Do you get chicken mites on you often?

[SoCalChick]

I buy my DE from Randell Burkey.
www.randallburkey.com/Feed-Organic-Feed/departments/184/

Good Luck with the mites.

 

[mandylou]

Thankyou "adopted by a chicken" for your advice on treating lice on humans.
We have a badly infected broody hen who while my husband was inspecting had them running up his arms. The next day he has bites starting on the soft juicy bits! Despite washing & sheet changes I now find myself getting bitten over the last 2 days. (I know as a married couple you should share, but this is ridiculous!)
I have used tea tree nit shampoo in case they were hiding out in my hair but am now going to shower right after finishing this but this time Im going to put the nit shampoo everywhere! Hopefully that will take care of the little buggers cause man they make u itchy! As for the hen dont worry she was treated straight away, but will need another go by tomorrow - needless to say Im worried he will cop another dose!

 

[gsim]

Quote:

I would figure on a yearly maintenance schedule. I have not had mine a year yet, but I dread the day I have to start treating for mites, etc. Next time, use 10% Sevin dust. More bang for the buck. And put some away. I hear it will be taken off market. Remember Chlordane, 2-4-5-T, Freon, etc? Not too expensive to buy 3 or 4 bags and put away. It never expires. When coop is cleaned and new litter put in, you can add food-grade DE to the litter or put it on the floor first. Same for nests and dust bath areas too. No good for infestations, but will control them BEFORE they can multiply. I bought citrus oil from Citrus King in Florida and found it to be best price at the time. I use it to kill bugs in my garden, mixed with safer soap.

Regards picking them off, some posters swear by adding them to their salads!

 

[maizey]

DE does not exist in my area.. its just a figment of my imaginaton. Ive looked for it for years for other gardening uses and its just not real. I know you can order it online but CHI CHING!!$$$ Sevin on the other hand you cant swing a dead cat without hitting, but the whole reason I got chickens was a start at avoiding some of the crap in the grocery store food chain. What are other products that keep the little buggars at bay but don't cost an arm and a leg, and dont make you grow and extra one either?

 

[gsim]

I cannot find the food grade DE locally either. You can find DE at any pool supply house, but I would not use it in my garden or around my chooks. I would definitely use Sevin 10% to dust them if mites were a problem. Lesser of evils to use it or let birds suffer. Could be that a changeout of litter, washing and spraying coop floor with a pesticide, and then adding a nice thick layer of new litter, and washing each bird in a shampoo like Happy Jack mange shampoo might just do it for you. I think I would dust the floor of the coop with Sevin before adding back the litter if they came back. Lesser of two evils.

DE does not work for active infestations of pests, but is very effective at stopping them before they reach a level of infestation. Most pests are brought in by wildfowl and also by people tracking them into your run.

Gerry

 

[junebug7334]

how do you use 5% Sevin? I am sure it's on here somewhere but as usual I have spent too much time on the forum! LOL

Thanks.

 

[chics in the sun]

I just used it yesterday on my broody and her nest, which was completely infested. I tried the method of putting her in a paper bag with her head sticking out, then sort of hitting the bag to make the powder puff up around her. I don't recomend that. She freaked out, thrashed around, and ripped the bag up with her feet. I got some on her that way, then just finished by putting some in my hand and rubbing it all over her. I shoveled out the bedding in her nest box, as well as some of the dirt, and put a layer of powder in before putting new shavings on top of that. I also made sure to sprinkle some in the corners. Her babies are due to hatch on Friday, so I really hope I've taken care of it and they will be okay with the dust in there. Othewise they would have been killed by the mites (red ones), there were SO MANY!

 

[gsim]

Quote:
I only use 10% Sevin . I just spread it around. I have put it under all of my cabinets and vanities and baseboards when building my house and that was 20 yrs ago . We have never been bothered by it being here with us, lying on the subfloor. I have never seen a roach either, in our 20 yrs in our home. In fact, it will kill mice too.

It makes a good flea powder to kill them on dogs and cats. It should be washed off a day later tho IMO. Easiest way to dust a chook is to put the Sevin in a garbage bag. Them put the chook in the bag, BUT WITH IT'S HEAD STICKING OUT OF THE BAG! Then shake the bag and puff it all around a lot, while keeping it closed around the chook's neck. The chook will be completely dusted with the powder. The residue can then be poured out of the bag back into the original Sevin bag for use later.

It can also be put in the dust bath area of your run for the chookies to roll in and put on their own backs, etc. Ditto for the food grade DE.

Gerry

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Food grade DE is no more nor less a chemical than spring water (and yes, both are chemicals). It is mined and crushed, and probably filtered to make sure that the particles are a consistent size of powder. Industrial DE is heat treated, making it more dangerous to breathe. I do not believe it poisonous, but it will certainly cause significantly more problems if one is breathing it than will agricultural or food grade DE. Agricultural grade DE is food grade DE, plus added insecticides and/or fertilizer. Great for crops; depending on the specific additives, it may be fine for dust bathing; or possibly not. Read the label.

 

[ND]

The easiest way I've found to apply sevin dust to the birds is the 'powder puff' method. Put some sevin in an old sock and 'powder puff' them up under the feathers everywhere. I usually hold the chickens by the legs, laying them on the ground (belly down, feet held out behind them), and they don't really struggle once in this position. Then I can tip them side to side, or lift their behinds slightly and dust/puff all up under all the feathers, down to the skin. I've read others use some old panty hose, etc...but an old sock works great and it sifts through the sock just fine. Not much waste this way, and no flapping, struggling bird in a bag...