Garlic Powder

[pntdhorses]

I have been sprinkling garlic powder on my feed lately in hopes to keep mites at bay. Does anyone use garlic powder? Does it really help with mites? I’ve heard chickens can get some sort of anemia if they get to much garlic.

 

[Little Chicken Girl]

I wouldn't rely on garlic to prevent or keep mites at bay... I have heard about to much garlic leading to anemia (need to do more research on that subject though). However, from what I've read, you'd have to eat ridiculous quantities of garlic to get it.

I would recommend just doing quarterly mite/lice checks and making sure your flock has plenty of dust access + space. That'll go way far when prevention is concerned.
As for checking, external parasites are not hard to spot if you know what to look for (you can read about how to identify and treat external parasites in poultry here: http://thewayofthechicken.com/index.php/2018/02/22/preventing-treating-external-parasites/#more-5119).