I found mites on an egg and believe they are on the combs of at least two of my hens. :(

[Soon2BChixMom]

I'm afraid neither DE or Poultry Protector will get rid of mites.
Use a Permethrin based spray to do the job.

I bought and used the permethrin dust on the birds and in the main parts of the coop/run. I only sprayed the PP where I didn’t think the dust would be able to go. There is a super cold spell taking place right now and I didn’t want the birds to be wet - so opted for the permethrin dust.
When I checked them I did not see masses of mites, in fact, I didn’t see any. But, that could have been my newb (er um old) eyes. Plus with it being dark and only having a headlight on - nerves probably also played into everything too! I only saw what I thought was a mite on the egg that I wiped. I also am not sure about the comb. I need to wipe it to see I guess and I haven’t had time between yesterday and today to do that. I will do a thorough check this weekend when I have time and daylight to work with.

 

[BYCforlife]

I have gotten really lucky when it comes to disease.... once, a broody hen left her eggs, and there were tiny bigs EVERYWHERE. I didn't clean it up, (I should have) but they all disappeared. All of my chickens stayed perfectly healthy.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I have gotten really lucky when it comes to disease.... once, a broody hen left her eggs, and there were tiny bigs EVERYWHERE. I didn't clean it up, (I should have) but they all disappeared. All of my chickens stayed perfectly healthy.

I’m hoping never to see another crawling thing on or around my chickens....wishful thinking.

 

[casportpony]

Sick chickens are the last birds that should be bathed, it's just one more major stress that they won't be able to handle. Spray at night while they are roosting; easy and effective, and not too hard on them. Mary

I so agree with this and cannot stress enough how dangerous it is to bathe one that's even a little sick or run down by mites and/or lice, especially this time of year.

Get permethrin spray or permethrin dust that's labeled for use in poultry.

 

[casportpony]

If you us dust, WEAR A N95 FACE MASK, at least. Breathing any dust product is bad for your lungs!!!
I find spray much easier to apply, and much less messy. After dusting 45 birds individually without an adequate face mask, and avoiding a hospital stay (barely) I discovered Gordon's spray concentrate. So much less expensive, and easier to use!
I doubt that Poultry Protector will be anywhere close to as effective, and potassium sorbate isn't that harmless anyway.
How can something, anything, kill bugs and be non-toxic??? Mary

I tried poultry protector for lice and it did nothing.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Mites from chickens cannot infect humans or dogs.

other people (such as myself) simply spray nesting boxes and perch with dog's flea-and-tick spray every time I clean the pen. So long as you're making it a hostile environment for tick eggs, it should work. For both of those methods, you should lock the chickens out for the day so that everything can dry and/or degrade a bit.

The mites that live on chickens may require a bath. I use dawn soap and a five-gallon bucket when the weather's warm.

One highly recomended product that I've never used is permethrin spray, available at most local feed stores. Some people also use Sevin dust. It's noted for being highly effective and somewhat toxic--and cheap.

Also, making a dust bath can help. A lot of people use old tires and fill them with DE, wood ash, and plain dirt. Hens will lounge in a dirt bath like you would in a sauna.

EDT: I just re-read your post. Some people use the pour-on ivermectin for chickens, and this is supposed to be very effective, but I don't know doseage.

The flea and tick spray -is it just something you get from the store (like walmart or similar) or do you have to order it? My dogs get a chewable pill every 3 months. So we don’t use flea and tick spray.

As far as a warm bath - I highly doubt that my husband would agree to bring the chickens in to the house. So, would a small bin in a heated building work? I could get the water hot and let it cool to warm before sticking a chicken in it.

I am working on a dust bath. The one I made them is too short and they just scratched all of the contents out.

I will research the ivermectin. I found a handy chart when I had the Guinea Pigs.

I just feel really bad for them. But, read that these things can come from wild birds. Prior to coming here they were free ranging - roosting in trees at night. Now, that I look back on a close up photo that I took last week, there was hint of the mites on the one’s comb even then.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I totally understood your original post to spray the roosts and such and did not take it that I would be using the spray on the chickens. I will use the bath as a last resort. I’m too nervous to just try it. I’ve only had these chickens for a week going on two now. Before I got them, I had never even picked up a chicken and I can’t ever remember petting one either!

But, I should add that I’ve had plenty of other animals -in the house and around the farm (for the kids 4-h).

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

So the permethrin dust says not to put in their nest litter? Which I assume is because that's where you get the eggs from. I got poultry protector spray for all other parts of the coop. Is it ok in the nest boxes?

 

[Pater est Pullis]

Is DE ok to use on the bottom of the nest box, with the nesting pad on top, for added protection? I was also planning on dusting wall studs and joists, with DE, my next cleaning.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I’m pretty excited. I just got done dusting the girls. I’m not sure who was more nervous, them or me! I had to work fast as to clean the coop/run so that they could get to their roost. I had locked them into the run extensionto get all of that accomplished. They were knocking on the door. “Um, hey lady, we need to go to bed!”
I let them into their regular run and they got all settled into the coop. I finished doing what I could do using the poultry protector spray on places that I couldn’t dust. I dusted the new pine shavings in the run.
I then was ready to get them out, so opened the side door and grabbed the nearest one. I sweet talked her the whole time, but got all of the parts that needed dusting done. Put her back in and grabbed the one that laid the egg with the mites. She was a little more aggravated with me, but let me do my job. The 3rd one wanted to fly and the fourth just squatted down for me. I did see little specks of something to verify the mites, but none moving.

Some of their vents were dirty. Like poo dirty, do I need to do anything about that or just let it be for now? There wasn’t anything bad about it, just a little poo here and there.