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I've never thought of that. Duh! But if soapy water kills the bugs in my garden by suffocating them, I guess it would work on mites as well. I'll have to try that.
I have used Permethrin Spray. It wasn't Sawyer's brand but it should be the same thing. I have also bought the dust with permethrin as well. I do try to use 'organic' & 'natural' methods as best as I can. But sometimes you just have to use the real stuff, unfortunately. For the spray, I clean out my entire coop & then wash it down with water. Then I mix up the spray & spray every nook & cranny. Obviously don't let your chickens back in until the coop is dry. For the chickens, I use the dust. There is probably a better way to do it. But I have found the easiest thing to do, is hold them upside down by their feet. Wearing rubber gloves, I hold them over a rubbermade container (to catch the dust that falls). I can also use the container to push their head out of the way since you don't want to get it in their eyes. I shake some of the dust in a small container & then pick up a little in my hands. With my fingers, I rub the powder all over & underneath their feathers. The most important place to dust them is around their vent area. (This is where the mites like to hang out the most.) I hope this helps your mite problem!
I use permetrin as a last resort. So that I don't have to use it as often, I make sure my chickens have a good place to take dust baths. I put diatomaceous earth in with their bedding & nesting boxes. And my ferrier recently told me that he uses pine needles in his coop. I haven't been able to try the pine needles yet, but I am very interested to see how effective they are.
I picked up a chicken and found myself with bites the next day. I got these chooks at about 4 mo. I've got a little Catawba coop so I will clean everything out. I happen to have Sawyer's permethrin spray for clothing. Any thoughts on using it on the coop and roost, then letting it dry while the girls free range?
