Found Mites I need a little help

[chicken pickin]

I noticed yesterday when collecting an egg from the nest box that my chickens had mites. There were teeny tiny red bugs crawling on the egg I picked up. I am mad at myself for not checking them sooner as they look pale and scrawny and some have a little feather loss. I not knowing, thought it was because of winter(cold weather less sunlight) and juvenille molts. This morn when I go let the girls out I will bring them some high protein food to help perk them up. My plan is to go to tractor supply and buy vitamins for their water,sevin dust to dust the chickens with and permethrin spray to spray inside the coop. My few questions I have

1)What do I do with the old bedding that probably has mites all in it?
2) 1 have 4 coops should I treat all coops or just the one I noticed?

I have been reading all last night and all this morn about mites. But I welcome any other tips or advice.

Also I read wood ashes are good for dust bathing. I was thinking of cleaning out my fireplace and putting it in a large shallow container mixed with a good quanity of DE for this morning. DOes that sound like an ok plan?

Thanks to all in advance

 

[sumi]

I hear wood ashes helps, but I haven't tried it myself. If I see I have a mite problem I prefer to tackle them with poultry dust. I know that works! Good luck with your mite problem, I hope you get them cleared up soon!

Sorry, I should've said I already answered and advised on the other thread where you posted about this.

 

[suebgbr]

I was advised to take my coop to pieces and jet wash or creosote it.
I bathed and dusted my chickens.
The bedding was double bagged, tied in a knot and put in the bin for the bin man to take away (sorry UK speak, don't know US equivalent).
I haven't seen any more mites since although I dust with Diatomic Earth whenever I change the bedding.

 

[chicken pickin]

Thank you both! I always thought I did a good job cleaning the coops and sprinkling the DE. I guess I slacked a little

. I hope I can get all cleaned up pretty easily. Its just me as DH works til after dark so no help there. Im not looking forward to todays cleaning sprinkling dusting disinfecting( ill do all 4 coops. Any more advice is very welcome. I need to get my kids to school and then hopfully start the process after my trip to TSC.

 

[sumi]

A vet friend of mine once said to me I could mix the dust I was using (Karbadust) with water and spray it in the coop to save time. I don't know if you can do that will all poultry dusts though, so ask around. Chicken-wise, (though you may need some help there) what we did was put some poultry dust in a plastic bag and put the chicken in the plastic bag and shake. You will have one, mad, white chicken afterwards, but it works and it's quicker and quite thorough. The dust I've used didn't irritate their eyes at all. Just make sure you don't breathe it in when you let the chicken loose. Keep some treats handy as a peace offering afterwards.

 

[chicken pickin]

I just got back from the store. I bought Sevin Dust and Dairy & Livestock Dust(main ingredient Permethrin) also Sevin Ready to use liquid spray. Will the Sevin spray be ok to spray the coop down with after I remove all the old bedding? And which is recommended more the sevin dust or permethrin dust? Also last question, For the wood ash dust bath should I mix with DE or one of the other powders?

 

[DiVon80]

Food grade DE. Mix in their food and sprinkle on them..

 

[chicken pickin]

Food grade DE. Mix in their food and sprinkle on them..

Thank You. I do have DE I sprinkle it in their run and in their coop. But I heard it is a preventative not a treatment. For today because I was a little busy and had no extra hands a sprinkled a hefty amount of sevin dust in the coop roosts nestbox etc. And I sprinkled as best I could the permethrin dust on all the chickens. I hope that will soothe them for the night. Tomorrow I will clean out all bedding and burn it, spray the coop down with the Sevin Spray replace with new bedding and some Sevin Dust and hopefully Ill have an extra hand to dust them better. Is it ok to dust them 2 days in a row?. I feel so bad for my chickens

 

[chicken pickin]

Oh and I gave them the wood ash for duat bathing and they never touched it

I was really hoping they would dive right in and clean themselves up.

 

[sumi]

Hang loose with the dust for a few days. Too much is not good for the chickens. But replace the bedding and spray the coop tomorrow. Mine were not interested in the ash baths either, give them time and see what they do. Or try sprinkling it on their favourite dust bath spots.

In the meantime feed your chickens some crushed garlic. I hear it helps repel mites and other bugs. Haven't tried it myself, so I can't vouch for it, but it's healthy, so at the very least it's good for the chickens! And it makes their poo smell a bit less...