getting rid of mites naturally?

[chooks4life]

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?

You're welcome. Yes, scaly leg is caused by mites, but pretty darn easy to treat compared to, well, just about all other parasites. You only have a problem in very susceptible birds that aren't treated for a long time. Some of the most susceptible can actually be in fairly deep trouble before they've even hit puberty, but that's not too common to see at all. Mostly it takes years to reach a serious stage.

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

Sounds good, hit the ground running hopefully. They are quite awesome little livestock for sure.

Best wishes.

 

[Jacqdiva]

Do some reading on neem oil. Magic stuff! A little goes a long way. I also paint their perches with it, and spray inside nest boxes too.

 

[KendyF]

Do you have a dust box for your chickens to bathe in? Before I ever got my first chicks I had spoken with several "old-timers" about the "old" way of preventing and/or treating mites, lice etc.. The number one answer I received was making sure the birds have a place to dust bathe. We took a plastic swimming pool and put dirt from our gardens in it. I also put appx 1 tbs of wood ashe from our stove and mixed the two together. You cannot use very much wood ash as in large amounts it is toxic to birds. So far in 5 years of having chickens I have not had a problem. Not sure how wood ash works to kill the pests but it has been very effective for me as I cannot use any insecticides due to well waters and protected endangered lizards here. I just cover their box when not in use allowing them to bathe when weather permits or at least once a week in the warm temps.

I have an "on the ground fire pit", which my chickens can free range to, they love to roll in it, peck at it, and I have seen them consuming charcoal. I burn mostly pine, and Douglas fir and some pine needles in it. The chickens have never gotten sick or poisoned themselves in the ash. Not trying to be argumentative. Just saying doesn't seem to be a problem.

 

[lakeyn]

Funnily enough I never use chemicals and have never had a problem with lice or mites, even when heavily overstocked for a long time. Neither do I vaccinate or give medicated crumble or feeds or use man made antibiotics. Don't believe chemicals are the only way, they're a way that must be phased out to move forwards into a future that leaves a functioning world for future generations. I don't have lice or worm problems in the first place because I always feed raw garlic and kelp. If I bring in a new bird from outside breeders with for instance scaly mites or heavy lice, I treat that bird through diet, and for messed up scales I use Stockholm Tar (multiply boiled pine sap) or other natural things like neem. I don't bother treating the perches or the other birds. They're fine because they're abhorrent to parasites due to their health and their garlic-rich diet. I never wash or dust for lice. It's all quite easy once you start with garlic and kelp, and just maintain that. I do give other herbs too, like sage, rosemary etc, which are also vermin-repelling.
Have you heard of the deep litter composting method? I highly recommend it. It was developed by some American scientist who studied it for decades and proved its worth. It shows that the cleaner you keep the environment, the more birds you lose. Good healthy deep litter only needs occasional liming and sometimes charcoal, and clean out excess once a year or so, for your garden, but never fully clean. It isn't bone dry, but it's full of healthy microbes, fungi etc which act in such a way as to immunize your poultry and kill diseases in the litter. It basically makes a cultivating layer of healthy organisms that keep it sweet, clean, and healthy, unlike a regularly cleaned coop floor which sours up quickly and tends to stink. Once you get a healthy litter going it takes care of itself, basically.

@the threadstarter saying their chickens have black spots in their crest and wattles... That sounds like something other than lice, to me. I've seen chickens get mold on their crests and wattles, when not kept on regular garlic. Once you raise a bird on medicated feeds and vaccinate it, though, it can be pretty impossible to get it up to the standard of health comparable to a bird raised naturally; it took me a couple of natural generations before the chicks started to show all the benefits that had been put into their parents. I'm quite a newbie but I have dealt with chemicalized and non-chemicalized birds in sickness and in health and I'll never bother with one of them again... Guess which. You just can't restore full health once it's been artificially destroyed. We aren't adapted to cope with the chemicals we're using, and we confuse surviving with thriving.

AMEN

 

[DuckysGran]

If i was to try the non- chemical way, it would be to mix tea tree oil, lavender oil, peppermint and olive oil with water in a sprayer. Reguardless, you would have to get rid of all the hay/bedding, and spray everywhere including the chickens. Also, some people claim listerine kills them on contact.

 

[DuckysGran]

I have one chick about 2 months old that is an indoor pet and has been since it was about 2 days old, is it safe to use tea tree oil on her? If so like how much and how would I use it? She's my daughters pet and I don't want to make her sick!

 

[charleychicken]

I used the method on the Website

http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/2012/12/natural-way-to-rid-chickens-of-lice.html

it helped my chickens they were infested it is a little time consuming but well worth it thought I was going to have to put them all down.

And it does sound little crazy but it does work

http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/p/must-haves.html is a good website for a lot of chicken supplies I use them all the time

 

[Diannastarr]

hi CMV & all on BYC i just had a hen killed by a rattle snake & that snake is dead but thats not what i wanted to ask , but since that happened i had the opportunity to examine my poor dead hen really well and found no signs of any bugs of any kind , but just a few weeks later its now winter here in AZ & ive noticed that my flock are scratching & seem ITCHY & so i cant bath all my 60 chickens & get them all wet in the cold weather, and unfortunately i am very chemically sensitive & have multiple chimerical illness, also called environmental illness & i can never be around any chemicals at all or i would be risking my life being near chemicals, which causes my brain to swell from any exposure to chemicals & even perfume is a danger to me so its a pretty dangerous idea for me to ever be near any chemicals ever , so i do have to go the all natural route no matter what, but i am interested in maybe spraying something on my birds & their home that will kill bugs,does any one know if Listerine will do that..?& if it can be sprayed on the birds..? or a combination of natural oils used as a spry that could help..?i hope i can find a way to help my flock in the winter like it is now with some thing that is all natural that will succeed in killing off what ever could be bothering my poor chickens & thank you all for any info & help you can give me. take care all & thanks for any help you can give me .

 

[Suzierd]

Very sorry about your hen poor girl.

Can you use Frontline it works well and you just put some drops on the back neck then use a natural poultry spray for the coop. The Frontline the vet said to use is the spray for cat or kittens. I've used it a few times with great results. Best of luck to you.

 

[ChickenTripp]

Winter in Maine and we still have mites! Hate 'em! Don't want to give chooks another epsom bath this late in the year. Tried vinegar, oil, DE, garlic, ash, citrus, tea tree oil in coop. Just keep doing same, or are there more natural things to try? Not super bad, but I hate my chickens to have any little critters on them...