Help my chicken have mites!

[OE Chic]

Help! What do I do? Hens, Chicks and roosters... What can I do!!

 

[EmilysChickens]

The best possible way to control a mite infestation is to empty all of the bedding into a bin and GET RID of it!!! No matter what! You can burn it, bin it etc. Just make sure your chooks can't get to it again!! After that, you then have to clean your coop from top to bottom with a commercial red mite liquid killer and scrub it all down.(it's also important that if you have a run for you girls then wash that too!) Next, the chooks! There are plenty of commercial powders and red mite killers out there, once purchased, dust your chickens from head to toe in the stuff! The more, the better, I say!! Make sure you don't just dust the feathers of your chickens, be sure it comes into contact with the skin! Once your coop had dried, as you are putting your bedding in, put a small amount of the red mite killer powder in with the bedding! This is a trick I have used for years! It has worked like a charm! Hope this helped you, I know how you feel! Your not alone!!!

 

[EmilysChickens]

P.S - the mites live in the smallest of openings of wood, be sure to get them all!

 

[krista74]

I haven't experienced mites yet, but I've just gone through the harrowing experience of lice on my chickens. I actually wrote a long post about it entitled "Houston - we have a problem." Feel free to look it up if you need a bit of a laugh when it all gets too much for you!

You are about to become very familiar with your chickens, if you are not already! As EmilysChickens has already said, you will need to remove and destroy all of the bedding and floor covering of your coop, and disinfect everything to the point where you would be happy to eat off it.

You are also going to have to pick up all of your chickens and roosters (have fun with that!), pin them down, and dust them thoroughly all over with Pestene or Sevin Powder - whatever you have access to. Then, as if that wasn't enough, you get to do it ALL OVER AGAIN in a week's time! Yay!

The best bit of advice I can give you regarding treatment is (a) Get a friend to help, as it really is easier with two people involved, and (b) Wear a face mask - that powder gets EVERYWHERE!

Treating for mites and lice is a LOT of hard work which took me by surprise, being a new chicken owner. I really did think it was a matter of admiring my pretty birds, throwing a bit of grain at them, and that would be it. Unfortunately, mites and lice (and it's possible they could have both) are terribly irritating to the birds, and if left untreated will result in poor egg-laying and poor health. Treating them isn't fun, but there is really no alternative.

Sorry you have to go through all this. I know how frustrating it can be! Good luck, and let us know how you get on Krista