How to get rid of mites??? Please help me!!!!

[cafarmgirl]

What you need to do is go to Tractor Supply or another farm/feed/garden store and pick up some Sevin 5% Dust. It's in a red container. Dust the birds with it, either by putting some in old nylons and using the nylons as a powder puff all over their body, or by filling a small bag with Sevin, putting the bird in leaving just its head out, and gently shaking the bag so the dust goes all around the bird. I like the nylon method, lol.

Then, clean out the coop. Clean it well. Use a gentle soap and water. Dust everything with the Sevin (the walls, floor, roosts, literally everything), put bedding in and mix the bedding with Sevin. Wait a week, and do it all over to kill any that might have hatched in the meantime, since Sevin does not kill eggs, just adults.

X2. I like the Sevin liquid spray for the coop since it gets into all the nooks and crannies really well. I use Y Tex Gard Star Garden and Poultry Dust from TSC on the birds. And you may have to repeat more then once to get on top of them. Every 7 to 10 days until they stop hatching. They are hard to get rid of because you have to keep getting the new ones that hatch and if you miss just a few the cycle just continues.

I personally would not depend on DE to get rid of a mite infestation, I just have not found it to be very effective. Possibly a helpful preventative but not to treat a major infestation. Mites can kill your birds, you need to really get rid of them. I also would not call somebody lazy for using an appropriate treatment to get rid of them any more then I would call somebody lazy for choosing another option.

Chickens don't have to be overcrowded, poorly fed or unhealthy to get mites. Wild birds carry mites all over the place and just the fact that chickens live in a coop, bedding on the floor, lots of places for mites to hide, makes mites a possibility. I have never had mites in my current flock. Doesn't mean I won't ever, that's why I check them regularly and have the means to treat if necessary.

 

[Pyxis]

I it Gardintick Sevin Ready-To-Use 5% Dust???

Yep, that's the one. Also, I wanted to let you know that I've heard from others that DE (Diotamaceius earth) can help prevent mites but doesn't actually kill them. I wouldn't know for sure since I never used it myself, but when I asked about using it back when I had a mite problem, that's what I was told since that was what I thought I needed to use at first.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

While everyone has to use whatever method they're most comfortable with, I personally prefer to use wood ash. We have a wood burning stove and I collect the ash in a tin bucket with lid. After it's cool, I dump it where the girls like to do their dust bathing. What fun they have! They come running when they see the ash bucket and give themselves long, thorough baths in the stuff.

I've never had a mite problem, maybe that's why. Or maybe I've just been lucky.

I saw a recommendation of cleaning out the coop and then dusting the coop well with sevin, using a leaf blower to make sure the dust was crammed into every crevice and then blowing the excess out of the coop. [Wear a mask and old clothes if you do this]. I've not done that but that made sense to me and sounds like a way of killing the mites that are left in the coop. I've also read not to use hay as mites and critters like to hide in the hollow shafts. I don't use hay for that reason and I don't use straw in the coop. Pine shavings and autumn leaves is what I use. So far I've been lucky.

Good luck and hope that some of this works for you.

 

[Pyxis]

X2.  I like the Sevin liquid spray for the coop since it gets into all the nooks and crannies really well.  I use Y Tex Gard Star Garden and Poultry Dust from TSC on the birds.  And you may have to repeat more then once to get on top of them.  Every 7 to 10 days until they stop hatching.  They are hard to get rid of because you have to keep getting the new ones that hatch and if you miss just a few the cycle just continues.

I personally would not depend on DE to get rid of a mite infestation, I just have not found it to be very effective.  Possibly a helpful preventative but not to treat a major infestation.  Mites can kill your birds, you need to really get rid of them.  I also would not call somebody lazy for using an appropriate treatment to get rid of them any more then I would call somebody lazy for choosing another option.

Chickens don't have to be overcrowded, poorly fed or unhealthy to get mites.  Wild birds carry mites all over the place and just the fact that chickens live in a coop, bedding on the floor, lots of places for mites to hide, makes mites a possibility.  I have never had mites in my current flock.  Doesn't mean I won't ever, that's why I check them regularly and have the means to treat if necessary.

Thanks for the support, I was feeling a little attacked there

 

[Smf0723]

What do you mean by wood ash??? Like do you mean to like burn wood and then wait for it to cool and them put it in the dust bath???

 

[Mtn Laurel]

What do you mean by wood ash??? Like do you mean to like burn wood and then wait for it to cool and them put it in the dust bath???

Yes. The ashes made from burning wood in our wood burning stove. We put it in their dusting spot after it's cooled off.

Edit to add picture: Gave them some ash yesterday and they couldn't wait to get to it!

 

[Smf0723]

So i have to burn some wood and the dump the cooled ashes in my chicken coop for them to bathe in it???

 

[Mtn Laurel]

So i have to burn some wood and the dump the cooled ashes in my chicken coop for them to bathe in it???

Yes if you wish to try this method to help with the mites. Maybe you know someone with a wood burning stove that would let you have their ash? Fire pits are popular now, maybe someone would have wood ash in one of those. I've heard of people burning sticks and small pieces of wood in their BBQ grills for the ash but you would have to clean out all the charcoal ash and residue first.

 

[PSJ]

X2.  I like the Sevin liquid spray for the coop since it gets into all the nooks and crannies really well.  I use Y Tex Gard Star Garden and Poultry Dust from TSC on the birds.  And you may have to repeat more then once to get on top of them.  Every 7 to 10 days until they stop hatching.  They are hard to get rid of because you have to keep getting the new ones that hatch and if you miss just a few the cycle just continues.

I personally would not depend on DE to get rid of a mite infestation, I just have not found it to be very effective.  Possibly a helpful preventative but not to treat a major infestation.  Mites can kill your birds, you need to really get rid of them.  I also would not call somebody lazy for using an appropriate treatment to get rid of them any more then I would call somebody lazy for choosing another option.

Chickens don't have to be overcrowded, poorly fed or unhealthy to get mites.  Wild birds carry mites all over the place and just the fact that chickens live in a coop, bedding on the floor, lots of places for mites to hide, makes mites a possibility.  I have never had mites in my current flock.  Doesn't mean I won't ever, that's why I check them regularly and have the means to treat if necessary.

X2

 

[PSJ]

I'm not trying to start anything here, but I kind of feel like you're sort of attacking me for suggesting Sevin. I understand that you feel you shouldn't use pesticides, or at least that's the feeling I get from your post, but you kind of phrased this as if I was bad for suggesting it. I was just offering help to someone who asked for it and telling them what worked for me, I wasn't suggesting they had to do it. I feel that it's a personal decision and no one should be criticized for doing things their own way, just as I wouldn't say anything derogatory to you for your belief in using more 'natural' methods. If your post was not meant to offend me, then I apologize for saying anything; I just felt kind of attacked by the way you phrased this.

agreed! To each their own!