Help!!!....Infestation of something!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Athensm50]

HELP....I went to coop a couple days ago....and came back in the house,....felt something on me...I had petted one of the girls on the back as I let them out that morning.....

today I came in and opened the egg box to see if I had anything....NO EGGS....but came back int he house....and felt something on me again.....SMALL whitish VERY small crawling things...MAYBE MITES??????.....

Feel like letting chickens out...and setting fire to the coop!!!!!!!!!


where do I start???.....what do I do first????

How do I go int there without getting covered in them?



HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[lazy gardener]

First, you need to find out what you have to deal with. Go to the pests and parasites section, and search the threads. You'll find descriptions and pictures. You might need a magnifying glass, and will definitely need a strong flash light, and perhaps a second set of hands to examine the girls at night. Look under their wings, around their vents, at the back of their necks. You'll want to get a good look by parting the feathers, examining the feather shafts and the skin of these areas for creepy crawlies, nits or eggs. You'll also need to check the perches, walls, nooks and crannies for crawling insects. Red mites live in the coop nooks and crannies and come out to feed on the chickens at night. You might hear the chickens stamping their feet on the perches to try to get away from the irritation caused by them. Lice and several other kinds of mites live on the birds themselves. You may have a combination of problems. There are a number of ways to deal with the problem, and a lot of options for treatment. If you have a big infestation, which it sounds like you do, you'll probably need to treat the birds, as well as thoroughly clean and wash the coop a minimum of 2 x about 7 - 10 days apart. In the heat of the summer, i'd go with the 7 days. There are several topical agents that you can use, similar to the products used on cats and dogs for flea control (a liquid that you put several drops on the back of the birds neck. It kills any insects that suck blood (mites), but not chewing insects(lice).) All of them are off label, meaning they weren't designed to be used on poultry, and you'll have to answer the question for yourself about your comfort level using them, and the withdrawal time before eating your eggs again. There are also powders such as permethrin that can be used on the birds and in the coop, but you need to be careful with these due to the birds delicate respiratory systems. There is no withdrawal time for permethrin.

Having an infestation of bugs does not make you a bad chicken keeper. You are to be commended to notice the problem, and take action to protect your flock. Left untreated, birds will be miserable, their egg production will decrease, and an infestation can kill birds. Do your birds have a place to dust bathe? After you get the problem under control, be sure they always have a dust bath available. You can put sand, peat moss, and wood ash in it to help them eliminate further problems.

Dealing with mites and lice is exhausting. I wish you the best of luck.

 

[ConcreteThumb]

Diatomaceous Earth is your friend. So is rosemary and fresh pine needles.
The DE clogs up the mites' micro holes that they breathe thru and grinds inside their joints where their exoskeleton is sectioned. They suffocate and get shredded. Rosemary and fresh pine needles repel most bugs. Cedar chip work too.

A large amount of DE and Cedar is not good for your birds so dont over do it.

I suggest removing all the bedding, apply the DE then add fresh bedding. Put the rosemary where the chooks bed and brood.
You may have to do this every couple days until your problem is licked.

Also, give your biddies access to dry, fine soil so they can take a dust bath.

Good luck!

You may want to try an organic flea spray on the birds themselves, but dont quote me.

 

[Athensm50]

ok...just got back from Lowes.... with Seven dust and Liquid Seven....at first light I will kick the girls out...clean out coop and soak it down with Liquid seven......open up all doors and let air out....put Seven down dust with new shavings....may let them out to free range and spray the run and around that area.

get some corn....gather girls one at a time a give them a good dusting.


do I dump all the food out of their feeder????

and spray it down with seven?

 

[welasharon]

I was going to jump in here and say I use seven...tried the DE and it didn't help. Be careful with the dust. Don't get it in their lungs or your's...alsoi use only what you need. It is deadly to bees. I keep it to a minimum and only use it inside the pens. I don't dust the birds out in the open. Don't put it on the feeder....I would not think that would be necessary. I dust mine at night after they have gone to roost and then get the nesting boxes in the morning. I have never treated outside the pens.

 

[Athensm50]

Well I got up this morning....kicked the birds out in the yard.... and started cleaning out the coop.....got everything cleaned out and then mixed up some liquid Seven....SOAKED EVERYTHING!!!!!!.....coop and run....and left everything open to dry....next thing I know the birds are back in the coop.....kicked them back out and blocked it off and let dry then put new bedding down.

dusted the birds, dipped their legs in cooking oil and put them to bed.....and I understand that I need to repeat 7 days from today.....correct?

I could see, later this afternoon, hundreds of Mites in small spots around wood joins on the purches......RED Mites they are...were????......hopefully!!!!!

I'm still iching!!!...lol


so my questions are:

How long will it take them to recover???

If we do start getting eggs again(and how long will that be???)......how long to I need to not eat the eggs?

Thanks

 

[lazy gardener]

Did you get the Sevin powder in all the nooks and crannies, especially, where the roosts meet up with the wall? You can eat the eggs immediately, as long as they don't have any Sevin on them, which they shouldn't. a good way to dust birds is to put the dust in an old nylon, and use it like a "dust puff" to dust the stuff down to their skin. When I put permethrin in my coop, i dust it across the floor, wipe some on the perches, and be sure to get it in the joint between the perch and wall. An other prime mite spot is the nest boxes. Don't forget a thorough cleaning there.

 

[Athensm50]

Did you get the Sevin powder in all the nooks and crannies, especially, where the roosts meet up with the wall? You can eat the eggs immediately, as long as they don't have any Sevin on them, which they shouldn't. a good way to dust birds is to put the dust in an old nylon, and use it like a "dust puff" to dust the stuff down to their skin. When I put permethrin in my coop, i dust it across the floor, wipe some on the perches, and be sure to get it in the joint between the perch and wall. An other prime mite spot is the nest boxes. Don't forget a thorough cleaning there.

Yes ...I got some Liquid 7 and soaked the ENTIRE coop....inside and out!!!

Thanks!