help! mites in with a broody hen

[sunket77]

I have my broody in a separate small coop that I thought would make the perfect brooder. I just found out today it's infested with mites! How do I get rid of them safely with her? What would be the best for the coop? she has been dusted recently, should I bring her inside while I take care of the coop? and of course its raining! I hate to keep moving her around we are on day 5.

 

[Opa]

One of the best articles I know of --- http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/2/2-5/Laura_E_John.html

 

[sunket77]

Thanks!
these where red bugs that had collected on a white dish I had put down for her. Is it possible this is chiggers and not mites? I have yet to get any on me so far. How easy is it to see the mites? It still is not clear on what to do with my broody hen, like I said I dusted her before I moved her into the coop. How can I treat the coop without disturbing her to much? Her nest box is a plastic bin with hay for her bedding.

 

[Opa]

It sounds like you have chicken mites. I would take your broody out and dust the box with DE and put her back.

 

[Chicken Downunder]

Just the other day I lost a very broody young buff orpington to chicken/red mites :-( Because she sat on the nest for so long, the mites, which I had no idea where there , had a field day on her and she died, I guess to anemia. One day she was ok just obsessing about getting back on the nest, the next day, very, very sleepy and died that afteroon. I still feel sick thinking about it and feel terrible about not seeing them sooner.

I had only just recently cleaned out the coupe and had seen no sign of pests but when I went to change the hay from the nest box she had sat it, saw thousands of mites under the floor of the nest.

Have spent the last three days spraying the coupe and nesting boxes with insecticide, dusting the other chooks with mite powder and throwing tons of powder around the coupe, especially around the nesting boxes and perches. Also go out at night with a torch and check chooks and perches for signs of mites, as this is a good way to detect them as they only come out at night to feed.

A hard lesson to learn but I will never lose a chook to those little devils again. Good luck on getting rid of them.