Should I just throw a little on top of the feed? I put some on the floor after I cleaned it out today. Figured it wouldn't hurt to try. Like I mentioned earlier I bought ivermectin pour on to use on them. I figured that's easier than dusting since with all those feathers it's hard to get every part of the bird covered.That is most of your answer there. An easily absorbed calcium source is Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth(Not to kill parasites)
I bet the eggs will get harder soon.
I only know of one use for charcoal and that's not to say there aren't more. I know it as a toxin remover. They eat it, it absorbs toxins, and they get flushed out. Just don't forget you gave it to them the first time as they may eat quite a bit and then have droppings that are black. It's shocking until you remember. Kind of like grating fresh beets into their food on occasion and the following droppings are blood red. I can't recall how many times I've scared myself to death doing that.
Sulfur powder works great as a dust and also as a spray. Non-toxic to bees (we raise honeybees) and people. Solved my chicken mite/lice problem. It is relatively inexpensive as well and not as dusty when applying as permethrin and carbaryl (Sevin).
The idea was to have partially burned charcoal available. The combination of ash and charcoal was both a mineral supplement and a digestive aid. Charcoal alone does have ash but in such small quantities I doubt it would be a good mineral supplement, but the ash is high in phosphorus. All the calcium in the world is useless without phosphorus. Made available the birds will get their own balance.
Depends on the mite. red mites feed on the birds at night. Fowl mites live and breed on the bird. It is helpful to know what you are dealing with. I am a believer in stripping and cleaning and treating the coop regardless. It is not like the fowl mites spontaneously generate on the fowl. Any left behind is the start of a new problem.
Many have reservations but I have used DE for years and have no problems with parasites.
