Baby Chicks Arrived - Now We Have A Problem - Help! ((Pics))

[Picky Chicky]

Momma hen FINALLY hatched her first babies. She's been so broody for the past few months that I finally gave her some (foster) eggs to sit on that had been fertilized. After a long 21 days she hatched 5 out of 6 (maybe the 6th one will hatch tonight). They are absolutely ADORABLE. This is my first time having baby chicks around myself.

So before I show everyone the cutie pie pics, I need some help. It turns out all of my girls are having issues with mites. I use the food grade DE in their coop, but I read somewhere that I should be providing them the DE for them to have dust baths in.

Now Momma hen is infested and I know she'll get them onto her babies. Now what should I do to make sure nobody is miserably infected?

Thanks for the help!

My favorite so far is this first chickie...

 

[SportTees]

I don't know-- Dust each one with DE- I think you can put it directly on them

 

[Picky Chicky]

Does anyone know for sure if it'll be ok on the babies or should I wait any particular amount of time?

Also, how should I put the DE out for the girls to dust bathe in?? Does anyone have a picture of how they use it?

Thanks again!

 

[tryingtohaveitall]

From what I've read, there's no "poison" in the DE per se, so I think it should be fine to dust the babies with, though I'm sure you would want to avoid them breathing it in.

Your babies are adorable!

 

[Chicky Tocks]

Can you take them all out of the box, dust the pine shavings already in it and once it's settled, put them all back in?

 

[journey11]

I put cedar shavings in with my nest boxes to discourage mites, but I am not sure if it would be bad for the babies. They are such cuties, btw!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Why don't you try just dusting Mama? The chicks will be spending so much time under her feathers they'll probably get sufficient fall-out from the dust on her.

I use 5% Sevin Dust on my birds to keep the mites off. I also use it to dust all around a broody's nest to protect against mites and fire ants.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Quote:
I've read many posts warning against using cedar shavings with chicks, enough that I wouldn't use them.