Bird mites driving me nutso!

[Kouzelnik]

HELP! Bird mites are taking over my life. I would use a pesticide, but they are all endocrine disruptors. It's there a lure/trap I can make for my living space? Any repellents that aren't mint that actually work? What about sulfur?

 

[TwoCrows]

There are natural things like peppermint, Clove oil and citrus that can repel and even kill bugs. I use a thing called Natural Care I purchase in the pet section of Walmart for the dog. It kills and repels fleas, ticks, skeeters, ants, spiders, all manner of bugs. You might strip your entire coop to the floor, spray every inch, corner, floor, roost bars top and bottom, everything with this spray. You would probably need to repeat this weekly until you got a handle on it.

As for the birds, I am not 100% sure you can use this on them, it is safe for cats and dogs. Birds I am not sure.

All this said, sometimes it is necessary to give in to sprays like permethrin to kill these tiny monsters.

Good luck!

 

[Rurumo]

You could try sulfur, it's one of the more natural things you can use that's effective: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27432937/