Found mites in our coop today and I think I went overboard on the DE in a panic!

[mamamoonglow]

So we've never had mites before. I was checking on my broody hens and their eggs when I discovered that there was most definitely a mite issue in the coop. I feel so bad! So I cleaned as best I could in the small time I had to deal with that situation right then. I also used a ton of DE, all over the coop and in every nook and cranny I could get to. I later bought some permethrin dust and used it as well, though more sparingly.

The coop floor is covered with DE pretty much and it is clinging to all of the little ledges and such. Now I'm wondering if there is too much and than it will harm my hens. What should I do? I can go out tomorrow and hose everything down, but I also want the mites gone. They were really everywhere and it freaked me out. I've read a couple of places that say not to dust chickens with DE and to be careful they don't inhale it. Other places talk about letting hens bathe in DE and to dust them with it if there seems to be a problem.

Any advice? I want my little hens to be healthy and I feel so bad that the mites went un-noticed by me until now. Our weather has been really bizarre this year, with a super warm winter and now a hot and humid spring. I knew pests were going to be a problem, but I was unprepared for this sort of sudden infestation. Thanks for chiming in.

Gwen ~ Mama to 4 wee humans, and 4 feathered babies (silkie chickens)

 

[KrisH]

So we've never had mites before. I was checking on my broody hens and their eggs when I discovered that there was most definitely a mite issue in the coop. I feel so bad! So I cleaned as best I could in the small time I had to deal with that situation right then. I also used a ton of DE, all over the coop and in every nook and cranny I could get to. I later bought some permethrin dust and used it as well, though more sparingly.

The coop floor is covered with DE pretty much and it is clinging to all of the little ledges and such. Now I'm wondering if there is too much and than it will harm my hens. What should I do? I can go out tomorrow and hose everything down, but I also want the mites gone. They were really everywhere and it freaked me out. I've read a couple of places that say not to dust chickens with DE and to be careful they don't inhale it. Other places talk about letting hens bathe in DE and to dust them with it if there seems to be a problem.

Any advice? I want my little hens to be healthy and I feel so bad that the mites went un-noticed by me until now. Our weather has been really bizarre this year, with a super warm winter and now a hot and humid spring. I knew pests were going to be a problem, but I was unprepared for this sort of sudden infestation. Thanks for chiming in.

Gwen ~ Mama to 4 wee humans, and 4 feathered babies (silkie chickens)

I would leave it. not poisonous, could add some shavings, but more space for the mites to hide. My call would be to leave it as is.

RobertH

 

[DianeS]

It's fine. You don't want to breathe DE, but you don't want to breathe flour, either. It's not that it's poisonous, it's that its dry and pulls necessary moisture from the lungs and mucous membranes. In fact, that's exactly how it kills things like mites and ants - it cuts into their exoskeleton and draws the moisture of their bodies out until the mite dies. So if you cut yourself up, then took a bath in DE, and walked around without ever wiping it off or washing yourself down... yeah, then you might be in trouble. But that's not what is happening to your chickens. Remember how big they are, how they groom themselves regularly, how the DE does not cut into skin (only exoskeletons), how your chickens have access to areas that don't have DE in them, and other things that make them different from the mites.

Plus, the DE loses effectiveness when it gets wet. A few days of being pooped on and having the water slosh out of the bowl, and the DE in the coop won't be effective anymore. So it's not even long-term exposure.

Keep the coop full of fresh air (you have ventilation, right?) and everything should be fine. And your mite population should go waaaay down!