Anyone used spinosad for mites?

[Debbi H]

Hi all, My flock has mites. Pretty sure they're the northern fowl ones. And they are EVERYWHERE. I've tried DE. It seemed to cut down on the number but they are still crawling all over the place. I cater to some organic leaning clients and I like to stay as chemical-free as possible but I'm about to go nuclear. Thinking of using spinosad garden spray, but not sure if anyone has had any success with it. Also, do you need to do it again in 7 days?

Hi, I wanted to let you know my own "secret mix" that seems to really wipe out the mites. I had a horrendous infestation of them. You could see the mites crawling all over the walls, floor, in the shavings, just freaking everywhere! Couldn't even go in the hen house without getting covered in the mites myself. It's just been a horrible year for all kinds of bugs.
Several years ago, I had a problem with spider mites in my garden. They were destroying everything they were on. It took me months of trial and error but I finally came up with a mixture that virtually wiped them out, and was safe around my pets and people.
I use the Monterey Garden Insect Spray (the spinosad stuff) along with SaferGro PestOut (oils of cottonseed, garlic, and cloves). In a two-gallon garden sprayer, I mix 1.5 oz (3TBSP) of the Monterey product per gallon of water, PLUS 2 oz (4 TBSP) of the SaferGro per gallon of water.
It worked miracles in my garden. So now, when the henhouse was so infested with fowl mites, I remembered my concoction and decided to try it again.
I completely cleaned out the henhouse, removing all the shavings from the nest boxes and floor. I put all of the used shavings into my green waste barrel to be removed from the property (and I sprayed a good coating of my mixture on the top of the shavings to keep the mites from climbing out...which they WILL do!). I then took my sprayer of the mixture into the henhouse and sprayed the entire house from ceiling to floor, coating everything with a good coat. You can see the oil soaking into the wood. I sprayed the nest boxes and also every crack and crevice where the mites would hide.
Then I let this soak in and "dry" for a couple hours. Following that, I put fresh shavings into the nest boxes and on the floor and then sprayed a good coat of the mixture onto those. The hens didn't seem to mind it being slightly damp at all. In fact, they seemed to like it, and when they came in and sat on the nest boxes, it actually put a little coat of the mixture onto their feathers to kill the mites that are on them.
NOTE: I used the entire two gallons in this process.
My henhouse is 6' W x 8' L x 7' H.
I repeat this every couple of weeks now just to make sure the mites cannot gain a foothold in there again.
One nice side effect: the whole henhouse (and the hens) smell like Christmas...all nice and "clovey".
I know that someone said you have to use the whole bottle of Monterey, but my experience has shown that I don't have to do that.

 

[casportpony]

I know that someone said you have to use the whole bottle of Monterey, but my experience has shown that I don't have to do that.

Glad it worked for you, but I fear that using less than the amount that's known to kill mites will create resistance to spinosad, so why risk that?

 

[deedledumpling1]

I used the Spinodad!! I'm a Nurse so very freaked out about getting the dosage correct, (haha). But I got a kids little cough medicine measure and did exactly 9 ml in a gallon on warmish water. PS A SYRINGE DOES NOT WORK AS THE CONCENTRATE IS VERY THICK!! I cleared the whole coop out, and sprayed the walls, floor, windows etc. Then I bring them in one at a time and sprayed back of neck, under each wing, and the whole vent area. I make sure the coop is warm by putting in a red heat bulb just while I am cleaning to warm up the coop good. It did the trick and they didn't come back until right now. Gonna be every Fall I guess ;( . So today I'm doing all over again. The red light is just for this instance!! I do not heat my coop with it routinely. I just don't want them to get chilled after the spraying.

 

[Vegan561]

I used the Spinodad!! I'm a Nurse so very freaked out about getting the dosage correct, (haha). But I got a kids little cough medicine measure and did exactly 9 ml in a gallon on warmish water. PS A SYRINGE DOES NOT WORK AS THE CONCENTRATE IS VERY THICK!! I cleared the whole coop out, and sprayed the walls, floor, windows etc. Then I bring them in one at a time and sprayed back of neck, under each wing, and the whole vent area. I make sure the coop is warm by putting in a red heat bulb just while I am cleaning to warm up the coop good. It did the trick and they didn't come back until right now. Gonna be every Fall I guess ;( . So today I'm doing all over again. The red light is just for this instance!! I do not heat my coop with it routinely. I just don't want them to get chilled after the spraying.

Deedledumpling1

Which Spinosad product did you use please?

 

[cmom]

I use permethrin. It's much more cost efficient and works.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/bird-mites.1424745/post-23441015

 

[Debbi H]

I use permethrin. It's much more cost efficient and works.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/bird-mites.1424745/post-23441015

What brand of permethrin do you use? I've posted above about the other mixture that I use and it has worked very well for me. My vet suggested Permethrin once and I bought it, but it smelled like gasoline! I couldn't even stand to be in the henhouse after I used it and it took a long time for that smell to go away.

 

[vblrn]

The Monterey stuff is 0.5% spinosad, 99.5% other ingredients. Are those other ingredients safe for poultry? If you do decide to use the 0.5 % stuff you would have to mix it to a percentage strong enough to treat mites, and that means mixing it so the the final percentage is 1%.

Before using, please verify that all the "other" ingredients are safe for poultry.


Any 0.5% product (0.5% spinosad - 99.5% other ingredients)

Add 757 ml to empty one gallon container then fill to one gallon mark with 3028 ml of water.

So basically a 32 ounce bottle (946 ml) will make just one gallon of mite spray.

Seems the Monterey product is the correct concentration right out of the bottle. 0.5% is what I understood for Elector psp dilution

 

[cat47997]

I used the Spinodad!! I'm a Nurse so very freaked out about getting the dosage correct, (haha). But I got a kids little cough medicine measure and did exactly 9 ml in a gallon on warmish water. PS A SYRINGE DOES NOT WORK AS THE CONCENTRATE IS VERY THICK!! I cleared the whole coop out, and sprayed the walls, floor, windows etc. Then I bring them in one at a time and sprayed back of neck, under each wing, and the whole vent area. I make sure the coop is warm by putting in a red heat bulb just while I am cleaning to warm up the coop good. It did the trick and they didn't come back until right now. Gonna be every Fall I guess ;( . So today I'm doing all over again. The red light is just for this instance!! I do not heat my coop with it routinely. I just don't want them to get chilled after the spraying.

Hello I know this is an older post, but which spinosad product did you use?