How often to treat for mites.

[Grimy Girl]

I have a question about how long to wait before retreating for mites with permethrin powder after a partial treatment.

I had chicken die after being attacked by our dog and then four days later her sister hen died. They were the only two i had. The second one (sister sally nugget), in retrospect, seemed to have been getting slowly weaker even before the first one had the dog attack. I noticed some time ago that she wouldnt hop up on the roost and eventually was off balance. I wasn't really focused on her because I was tending to the injured one. After the first one died she seemed to be getting weaker. The thought crossed my mind that she was depressed (as we all were) that her companion had died. I inspected her thoroughly and noticed that she had mites. I treated her for mites but i think it was too late. She really was not covered in mites, she was a light colored bird. I have read other posts indicating mite infestations that totally covered a bird but this wasnt the case. I suppose it is also possible that she died from something else. Anyway, that very day I sanitized the hen house, dusted her and waited. She died that night

.

At this point im feeling like a failed chicken keeper. The day after the first one died, I stupidly brought in a new pullet so that the second hen wouldnt be lonely. This was before i knew that she had mites. So now i have a single pullet who had at least one days exposure to a chicken with mites who surely has mites now. Though i didnt see any on her they are so small you can barely see them. I tried to treat her yesterday with permethrin powder but she is very hard to handle and i couldnt get a good treatment on her. I plan to really treat her well today by putting her in a box and dousing her with the powder but and not sure how long to wait because i just treated (barely) her yesterday and there is no instructions on the label for this scenario.

Is it reasonable to think i will rid my little flock of mites completely? Once you have them do you always have them?

I will wait the 10+ days before getting a new bird.

any thoughts?

GG

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html
What I do with mine is take a cardboard box and line it with a plastic bag. Then I take the chicken and put it in the box with its legs in the air on its back. I hold the legs and take a sock or stocking tied off at the top filled with dust.

I dust everywhere except the face. I dust under the wings, around the vent, etc.

I repeat in 10 days to get the hatching eggs. If you only partially treated and didn't really get it done then you might want to do it again.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=573207
see post #3 and scroll down in the pdf to "dusting powder" egg withdrawal 7 days

You will get rid of the mites, yes. Make sure you take a shower afterward, wear a mask, long sleeves, gloves, etc.!

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

If you use permethrin 10% spray, the residue lasts for about 28 days. I would retreat with it 7-10 days later though.

Or you could use Ivomec (ivermectin pour on). I use the generic brand. About .25cc for a bantam, .50cc for a standard bird. I believe it lasts up to 6 weeks.