Coop pests

[Aleandron]

Hello! We might have mites or lice in the coop. I checked on the them several night and they are stomping their feet non stop. One rooster looks like he has some of his tail feathers chewed up. Any suggestion on what to do? We tried DE but no luck. Anything else, preferably non too harsh or toxic? Thank you all in advance ☺

 

[DobieLover]

Have you examined them for lice or mites at night with a strong flash light?
What do their leg scales look like?
DE is useless for ridding birds/coops of lice and mites. You need to use Permethrin or Elector PSP to treat them and the coop. If they have SLM, they will need their legs treated with petroleum jelly.

 

[Aleandron]

Have you examined them for lice or mites at night with a strong flash light?
What do their leg scales look like?
DE is useless for ridding birds/coops of lice and mites. You need to use Permethrin or Elector PSP to treat them and the coop. If they have SLM, they will need their legs treated with petroleum jelly.

 

[Aleandron]

Thank you for your response. Their legs look healthy and don't show signs of bites. I will look for the product you suggest. Will I be able to keep the eggs while I treat them?

 

[Aleandron]

Thank you for your response. Their legs look healthy and don't show signs of bites. I will look for the product you suggest. Will I be able to keep the eggs while I treat them?

 

[Aleandron]

Ok I will take a few pic later when I let them out. I meant if we can eat the eggs while we treat them

 

[cmom]

I have posted this before, the best product to get rid of the mites and lice in my opinion is permethrin which is very cost effective. There are others such as Elector PSP but it is very expensive. I had some birds that were severely infested. I thought they were just molting but weren't getting their feathers back in when I discovered they were loaded with mites. The first thing I tried was DE. The birds weren't improving and still had mites. I first discovered them in only one coop but eventually found them on birds in another coop. I dusted the birds and the coops with the DE and no improvement after treating them for a couple of weeks. Next I did use some sevin dust that I had but it was almost gone but it did help but is no longer approved for use on poultry. I did some research and came up with permethrin. I'm pretty sure the wild birds brought them into their coop. I have used the dust on the birds and use it in their nest boxes and spray inside of the coops everywhere, every crack and crevice, on and under the roosts, ceiling, walls, floors, anywhere the mites can hide. It's best to clean out the coop before you spray. I use pine shavings in my coops. Wear special clothing including a mask and gloves. I did a weekly spraying for awhile, 3 or 4 weeks and put permethrin poultry dust in the nest boxes, originally sprayed the birds getting under the wings and worked it through their feathers with gloves which you can also do with the dust. Slowly the birds began to recover and get their feathers back in. I think if I hadn't treated with the permethrin when I did I probably would have lost some birds to the mites. The birds were in bad condition. Permethrin only kill live pests, not the pests eggs so repeat treatments are necessary. TSC as well as most feed stores carry the permethrin powder, premixed spray bottles and the concentrate. I used the concentrate. For my initial application. It did not affect the birds but I did keep them out of the coops while it dried. I spray my coops as needed and when I spray I do weekly spraying for 3 or 4 weeks then stop as I don't want the pests to develop a resistance to the permethrin. Repeated weekly spraying is necessary because again, it does not kill the mite eggs and as an added benefit is there is no egg withdrawal period so the eggs are safe to eat. The birds are beautiful again. In my opinion Permethrin works great. Good luck...

 

[Aleandron]

I have posted this before, the best product to get rid of the mites and lice in my opinion is permethrin which is very cost effective. There are others such as Elector PSP but it is very expensive. I had some birds that were severely infested. I thought they were just molting but weren't getting their feathers back in when I discovered they were loaded with mites. The first thing I tried was DE. The birds weren't improving and still had mites. I first discovered them in only one coop but eventually found them on birds in another coop. I dusted the birds and the coops with the DE and no improvement after treating them for a couple of weeks. Next I did use some sevin dust that I had but it was almost gone but it did help but is no longer approved for use on poultry. I did some research and came up with permethrin. I'm pretty sure the wild birds brought them into their coop. I have used the dust on the birds and use it in their nest boxes and spray inside of the coops everywhere, every crack and crevice, on and under the roosts, ceiling, walls, floors, anywhere the mites can hide. It's best to clean out the coop before you spray. I use pine shavings in my coops. Wear special clothing including a mask and gloves. I did a weekly spraying for awhile, 3 or 4 weeks and put permethrin poultry dust in the nest boxes, originally sprayed the birds getting under the wings and worked it through their feathers with gloves which you can also do with the dust. Slowly the birds began to recover and get their feathers back in. I think if I hadn't treated with the permethrin when I did I probably would have lost some birds to the mites. The birds were in bad condition. Permethrin only kill live pests, not the pests eggs so repeat treatments are necessary. TSC as well as most feed stores carry the permethrin powder, premixed spray bottles and the concentrate. I used the concentrate. For my initial application. It did not affect the birds but I did keep them out of the coops while it dried. I spray my coops as needed and when I spray I do weekly spraying for 3 or 4 weeks then stop as I don't want the pests to develop a resistance to the permethrin. Repeated weekly spraying is necessary because again, it does not kill the mite eggs and as an added benefit is there is no egg withdrawal period so the eggs are safe to eat. The birds are beautiful again. In my opinion Permethrin works great. Good luck...View attachment 2840002View attachment 2840003

Thank you so so much!

 

[aart]

Have you checked them over real well for mites and/or lice?

Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.

Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.

Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight, easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.

Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).

Good post about mite ID by Lady McCamley:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-chicken-has-mites-now-what.1273674/page-2#post-20483008