I need advise on how to kill mites/fleas i dont know whats on them

[floridachickhatcher]

I live out in the country in Florida and im just so sick and tired of all the fleas/mites getting on my chickens and attaching to their faces i told my mom im to the point im ready to just stop with chickens all together cause how are we suppose to sell the hen when its got mites/fleas on its face? We have tried everything we can think of i mean i dont know if its mites or fleas on them i really dont cause they look the same and then i see the hatched out bugs crawling on the face or even the adults crawling cause my mom had on gloves and i told her i saw them crawling on her hands.We have tried diatomaceous earth,seven dust and other dusting powders nothing is working and im not hand picking all the mites off their faces just for them to get mites again or fleas i mean im to the point of starting to put flea treatment on them im just im tired of it.... It seems the pests only like getting on the light colored hens not the darker ones we had White Rocks and they were horrible with them and now they are on my Buffs but not on the RIR as far as we can see.

 

[chfite]

The technique for applying Sevin or DE is important. Here is a video demonstration: http://www.brooklynfeed.com/2011/05/dusting-your-chicken-for-mites/

Chris

 

[darin367]

use ivermectin pour on for cattle...... 2 or 3 drops from an eye dropper between their wings on back,, make sure you spread feathers apart and get it on the skin..... lock your your birds in at night, grab them out 1 at a time in the morning, treat them, put in run not allowing treated birds back into the coop...... after all birds are treated, clean out your coop really good and then dust all crooks and crannys in coop...... then re-treat in 3-4 weeks....... kills everything, fleas,ticks,mites and even worms them..... easiest and most effective........ i bought mine from amazon.com for like 12 bucks and you get enough to last for many many years........ the only draw back is you can't eat the eggs (at least we don't) for a few weeks........... do a search for ivermectin for more info....... make sure your using the pour on for cattle..... it will make you n your flock happy again...

 

[Tigertrea]

I am going to agree on Ivermectin if it is a choice between no birds and pesticide. On the farm we did the sheep, goat and horse routinely as well as any dry cows.

 

[tellynpeep]

Are they stick tight fleas? https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/mg236
If so, I don't believe Ivermectin will kill them.

 

[lceh]

We tried Frontline on my daughter's birds for mites on the recommendation of a local poultry judge. It was a miracle cure. Use Frontline spray, not the drops. With an eyedropper, put 1 drop on the skin between the shoulder blades and 1 just above the vent. Bear in mind this is not technically approved for poultry so you'll need to throw away the eggs for a while afterward just to be safe.

 

[dawg53]

I agree with Tellynpeep...stick tight fleas. In addition to the link Tellynpeep provided, here's a couple more; the first one is for identification purposes:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig140
http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0019.html