How many times should I dust my chickens for mites and lice in the span of one month?

[chickenchicken123]

Should I dust my chicken for mites every other week or every week? For context, there are many wild birds where my chickens coop is. There is a tree above the coop and the wild birds can look down and come and mingle with my chickens. So I’m not sure how often I should be dusting to prevent an infestation. And The permethrin dust I use claims 30 days of protection but I feel that it’s more like a week of protection as the chickens go everywhere and the strength of the dust will degrade. I am thinking about every other week right now since it’s cooler and in the summer months maybe every week? Still not to sure, I would want someone else’s opinion. If anyone else has dealt with this. Thanks.

 

[nuthatched]

Only dust if you have an issue, preventative dust just encourages the mites to build resistance to permethrine
Maybe once a month, is fine

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

For a full treatment, you’ll have to dust once and then do it again in 1-2 weeks to get the mites that have hatched from eggs. Other than that, I would not do it that often.

 

[Isadora]

I would not treat them at all unless you know they have mites. Parasites can build resistance to pesticides and none of us want to deal with that!
Check your birds regularly for parasites so you can catch any issues before it gets out of control.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The second application is 7 to 10 days.

This is very important. Otherwise you are wasting time and pesticide. The life cycle of pest is what you are targeting. The pesticide is not effective on eggs. First dose kills an adult pest. Second application kills the pest that hatched after the first application and BEFORE they mate and lay more eggs.

If done properly the birds need to be reinfested from an outside source. That could be four months later or years. Cleaning the coop completely and applying pesticide to all corners and cracks before putting in more liter and nesting material kills any pest in the coop. This is the common area where the pest can come from to get back on your birds. I've not had to treat my birds in two years now. The last time I had an infestation treatment was in spring and it did take a second round of cleaning and dosing everything that fall. No mite or lice loads since.

 

[chickenchicken123]

The second application is 7 to 10 days.

This is very important. Otherwise you are wasting time and pesticide. The life cycle of pest is what you are targeting. The pesticide is not effective on eggs. First dose kills an adult pest. Second application kills the pest that hatched after the first application and BEFORE they mate and lay more eggs.

If done properly the birds need to be reinfested from an outside source. That could be four months later or years. Cleaning the coop completely and applying pesticide to all corners and cracks before putting in more liter and nesting material kills any pest in the coop. This is the common area where the pest can come from to get back on your birds. I've not had to treat my birds in two years now. The last time I had an infestation treatment was in spring and it did take a second round of cleaning and dosing everything that fall. No mite or lice loads since.

Only dust if you have an issue, preventative dust just encourages the mites to build resistance to permethrine
Maybe once a month, is fine

The second application is 7 to 10 days.

This is very important. Otherwise you are wasting time and pesticide. The life cycle of pest is what you are targeting. The pesticide is not effective on eggs. First dose kills an adult pest. Second application kills the pest that hatched after the first application and BEFORE they mate and lay more eggs.

If done properly the birds need to be reinfested from an outside source. That could be four months later or years. Cleaning the coop completely and applying pesticide to all corners and cracks before putting in more liter and nesting material kills any pest in the coop. This is the common area where the pest can come from to get back on your birds. I've not had to treat my birds in two years now. The last time I had an infestation treatment was in spring and it did take a second round of cleaning and dosing everything that fall. No mite or lice loads since.

The second application is 7 to 10 days.

This is very important. Otherwise you are wasting time and pesticide. The life cycle of pest is what you are targeting. The pesticide is not effective on eggs. First dose kills an adult pest. Second application kills the pest that hatched after the first application and BEFORE they mate and lay more eggs.

If done properly the birds need to be reinfested from an outside source. That could be four months later or years. Cleaning the coop completely and applying pesticide to all corners and cracks before putting in more liter and nesting material kills any pest in the coop. This is the common area where the pest can come from to get back on your birds. I've not had to treat my birds in two years now. The last time I had an infestation treatment was in spring and it did take a second round of cleaning and dosing everything that fall. No mite or lice loads since.

