dust bath/mite question

[trudyg]

Several of my birds have this white matter on their vent-area feathers. I'm not able at this time to have a closer look (eye surgery), so I treated with ivomectrin drops and sprayed permethrin liberally in the coop after a good cleaning. New bedding, etc. They got spooked when I was doing the drops so, with all the flapping, I may have not gotten all the drops onto the skin but I'll redo in 10 days and should be able to do a better job of it then. It's been very wet and humid all summer, so the dust bathing has been sporadic. What ingredients should I put into a dust bath mix that would help in my pest-control effort? I'm thinking sand, some permetrin dust powder, a bit of peat moss? I have no wood ash and won't be able to burn anything right away.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sounds like lice egg clumps. They can be hard to remove. I generally use a pyrethrin based poultry dust on birds that need it to get rid of external parasites. You need to treat a few times as the eggs hatch.

A good dust bath should contain dry materials. My birds make their own. They like Dusty gravel, and dry dirt and manure. Peat works well. I just generally get a hole started and the birds do the rest.

 

[trudyg]

the birds do the rest.
Yes, but it's been so wet and humid that they can't get a dry spot was my point. I think that's why they got bugs--their usual dusting routine has not been followed. I am creating a dust bath in a pan that I can move and keep dry--what should I put in it?

 

[Chickassan]

I use one of those little baby pools well actually two, one for the dust and one as a cover.