites I've been dealing with this summer. It seems like no matter what I do, they just won’t die. I have now had to move the chickens out of their coop to do intensive treatments (fowl mites and leg mites, in particular), but they can’t stay in the tiny sick-bay coop forever. I’m treating them with elector psp for the feather mites and foot soak/vaseline treatments for the leg mites, after two rounds of ivermectin with the vet. I don’t know what I’m going to do with the coop—-it’s fairly large and made completely of wood, with a zillion places for bugs to hide. Has anybody faced a similar issue? I’m thinking about cleaning and fogging it while the chickens are elsewhere for awhile, and then using elector and pyrethrum dust and diatomaceous earth on the floor and roosts. Please let me know if you have dealt with this before. Thanks!

 

[Jener8or]

I have only dealt with scaly leg mites and poultry lice, but they were a bear to treat and only went away with great persistence. I used Crisco and lard on the legs and permethrin dust on the lice and it seemed like it took forever (I dusted them once a week for a couple months and greased the affected legs daily for just as long).

I have a wooden coop, too and we just made sure to get rid of loose feathers so the eggs wouldn't spread (I'm not sure if feather mites lay eggs on the feathers like lice do) but we haven't had to do much treatment to the coop besides the usual change the bedding and now I just check on them to make sure no hitch-hikers have moved in again.

I am sorry you are dealing with this! I hope you gain traction on your battle against the mites!

 

[chrys64moore]

I have only dealt with scaly leg mites and poultry lice, but they were a bear to treat and only went away with great persistence. I used Crisco and lard on the legs and permethrin dust on the lice and it seemed like it took forever (I dusted them once a week for a couple months and greased the affected legs daily for just as long).

I have a wooden coop, too and we just made sure to get rid of loose feathers so the eggs wouldn't spread (I'm not sure if feather mites lay eggs on the feathers like lice do) but we haven't had to do much treatment to the coop besides the usual change the bedding and now I just check on them to make sure no hitch-hikers have moved in again.

I am sorry you are dealing with this! I hope you gain traction on your battle against the mites!

Oops, started a new thread…thanks for your help, I was hoping it wasn’t going to be a months-long process but I guess that’s where we are…

 

[nuthatched]

Completely clean out your coop, streat everything and everyone with pyrethrine based powder or spray. Get all new bedding and litter.

 

[Sally PB]

I’m treating them with elector psp for the feather mites

This should take care of the mites and their eggs on the chickens. It's supposed to be a one-and-done treatment.

But it doesn't take care of the coop, obviously. Clean out the coop to the bare walls. Spray every surface with permethrin spray. Spray into all the nooks, crannies, cracks, crevices, and soak them well. Do it all again in a week to get the new mites that hatched from the eggs that permethrin doesn't kill. Maybe again in another week to get the ones you missed.

One member has had good results using a torch (the hot kind, not the flashlight kind) to kill mites and eggs on coop surfaces and in the cracks. Yes, on wood, and on plastic surfaces.

@Shadrach, can you describe your technique?

 

[chrys64moore]

Completely clean out your coop, streat everything and everyone with pyrethrine based powder or spray. Get all new bedding and litter.

That’s what I plan on doing, there are just soooo many cracks! That’s why I was thinking about using a fogger, and then more pyrethrum and elector as a wash. I know that lots of people are saying that mites seem to be immune to pyrethrum now because it’s been used for so long.

 

[nuthatched]

That’s what I plan on doing, there are just soooo many cracks! That’s why I was thinking about using a fogger, and then more pyrethrum and elector as a wash. I know that lots of people are saying that mites seem to be immune to pyrethrum now because it’s been used for so long.

It depends on your area but usually not. A fogger would help. But not de.

 

[chrys64moore]

It depends on your area but usually not. A fogger would help. But not de.

I ordered a pyrethrum fogger today, so we’ll see if it helps at all. I hope so, this has been the worst summer for pests I have ever seen!

 

[BDutch]

After beating them, I would paint the whole inside of the coop, every crack and the roosts/joints with wet DE. Put a little DE with sand under the nesting material.

Eggs that were hidden that come out are a source for a new infestation.
The DE kills all nymphs and tiny mites before they develop into adult mites.
Monitor with rolls made from ribbed biscuit paper. Attach them under the toost and check 2x a week until winter.

Redo do the DE paint in spring and start checking again every week as soon as it stops freezing.

 

[1motorpsycho]

That’s what I plan on doing, there are just soooo many cracks! That’s why I was thinking about using a fogger, and then more pyrethrum and elector as a wash. I know that lots of people are saying that mites seem to be immune to pyrethrum now because it’s been used for so long.

Get the ends of the roosting bars really good. I gave up on my wooden coop and went to a plastic one. Red mites were a huge problem! It is a bad year for fleas and mites!