I have a relatively new flock, will be a year old in June, I have heard that mites can be a problem and it is easier to keep them out than it is to get rid of them. Don't have them yet (I don't think...) any ideas on keeping my flock mite free?
Best natural way is a dust bath. 1 part sand 1 part wood ash 1 part dirt. Chickens dust bath to keep clean and get rid of pests on them. You can use a box but make sure it is deep and wide enough for they really like to roll around.
Actually there is no way of 'keeping them out' (repelling them). Although if you can prevent your flock from having any contact with wild birds, including walking on ground that wild birds have walked on, that helps minimize their chances of picking mites up.
The best you can do IMHO is to get into the habit of monitoring the birds for mites. Every week or two I check my chcikens (not all of them, but an arbitrary sampling thereof) for any signs of mites (or anything else). If you see even one mite, then you'd better treat for them. It *is* a whole lot easier to keep a few mites from turning into a zillion than to try to deal with those zillion once they've multiplied
I use food grade diatomaceous earth for very minor situations; the couple of times I've had lots of mites, though, DE has really not done much good and I've had to use mite powders (sevin or rotenone) which, applied and repeated as per label instructions, did the trick.
If you worm your birds with ivermectin, the ivermectin gets the mites on the bird, too (but not the eggs in the nestbox, roosts or elsewhere). I've gotten in the habit of changing out the bedding in the nestboxes frequently, and when I do, I put a layer of poultry dust down before I add the fresh shavings.
I use Permethrin-10 Livestock & Premise Spray, 32 oz. from tractor supply. I mix it up in one of those pump sprayers and do the birds every 30 or so days. The residue lasts on the birds for up to 28-30 days, I read. So far, no problems. I also spray the roosts, and coop with it. Its easier to do than dusting with sevin.
I use DE in the coop and nest boxes and hang a new no-pest strip up every four months. Never have had a major mite problem yet.
I think it is the no-pest strips doing the job. But I used them prior to any infestation. I would think if your birds have mites you would need to get rid of them first before the DE and pest strips would be of any use.
I don't like to use Rotenone as I read it might be a possible cause of Parkinson's disease. But I always dust new birds prior to socialization.
Anyway method you wish to go, you should always wear a mask when dusting with stock powders. Choke Gasp
I use food grade diatomaceous earth... in the nest boxes, in the dust baths and in the feed (for internal parasite prevention). So far this has done the trick for my flock
I get mine at a local organic gardening store... they special order 50# bags and the cost is about $35.00. In my opinion, if you can find it locally, you can save alot... when I looked online, I found that the shipping cost almost as much as the product...