The second application is 7 to 10 days.

This is very important. Otherwise you are wasting time and pesticide. The life cycle of pest is what you are targeting. The pesticide is not effective on eggs. First dose kills an adult pest. Second application kills the pest that hatched after the first application and BEFORE they mate and lay more eggs.

If done properly the birds need to be reinfested from an outside source. That could be four months later or years. Cleaning the coop completely and applying pesticide to all corners and cracks before putting in more liter and nesting material kills any pest in the coop. This is the common area where the pest can come from to get back on your birds. I've not had to treat my birds in two years now. The last time I had an infestation treatment was in spring and it did take a second round of cleaning and dosing everything that fall. No mite or lice loads since.

thank you for this, I’m going to dust my birds later today. I just didn’t know how long the residual affect of the permethrin powder would last for.

 

[chickenchicken123]

The second application is 7 to 10 days.

This is very important. Otherwise you are wasting time and pesticide. The life cycle of pest is what you are targeting. The pesticide is not effective on eggs. First dose kills an adult pest. Second application kills the pest that hatched after the first application and BEFORE they mate and lay more eggs.

If done properly the birds need to be reinfested from an outside source. That could be four months later or years. Cleaning the coop completely and applying pesticide to all corners and cracks before putting in more liter and nesting material kills any pest in the coop. This is the common area where the pest can come from to get back on your birds. I've not had to treat my birds in two years now. The last time I had an infestation treatment was in spring and it did take a second round of cleaning and dosing everything that fall. No mite or lice loads since.

And would it be ok if my chickens dust bathed in a DE dust bath after I treat them with the permethrin powder? I don’t know if it would affect the permethrin on them.
And sorry I replied so late!

 

[Al Gerhart]

Man, bio security is so important for a flock and those wild birds are going to just keep on bringing in pests. Is this an open top coop or free range?

Chickens are usually walking a razor edge from dying of some disease that is always present. One little thing can compromise their immune system and trip them from healthy into sick and dying which is why we always quarantine new birds or when you move a bird to another coop.

And someone correct me if I am wrong, but I understood that permethrin isn't something that pests build resistance to. Kind of like DE, a wood chipper when it comes to pests. Normal pesticides, yeah, use those sparingly.

 

[nuthatched]

And would it be ok if my chickens dust bathed in a DE dust bath after I treat them with the permethrin powder? I don’t know if it would affect the permethrin on them.
And sorry I replied so late!

Man, bio security is so important for a flock and those wild birds are going to just keep on bringing in pests. Is this an open top coop or free range?

Chickens are usually walking a razor edge from dying of some disease that is always present. One little thing can compromise their immune system and trip them from healthy into sick and dying which is why we always quarantine new birds or when you move a bird to another coop.

And someone correct me if I am wrong, but I understood that permethrin isn't something that pests build resistance to. Kind of like DE, a wood chipper when it comes to pests. Normal pesticides, yeah, use those sparingly.

DE is ineffective for topical pests and is a severe respiratory irritant for you and your birds, especially your birds, it causes necrotic tissue to form in the bronchial junction and eventually suffocates them.

 

[chickenchicken123]

Man, bio security is so important for a flock and those wild birds are going to just keep on bringing in pests. Is this an open top coop or free range?

Chickens are usually walking a razor edge from dying of some disease that is always present. One little thing can compromise their immune system and trip them from healthy into sick and dying which is why we always quarantine new birds or when you move a bird to another coop.

And someone correct me if I am wrong, but I understood that permethrin isn't something that pests build resistance to. Kind of like DE, a wood chipper when it comes to pests. Normal pesticides, yeah, use those sparingly.

Yes I know, frustrating because they just come daily and expose my birds to whatever they have. And they have a coop but are mostly let out to free range these days. The yard is fenced in and the tree is in the middle of the yard. big tree, so a nice place for wild birds to come and rest on. There are way more birds now than before. Years ago with my old flock of birds, there was only a mite issue once, and we had been keeping chickens for so many years at that point but no mites. It’s a different story now!