How fast does permethrin work? Red mites

[Rmm528]

Sorry, this is a double post, but I think I initially posted in the wrong spot (new to the forum)

I am a newbie chicken keeper (2 years) and my hen house and hens are infested with red mites (terrified they are in the house). Treated the chickens with premethrin poultry dust. Yesterday I sprayed down the whole coop with a 0.5% premethrin spray, and I mean soaked. It's a wood house, brick floor. Soaked every crack and crevice. I went out and checked today,and there are still adult mites everywhere. Does premethrin take more than 24 hours to kill? I will be treating again this weekend with Elector PSP, but wanted to see if this is expected after a permethrin treatment (I know it takes several, I am more concerned about how quickly it should kill). Want to make sure we don't have resistance.

 

[Chicken Momma 27]

Sorry, this is a double post, but I think I initially posted in the wrong spot (new to the forum)

I am a newbie chicken keeper (2 years) and my hen house and hens are infested with red mites (terrified they are in the house). Treated the chickens with premethrin poultry dust. Yesterday I sprayed down the whole coop with a 0.5% premethrin spray, and I mean soaked. It's a wood house, brick floor. Soaked every crack and crevice. I went out and checked today,and there are still adult mites everywhere. Does premethrin take more than 24 hours to kill? I will be treating again this weekend with Elector PSP, but wanted to see if this is expected after a permethrin treatment (I know it takes several, I am more concerned about how quickly it should kill). Want to make sure we don't have resistance.

I treated my chickens last night for lice with permethrin and this morning everyone was still itching themselves. Had to leave for work so haven’t checked them yet but I’m wondering the same thing. From what I’ve read, it should work immediately but not sure if I applied it correctly. I watched a YouTube video and did exactly what they did, sprayed a few squirt around vent, under wings, and once in their neck. Could you update me on if your chickens are still infested and how you treated.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

FAST. Permethrin should kill every affected mite which crawls over enough treated surface. It will incapacitate and ultimately kill a tick in less time than it takes it to crawl up the pants leg of a treated pair of blue jeans. It will affect a tick in less time then it takes to crawl up a treated sock. Assuming you didn't spray your birds, I'm guessing the majority of mites are now concetrated on them, the rest of the hen house being lethal to them. So now you are waiting for the permethrin dust product to get worked thru your chicken's feathers via dust bathing, etc, so it can contact the bugs on your birds.

 

[cmom]

Sorry, this is a double post, but I think I initially posted in the wrong spot (new to the forum)

I am a newbie chicken keeper (2 years) and my hen house and hens are infested with red mites (terrified they are in the house). Treated the chickens with premethrin poultry dust. Yesterday I sprayed down the whole coop with a 0.5% premethrin spray, and I mean soaked. It's a wood house, brick floor. Soaked every crack and crevice. I went out and checked today,and there are still adult mites everywhere. Does premethrin take more than 24 hours to kill? I will be treating again this weekend with Elector PSP, but wanted to see if this is expected after a permethrin treatment (I know it takes several, I am more concerned about how quickly it should kill). Want to make sure we don't have resistance.

Elector PSP will work too but is quite expensive and also usually requires more than one treatment for mites. Permethrin works but also needs to be repeated weekly for 3 or 4 weeks as it does not kill the mites eggs so repeat treatments are necessary to kill the mites as they hatch out. I use the concentrate and mix for the 0.50% permethrin solution. I also use the poultry dust in the nest boxes. There is no egg withdrawal period. Mites can acquire a resistance if it's used too much as some try to use it as a preventative which doesn't work well, and also if the concentration is too weak, the same with Elector PSP. Personally I would use one and if you have another issue down the road then use the other. Just my opinion. I'm sure there are many others. Good luck...

 

[svh]

I recently sprayed all my rugs, dog beds and woods stomping cloths, and did a "tick test" with a live tick .....

I placed the tick in the center of a treated dog bed, and although it seriously impaired the tick almost immediately, it took almost 5 minutes before it was completely dead. It never made it off the bed.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

^^ Informative.

I understand that with severe cases of scabies, a human mite, concentrations up to 5% are needed, or alternatively (and recommended) repeat 1% treatment. "One and Done" is not generally how these things are accomplished sadly. Likely because the scabies bury themselves under the skin to avoid contact.

Also, human skin rapidly denatures permethrins. All mammalian skin does, actually, but cats lack in the enzyme needed to do it quickly, so great caution should be used in applying permethrins where your felines might go. Also, where it might end up in a water supply - the stuff is also quite toxic to fish.

 

[CKfarm22]

I treated my chickens last night for lice with permethrin and this morning everyone was still itching themselves. Had to leave for work so haven’t checked them yet but I’m wondering the same thing. From what I’ve read, it should work immediately but not sure if I applied it correctly. I watched a YouTube video and did exactly what they did, sprayed a few squirt around vent, under wings, and once in their neck. Could you update me on if your chickens are still infested and how you treated.

I have used “Martins Pen and Poultry”, i sprayed it around every window, crack, nesting box, any crevice. It works with mites, ticks, flies.. really anything you can think of. Sprayed it on my chickens too. It seemed to work great and a lot of other people recommend it.

 

[ZoeStefi]

Sorry, this is a double post, but I think I initially posted in the wrong spot (new to the forum)

I am a newbie chicken keeper (2 years) and my hen house and hens are infested with red mites (terrified they are in the house). Treated the chickens with premethrin poultry dust. Yesterday I sprayed down the whole coop with a 0.5% premethrin spray, and I mean soaked. It's a wood house, brick floor. Soaked every crack and crevice. I went out and checked today,and there are still adult mites everywhere. Does premethrin take more than 24 hours to kill? I will be treating again this weekend with Elector PSP, but wanted to see if this is expected after a permethrin treatment (I know it takes several, I am more concerned about how quickly it should kill). Want to make sure we don't have resistance.

Try to use, rather, product STERI-FAB —- that product will kill them instantly on contact … I used that, done it, worked at first time! Repeated again after 3 days to make sure that I got it in every little cranny that I , most likely didn’t miss the first time, but wanted to make sure. It’s been a month now and they are gone. I will repeat it once a month, for a precaution.
Permethrin is, so I learned, effective only when used directly on animals … so those bitches mites hide everywhere else and after while go back to feed on the animal hosts.
This is from my experience and hope would work for you too.

 

[cmom]

Permethrin takes weekly applications for about a month. I had good luck with it and I have a dozen coops. I totally sprayed everything. I sprayed the coops first then cleaned them and for a month did weekly spraying. Here is a Permethrin mixture chart made by another BYC member.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Permethrin is, so I learned, effective only when used directly on animals … so those bitches mites hide everywhere else and after while go back to feed on the animal hosts.
This is from my experience and hope would work for you too.

I have found periodic spraying with Permethrin of my wooden and concrete board coop MOST effective for controlling mites. Little {explicatives} have nowhere to hide, helps prevent re-infection of your birds. And since I'm not spraying it on my birds, I can make a max concerntration application in a hand held pump up sprayer, walk out, do the coop and the goat barn both with about 2 gal of mix in under 15 minutes.