Best course of action for fighting mites?

[Alexandra33]

After 5 years, it's finally happened. I discovered large, hard clumps of grainy white matter in one of my d'Uccle's beards.....which is likely a sign of mites, right?

Unfortunately, I'm not well acquainted with the ideal treatment. (though over time, I've gathered three products some use: straight DE, Sevin, and Permethrin) Any suggestions?

~Alex

 

[Criticalicious]

Pyrmethrin which is the primary ingredient in Poultry Dust is your best course of action. DE will not do much, if anything. Sevin Dust works too but it's less recommended for poultry (off-label use). I would only use Sevin if I couldn't get Poultry Dust readily.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Sounds like lice...

Permethrin is very effective... part feathers and make sure spritz hits the skin... just below the vent, under each wing pit and at the base of the head where it meets the back of the neck. I use a soaked cotton swab to get close to the head on chicks. I have never actually had to treat beards differently. Treat again according to directions to get the next generation and completely disrupt the life cycle while also preventing resistance problems.

https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

 

[Alexandra33]

Thank you both for the suggestions! It's truly appreciated. I'll be headed out to grab some Permethrin ASAP. Gotta get rid of those pesky little critters.

~Alex

 

[hysop]

@Criticalicious — I’ve used D.E. on my hens and it worked great after just three days and the mites never returned. Then I found a rooster near a shopping square with mites and caught him (I asked around and they said he’d been there for weeks and were happy to have him leave). Isolated him for 2 weeks and treated him with D.E. and he is fine. Does Permethrin work better? I googled how to treat mites and D.E. was the first recommendation back then. Hopefully I won’t have a mite problem anymore, but I’ll keep that in mind. Is it the same price as D.E.? Thanks!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I'll be headed out to grab some Permethrin ASAP

It's found in the equine section and comes under many names and concentrations of ready to use or mix your own..

No egg withdrawal is required when used according to directions.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Does Permethrin work better? I googled how to treat mites and D.E. was the first recommendation back then. Hopefully I won’t have a mite problem anymore, but I’ll keep that in mind. Is it the same price as D.E.?

DE will not work in my area due to high humidity. And it is very ineffective against actual infestations.

Permethrin is VERY effective, safe, and affordable. The bottle I posted a pic of was under $8 and lasted my flock of 82+, 2 large goats, and 3 medium dogs for more than 2 years. I bought it to keep mosquitoes off and discovered its' many uses. It is the synthetic form of Pyrethrin a chrysanthemum extract.

DE has a whole host of stuff going against it and it isn't welcome at my place...
https://the-chicken-chick.com/the-cut-dry-truth-about-diatomaceous/

 

[Alexandra33]

It's found in the equine section and comes under many names and concentrations of ready to use or mix your own..

No egg withdrawal is required when used according to directions.

Very helpful, thank you! Now I'm better prepared.

And how nice we won't have to discard their eggs!

~Alex

 

[hysop]

@EggSighted4Life — wow I did not know that. Thank you for sharing that. I don’t use it for anything other than mites (if it was even mites to begin with, I never confirmed it, but did see feathers growing back after three days where they didn’t have them for some time). I don’t use it in their dustbath since they do that everywhere and don’t have a designated spot where they dust bathe.

Hmm, is it bath for all livestock or just backyard chickens? I was thinking of using it near my pigs since flies are starting to infest their pen.

Definitely will not be buying it again once we run out of the small bag we have.