get rid of mites FOR GOOD regime

[mamahen82]

Hello. I unknowingly purchased some chickens at the auction last fall that were full of scaley leg mites. I am new to chickens and didn't know to look for this - thought that grey bumpy legs were just part of the barnyardmix breed that they were (blush). I feel HORRIBLE that they lived with it all winter. This spring we've been dipping them in vegetable oil and cleaning the coop, using DE. etc. Their legs are looking pinker.

I recently hatched 15 chicks and will be moving them out to the coop in a few weeks. They are currently in a brooder in our living room. I posted the adult birds for free on Craigslist, (and was honest about the mites) and have several people taking them tomorrow.

So my question is - what regime should I follow to ensure that the coop and run are 100% free of mites before moving the new chicks out to the coop in a few weeks? I am planning on scrubbing down all four walls, ceiling, floor of the coop - what shoudl I add to the water to kill any mites? I also would like to make sure their run/the soil is free of mites - what should I do out there? Sevin dust everything? Normally I do not like using chemicals and try to do things organically but this was a bad case of scaley leg mites. Right now I have a good chance to really clean things up over a few weeks when there are no birds out there, so want to do things right.

Your suggestions, as always, are much appreciated.

Melissa

 

[WooingWyandotte]

Have you tried diatemacous (I probably spelled that wrong) earth? I haven't ever had leg mites, but my hens have had mites and fleas before, I just sprinkled diatemacous earth on them for a couple days and that killed the mites/fleas. I cannot recall another time I have had a problem with pests again. Here are some links, by the way; all diatemacous earth is is ground up sedimentary rock. No pesticides. (You can use it for intestinal parasites too, just sprinkle it in their food. )

And as for sanitizing the coop, just sprinkle it pretty heavily all around where your previous chickens have been eating, sleeping...etc.

Look it up on Google, there is tons about it on there.

Hope I helped.

 

[mamahen82]

Thankyou - I do use it, just referred to above as "DE" for short, but I wasn't sure if it would be enough to disinfect/eliminate a mite problem or rather is it more of a preventative thing?

 

[Hoosierchickens]

I only know what I've read on BYC because I haven't had mites or lice but it sounds like DE is good as a preventative measure but not as effective with infestations. Sounds like a thorough cleaning and Sevin dust in all the cracks and crevices is a good plan since mites like to hide there in the daytime.

 

[Judy]

I would get some flea and tick spray and spray the building. In feed stores it is called poultry dust or spray, or you can get Adams flea and tick spray. It is permethrin/pyrethrins; not supposed to be as toxic as Sevin but does kill them. I keep a big spray bottle in the coop, generic, from TSC, and periodically spray nests and roosts and such (I have a metal coop.) I've never seen even one on a chicken.

I don't have a lot of faith in DE, and don't like that you really need to wear a mask when you handle it. We don't put masks on the chickens. I have a big box of it I bought years ago and rarely use it. It's good against worms on garden plants, though. It's supposed to kill by scratching then dehydrating them, which I imagine it does, but I've never found it effective in the garden on anything that has a tougher exoskeleton such as stink bugs.

 

[Elite Silkies]

You need to thoroughly clean out the coop and spray some permethrin on the floors, walls, cracks, roost, etc. Then put a layer of DE or Sevin Dust then put your shavings on top of that, then another layer of DE or Sevin Dust then another layer of shavings. Make sure you get the cracks filled good with either the DE or Sevin Dust. I don't think you can ever 100% eliminate mites or lice. I have found that mites prefer lighter colored birds. I usually do not have any problems with dark birds, but I have found some on my light colored birds.