Bugs in Chicken Coop

[Chip0523]

I am having an issue with pests in my coop. And since we have had our chickens for a year this is the first time it’s happened and will not go away!!! There are tiny insects everywhere inside the house of our coop. I try to hose it down but they never go away. My chickens haven’t been laying for weeks now and I am starting to worry. My hens are going into molting season and I don’t want them to get mites. How can I get rid of these tiny terrors?

 

[Acre4Me]

I am having an issue with pests in my coop. And since we have had our chickens for a year this is the first time it’s happened and will not go away!!! There are tiny insects everywhere inside the house of our coop. I try to hose it down but they never go away. My chickens haven’t been laying for weeks now and I am starting to worry. My hens are going into molting season and I don’t want them to get mites. How can I get rid of these tiny terrors?

Any pictures? This will help for the responses

 

[Chip0523]

Any pictures? This will help for the responses

 

[PirateGirl]

These are mites. Your chickens probably already have them. You need a permetherin product to remove them and you need to clean and respray once a week for 3-4 weeks to break the lifecycle. There are many brands and it can be found in the horse or cattle aisle usually in the ranch store. Here is a photo of the bottle. Even the other brands the bottle looks virtually the same and will say Permetherin 10% on it. Also buy a spray bottle or if you have a big walk in coop you could get a sprayer with a pump. It will work. It is non-toxic to chickens (just don't get it in their food and water). It will need to be diluted with water.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/control-solutions-permethrin-10-1-pt?cm_vc=-10005

Clean out and dispose of ALL bedding. Lock the chickens out of the coop. Spray everything. Be extra thorough with corners, nest boxes, and roosts. When the chickens go to roost at night you can mist the chickens too. This is a good time to re-spray the roost. The mites come out at night and crawl onto the roosts to get to the birds. The next day you will likely find little piles of dead mites. Sweep them up. When I added bedding back in I was sparse with it since I knew I'd have to get rid of it all again a week later. I just put some in the nest boxes and a few shavings under the roosts, but that's your call. Repeat once a week for 3-4 weeks. You will see a big difference quickly! Good luck.

 

[PirateGirl]

Also for some reason it's extra toxic to cats, but not to humans or chickens. If you have a cat, keep it away and make sure you wash all your clothes, wash your hands, etc. after using permetherin. I was perhaps overly cautious, but didn't want to take chances with my kitties.

 

[Chip0523]

Also for some reason it's extra toxic to cats, but not to humans or chickens. If you have a cat, keep it away and make sure you wash all your clothes, wash your hands, etc. after using permetherin. I was perhaps overly cautious, but didn't want to take chances with my kitties.

Thank you so much I do think this is the issue my hens were starting to sleep in the bars out in the run and In the nesting boxes avoiding the roosts. I will try to spray this as soon as possible!