Chicken mites or fleas

[aart]

Thanks to everyone for the information. Its comforting to know if i have a question i can get advice. And thank you aart i would have had no idea it was grain mites, if you hadent posted. Im going to take action soon, think ive got enought information. Now i need to make a plan. I got some garden and poultry dust but am still looking for the spray thats been metioned. I had bought some DE a while back but then saw it wasn't food grade, but i might use it in some areas, maybe in the grass around the pen. The mites are so exposed at night i was thinking about spraying something on them as i see them.

One thing im on the fence about is if i should just use the rest of the feed and then start the process of cleaning. Or just burn the feed and clean the containers keep the new feed far from the house. And then clean.

I also saw something on another thread about blow torching the corners of the coop before you treat. Kinda interesting and bad ass lol.

This grain mite thing really sucks i dont even want to go back to orscheln to get new food, i bet all the bags have it by now. And my only other option is an MFA and they only have plain layer feed.

I guess being in Missouri you can't count on the cold killing the grain mites off.
Permethrin spray(look for Gordons 10 at your local farm store) would probably be the best to rid the premises. I used DE in the feed and in the feed bins under bags in the bins, I basically rebagged the feed into my bin bags adding/stirring in DE as I transferred the feed via 5 gal buckets.

 

[casportpony]

Be careful with the blow torch, please. Loyola University New Orleans lost their Music building to a roofer with a blow torch in the 1980's. It was a great old, large house on campus that had been re purposed. Attic was smoldering and no one realized it until it was too late.

X2. A few years ago two very well know pigeon breeders near me lost almost all of their pigeon because they were using a blow torch to clean cages.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

So sad.