getting rid of mites naturally?

[chooks4life]

Can anyone tell me the amount of Neem oil I should be adding to a 500 ml spray bottle of rubbing alcohol? I am planning on using it in the coop on roosts and in crevices to get rid of any mites that may be skulking about. I don't think that I have any (mites), but I'm told it's a good preventative as well.
I want to use a rubbing alcohol solution because it's the only thing that won't freeze when it's -15° C (5° F) and we are not expecting anything much warmer than -11° C for the next while. I want to try rubbing alcohol rather than vodka, which was also suggested, because of the price. ;-)

Vodka? Haven't heard that one before.

Rubbing alcohol by itself should do, but adding any oil to it should also help. Oil by itself can do it too, simply by smothering the parasites, not necessarily due to any chemical interaction. I've only ever used Neem seed oil, not leaf oil, so much of my advice there won't pertain to leaf oil. I've only added it to olive oil, not rubbing alcohol, I have no idea what chemical reactions you might get out of that concoction. Maybe put them down separately?

Neem seed oil coagulates/crystallizes when cold enough, I don't know if the leaf oil does too, but putting down Neem seed oil in cold environments will create an opaque sort of gel that will seal the surface.

When mixing for example 500mls of olive oil with Neem seed oil for direct coat/skin treatment (e.g. on my dogs and cat for sandflea season near the beach) I used a teaspoon to a tablespoon of Neem oil to 500 mls of carrier oil/olive oil. It's powerful stuff and not safe to ingest, but the dogs and cat always licked it up. So did the sheep, and the chooks liked it too. So diluting it should keep things safer in case of ingestion.

Best wishes.

 

[trbarret]

i am new to chickens, but just recently took a 4 hr class on them. The person who taught the class showed us how to apply diatamaceous earth directly to the back of the neck of the chicken with a tablespoon. she said you pull back the feathers slightly and just put a nice big scoop of it on the base of the neck under the feathers. The chicken didn't mind it just kinda shook the dust into its feathers. I guess the diatamaceous earth is eaten by the mites and kills them. The person teaching the class treats her birds and coop every month to 3 months or as needed.



If this helps?

Terry

 

[mossyoak4life]

so it looks like we have mites. after dealing with losing a number of chickens in the last 2 months (hawk, fox, mink maybe, and we had to have a few young silkie roos for dinner to balance things out), i am so not ready to deal with yet another issue..

several of our chickens and our big roo have black spots on their combs and waddles. haven't noticed it on the silkies. one hen is missing a patch of feathers on her back as of 2 days ago. i haven't identified the kind of mite yet, i am going to check tonight after dark see if they are northern mites or red mites. but it seems either way, i am in for an ordeal.

we had a hen with an injured hip recently that we took inside for a while. she was very lethargic, her comb turned pink, and she seemed to lose interest in everything. even though her injury was minor. now after ready up about mites i am thinking she may have been compromised by mites and had anemia, etc. unfortunetly she is dead now, we think a mink got into the coop somehow.. her head was gone a few mornings ago...

anyhow... i put a ton of fresh garlic in their water, and spread a bit of diatamaceous earth around the coop. but i am not sure what the next big step is. the coop is actually a horse stall in an old barn that we closed up and added some roosts and nest boxes in. there is hay on the floor and some hay bails too that they like to sit on and sometimes go behind some of them to lay their eggs.

have any of you gotten rid of mites naturally?? i am not willing to spray our coop or our chickens with chemicals. i need some real advice, thanks!!

 

[chooks4life]

The quote didn't work out, I can't tell what your question was, sorry. I think it may have been added into the post of the person you quoted? Or just not shown for whatever reason?

Anyway, greetings to you and trbarret, and

Best wishes.

 

[Trumanda]

So I've been battling mites for at least 9 months now. I feed my birds organically, and tried to stay away from chemicals. Have tried almost everything. After months of Poultry protector ($15/quart), permethrin powder, homemade natural chicken sprays with garlic & lavender, diatomaceous earth on the floor of the coop (sandy bottom), coop spray of vinegar & tea tree oil, garlic in their water, and no shavings in the boxes and many broken eggs. Initially, I had success with the Poultry protector, but as the months got colder, the chickens could not dry out. Then when I let them free range, they just brought the mites back in.

