How to get rid of mites on hens?

[chikadee]

DE is worthless when it comes to getting rid of mites.


Invest in permethrin If you want to get rid of them.

I was told the same thing and After further reading it sounding like bird mites are actually becoming increasingly resistant to permethrin. Permethrin doesn’t kill the eggs so they get born into a permethrin environment they become immune to it as mature mites. I do know that you have to be extremely careful not to bring the mites into your house on your clothes or your skin they become a huge pest like almost like a bedbug because they are nocturnal and they will use humans as hosts and bite you in the night.

 

[chikadee]

I‘ve done everything to get rid of mites, I keep the coop clean, I have diatomaceous earth in the dust bath and coop but I still found mites on one of my birds. What do I do?

I’m sorry to hear your struggling with bird mites. My brooder is infested with mites from baby chicks that I brought from another flock into mine. The worst part is the mites have now come into my house on my skin and clothing. So now those tiny mites you can barely see are infesting my house and they are nocturnal and they bite me while I sleep. I had no idea this is a thing I am trying to warn people to be very careful with bird mites. It becomes a HUGE issue if they get removed from their bird host and trapped inside your house they will use you or any other a mammal as a host and bite. In my case, they chose me. So now those tiny mites you can barely see are infesting my house and they are nocturnal and they bite me while I sleep. I had no idea this was a thing. I am trying to warn people to be very careful with bird mites it becomes a huge issue if they get removed from their bird host and trapped inside your house they will use you as a host and bite you... best of luck with your mites ... While dealing with mites I would say change your clothing and take a shower right away. I have also tried diatomaceous earth and I’m realizing it’s not working very well on my brooder.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

Where in the world are you?

Exzolt will kill 99% of mites and is a water additive. It's available via prescription from a vet. The active ingredient is fluralaner.

If you can't get Exzolt, Bravecto spot-on works really well too. Also fluralaner based but is topical. I empty a bravecto spot-on (dog or cat) into a fine syringe and administer 0.05ml per chicken to the back of their necks. Works amazingly well and they don't need a second treatment.

So glad I found this post! Occasionally, my chickens have had mites before, my pigeons have had lice. Pigeon lice have been easy to deal with, they're easier to see & fortunately my birds have rarely had them, & if so, only a few lice on certain birds. I rotate ACV & garlic & oregano in drinking water. I've kept Bronco spray on hand. I've used Ivermectin drops on back of neck & the other type safe for drinking water before. I also have DE, permethrin on hand. But...recently I saw nasty reddish mites on a few of my chickens. Not all of the chickens had them, just some, for now anyway. Well, these little bastards are tough! They seem to survive Bronco, ProZap, DE, Permethrin & Ivermectin! I bought some of the dreaded Sevin dust for the Roosters, can't use that on hens laying, but anyway even that nasty dust didn't get rid of red mites! A bath in Lavender Tea Tree shampoo helped the affected bird, but of course that doesn't get the eggs yet to hatch & doesn't do much in the coop. I bought a bunch of this spray from Manna Pro, expensive & didn't work. So then I scoured the web & learned there's a product called Exzolt, works great, add to drinking water & no issues with egg layers. The only problem is that I'd have to live in UK or Australia to get it. I called Merck, livestock division & asked...they said getting USA approval is being worked on...well, who knows how long that'll take. I asked them about Bravecto, naturally they don't recommend it for any animals other than dogs & cats, for which it's approved, yeah, I get it, no one wants to get sued these days. Meanwhile, my sweet flock is being attacked by blood sucking, vicious, nasty miniature vampire red mites. Anyway, I searched it here & found your thread. Thank you for addressing Bravecto, because I was afraid to try it without reading that someone else had some success without risk of adverse effects on a flock or possible mortality...well, I do want mite mortality, not chicken mortality, obviously. So...it does require a veterinarian prescription. I was thinking the liquid version for smallest cats would work, but I have no cat to take to a vet, to get a prescription for it. So...now what?
I guess I can try to go without a cat & see if they'll sell me some.
If anyone has a suggestion, please share. Thanks!

 

[BDutch]

Can’t you order Exzolt online (from the UK or somewhere else) ?

Btw in the Netherlands you can only get it by description of a vet.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

Can’t you order Exzolt online (from the UK or somewhere else) ?

Btw in the Netherlands you can only get it by description of a vet.

I haven't found a way to order Exzolt. Only the Bravecto.

 

[wallsehan]

Fluralaner. I have used the Bravecto spot on which removed 100% of mites for over a year. I have Exzolt now ready to go but haven't any mites to treat for at the moment.

What size of Bravecto and dosage did you use for your chickens since it is topical and not oral?

 

[MickWithChicks]

I used a childs medicine syringe and gave each hen approx. 0.05ml to the back of the neck from the Cat branded Bravecto. They each had a dose of approx 7Mg/kg Fluralaner. No chicken showed any issues at this dosage. Dosed twice, a week apart. I've never seen red mites since so haven't done any further dosing. No other products were used; no powders etc. Just routine clean the coop.

 

[BDutch]

I used a childs medicine syringe and gave each hen approx. 0.05ml to the back of the neck from the Cat branded Bravecto. They each had a dose of approx 7Mg/kg Fluralaner. No chicken showed any issues at this dosage. Dosed twice, a week apart. I've never seen red mites since so haven't done any further dosing. No other products were used; no powders etc. Just routine clean the coop.

These kind of poisons are not allowed in the EU chicken industry, because the poison given to the chickens comes in the eggs and the meat as well .

 

[MickWithChicks]

These kind of poisons are not allowed in the EU chicken industry, because the poison given to the chickens comes in the eggs and the meat as well .

You're 100% incorrect about every aspect of your statement.

Exzolt is oral fluralaner (the same active ingredient in Bravecto). It has been approved in the EU for use in poultry since 2017.

https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/veterinary/EPAR/exzolt

There's no withholding for eggs, and 14 days for meat. There are dozens of peer reviewed studies on the use of fluralaner in poultry. Well worth a read and definitely worth treating your poultry with it if they get red mites; it'd be cruel not to.

 

[ChickenLoverTrin]

With my chooks, I used this spray. It worked within a week and majority of the mites just
fell off, dead.