Fed up :(

[lindsay750]

At the beginning of the year, we had to burn the chickens house due to mite infestation. We have been dusting them with diatom weekly for 2/3months, and today I notice clumps of red mites in the bloody house. I've cleaned it all out put diatom everywhere, and on the birds, and sudacream (no Vaseline!) around the ends of the perches. I have read all the mite forums on here, anyone got any special tricks?? I'm so fed up of them.

 

[appps]

On vets recommendation I just treated my chickens with ivermectin (can't remember dosage but it's based on body weight and we had to apply it to the back of their necks like you do with dogs. It was a tiny little dropper so I think .01ml per kg but DO NOT use that amount without checking )

Mites were gone in about 2-3,days. We also had to mix up fidos flea and tick rinse as per the bottle and spray that on every timber surface, then repeat in a fortnight. We also replaced all bedding etc of course

Got rid of them quickly and fairly easily. Was a year or more ago haven't had a problem since.

 

[HeatherLynn]

Can you get Diatomaceous Earth? I have always found it effective. I also mix that and ash from our wood furnace in a bin for the chickens to dust in. We have power washed with bleach water also.

 

[saltandpepper2]

On vets recommendation I just treated my chickens with ivermectin (can't remember dosage but it's based on body weight and we had to apply it to the back of their necks like you do with dogs. It was a tiny little dropper so I think .01ml per kg but DO NOT use that amount without checking )

Mites were gone in about 2-3,days. We also had to mix up fidos flea and tick rinse as per the bottle and spray that on every timber surface, then repeat in a fortnight. We also replaced all bedding etc of course

Got rid of them quickly and fairly easily. Was a year or more ago haven't had a problem since.

that and 7 dust is how I got rid of them!

 

[sbhkma]

Can you get Diatomaceous Earth? I have always found it effective. I also mix that and ash from our wood furnace in a bin for the chickens to dust in. We have power washed with bleach water also.

I believe that is what they were referring to.. the "D" in DE is for diatomaceous - they are the fossilized remains of diatoms. And you are correct-DE is good for things like fleas & mites.

 

[debster1556]

I found red mites once and couldn't believe it because we were so clean! After some research from the nice folks on here, I bought some garden/poultry dust. I believe the ingredient is permethrin? We cleaned and dusted the coop. Blasted it with the powder, put some in a nylon stocking to make a powder puff and dusted the chickens. Haven't had a problem since.

 

[sbhkma]

I found red mites once and couldn't believe it because we were so clean! ...put some in a nylon stocking to make a powder puff and dusted the chickens.

That's a great idea!

 

[Toddrick]

I keep Permethrin concentrate on hand so I can just add water and spray from a water bottle, or mix with shampoo, whatever. But for long lasting effect as an area spray in the yard, and in the coop, I use Bifen XTS. And if something is living in hard to reach spaces, like between the walls, I use a fogger to ensure total coverage (I just mix concentrate with Kerosene, instead of buying expensive fogging chemicals).

Amazon is where I get my insecticides. You can easily get Permethrin-10 and the likes from your local tractor supply store if you're in a hurry and don't care about saving money, or buy special sprays/shampoos at any store (they all contain Permethrin pretty much). Finding Bifenthrin locally isn't likely, as it is more of a professional exterminator product. Also be aware that, while Bifenthrin is approved for chicken coops (and yards) in most of the USA, it may be banned in Europe. The reason Bifen is banned in some places is because it kills aquatic critters, so never spray it within 10ft of any body of water! Bifen is safe for animals if allowed to dry completely before they return. Do not use Bifenthrin directly on animals, Permethrin is best for direct applications.

So, to summarize, if you treat your animal with Permethrin (Flea and tick spray or shampoo is the same thing), and spray your grounds/building(s) with Bifenthrin, then there won't be any bugs of any kind for about a month. Once things are under control, you can probably just go back to using DE and Sevin. Pretty simple really. The hardest part is learning the information above, which took me weeks of studying. Bifenthrin is really the key, because has a month long residual effect, killing any offspring or new arrivals. Permethrin has virtually no residual, so if you use it as an area spray, you'll have to repeat once a week or more, which can be frustrating.

 

[cafarmgirl]

At the beginning of the year, we had to burn the chickens house due to mite infestation. We have been dusting them with diatom weekly for 2/3months, and today I notice clumps of red mites in the bloody house. I've cleaned it all out put diatom everywhere, and on the birds, and sudacream (no Vaseline!) around the ends of the perches. I have read all the mite forums on here, anyone got any special tricks?? I'm so fed up of them.

The problem is the product you are using. DE is not going to solve a mite infestation. It might help as a preventative but if you get an infestation you just really have to pull out the big guns and get it treated. Dust the birds with a permethrin poultry dust, strip and spray the coop with Sevin. The spray works well because it's easy to get it into the nooks and crannies where mites hide. The hatch cycle of mites is 7 to 10 days so you do have to repeat the treatment of both coop and birds in that timespan, maybe even a few times, to get everything that hatches and get it cleared up. Otherwise you are very quickly right back where you started. Or try a longer lasting product as Toddrick mentioned.

Ivermectin does work well on the birds. Make sure you still treat the coop though.