I realized that they were still having problems because I would find feathers on the floor of the coop. I never see them on the birds, but the birds were biting themselves.Their middle chest line and vent area were red. I started a 3 day cycle of spraying the birds with "Poultry Protector" in conjunction with spraying the coop with Permethrin, and replacing shavings.

With my lack of success, I took my Mom's advice, "Give the chickens a bath." She did come over and blow dry them for me.

I found this bath suggestion, http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/keep-lice-mites-hens-coop-part-two-2/ and gave them all a "Peppermint Spa". The rooster really liked soaking in it. They were mite free for weeks, but I had a miss-hap with the soap, and mixed the ingredients in water that was too hot. The oils separated from the soap and floated to the top. Pretty Boy was the first one in, and he was drenched in the coconut oil. I did try to wash it out of his feathers with Dawn, but only got a small amount off his feathers. As a result, he smells like a bar of soap! My coop smells really clean! However, it appeared that his mite issues have considerably improved--he seemed to have a slight scaly leg mite, that improved also. I am very happy.

I came to the conclusion that they pick up the mites in our yard, where many wild birds come in and out. So when I let them free range, I keep the coop closed, no birds can get in to drop mites while looking for remnants of food. To keep mites away, I'm going to try a neem, macadamia, oregano drop mixture under their wings.

 

[Alycea]

Lots of great information. Thank you! A question from a relative newbie. Our (inherited) chicken's free range every day, so mites are definitely on the agenda. A big thank you for the recommendations of what to use/try particularly on the natural front.

However, checking the chickens for signs, only one appears to have any (unless I am misinterpreting), and this is where my question comes in.

Our little brown chicken has a couple black spots on her comb (only) and one foot (left) has raised - ummm, not sure what you call them, scales? She is our oldest, so not certain if it is an age related thing and not mites.

I am assuming mites would bother the whole flock, so trying to figure out if it is mites and not something else. She is happy and eats normally otherwise.

Any information or recommendations on what to check for appreciated.

 

[Trumanda]

Hopefully, this will help. My experience with mites and viewing others' blogs: they can have a scaly leg mite, my rooster appeared to have this symptom. The scaly leg mite lives under the leg scales, and you can apply vaseline, waxelien or neem on the legs and feet to smother them. I would apply the oil regularly for about ten days, as some mites have 3 to 7days life/egg cycles. I found the mites would select some birds over others. The black on the comb, if not moving could be blood clots from scratching. I rarely saw the mites, but only symptoms. From what I understand scaly leg mites are microscopic. I had some birds with raised scales and some without. Also, wondering, but our microscope broke, and I was not able to verify. I did note the scaly leg worsening so assumed he must have them.
Happy chicken farming!

 

[Alycea]

Thank you very much for the information. Sounds like Neem oil is a great oil to have in general. The next trick (after we get the neem oil) is to catch her As the chickens have always been free range, and though in an enclosed garden, they do have the odd predator to watch out for, so they are not used to be handled. This shall be very interesting...

 

[chooks4life]

Very easy to catch them at night time when they're roosting. Provided they actually roost in the cage, that is.

The black spots on the comb could be many things. Scabs from fighting, which are generally on the front of the comb and face and wattles, or scabs from a rough rooster or a bully alpha hen, which are usually on the back of the comb only... Or stickfast fleas, perhaps... You haven't added your location to your profile info, but it will help to do so. In Australia we have stickfast fleas which burrow in and stay in, they do not leave of their own volition. But most countries have their own permanent parasites.

It does look like the beginnings of scaly leg infestation in the hen. Either she's not very susceptible to them or she was treated for them previously. Completely non-susceptible chooks just don't get scaly leg mite, but very susceptible ones always will, and some chooks are sort of in between the two extremes. There is a genetic basis for it, you can breed susceptible or resistant lines.

Best wishes.

 

[Alycea]

Thanks Chooksforlife, lots of great info. And will update my location asap, which is France (didn't know about that). What is a scaly leg infestation? Is that caused by mites?

We inherited the chickens when we moved here, so no idea of breed or anything. We are definitely figuring out as we go.