In need of some mite suggestions/help!

[Kmhv04]

OyVey!
I'm not sure there's any way to rid the coop of mites without stripping it down to the studs and soaking it with an effective insecticide.
I doubt there's anything that will kill the mites with no withdrawal on egg or meat.

I see you started a thread and got a possibility from Kathy to at least knock them down....but maybe try this Canadian chat thread for some other ideas too?

Yes, Kathy did respond, but I found out that Elector PSP is not available in Canada. Ugh! I was so hopeful about trying that product too.

Very sorry to hear that you are STILL having problems after all your hard work. I hope you are able to find something to help your problem and you don't have to live this nightmare for much longer. It sounds like you may always have problems with that coop even if you treat the birds. Thinking of you....

Thank you for the kind words! I figured I would update everyone who helped me with suggestions as to how things turned out!

Plan of ATTACK #2 - (TO DO)

I have removed all straw from the coop (hate straw, working to change over to possibly sand or shavings).

*Steam Cleaner the entire coop, cracks and all areas the buggers can get in to and hide.

*Treat/Spray down coop and run with the Spinosad Bug Spray for Plants (Still contemplating this one. Want to make sure it is safe before trying....any thoughts?)

*Bath hens with some sort of detergent/deterrent (still looking into what will not require egg withdrawal or harm the hens).

*Nightly Steam sprays into crevasse, roost areas and nesting boxes when I go to put them in for the night.

*After a month or so, re-whitewash the coop (makes it easier to spot mites and it keeps coop fresh)

Possibly more attack maneuvers to come!

Thanks all for following and aiding in my efforts!

Monica

 

[GlennLee]

I'm tired just reading your "To Do" list....

 

[Kmhv04]

I'm tired just by writing about it! Haha!

Anyone know if the steam clean idea will work? I heard exterminators in houses use steam so thought it might work.

Thanks all!

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
Monica, are you on Facebook? There is a group called Old Fashioned Poultry Husbandry, Nutrition, and Breeding. The creator/administrator of the group is Jeanette Green in Australia. There is often discussion about modern options, but there is an emphasis on non-drug, non-pesticide options that have worked for hundreds of years, sometimes things that are well known locally but not widely discussed on an international basis until FB groups like this have started up. There have been many discussions in this group about mite control, about how to control infestations that are completely pesticide resistant, using recipes that can be easy to make to paint the coops regularly. There are several saved files about this subject that you might find helpful. Here's a link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1438543083070199/ If you request membership, Jeanette will probably approve you in a few days and you can access the files. You may need to make your FB wall public so she can see that you are a chicken person, as she is very careful with membership.

I see that you are in BC, Canada. Are you close to the WA state USA border? If so, you could probably have a WA state feed store or veterinarian special order the Elector PSP for you, and you could drive across the border to pick it up. (I'm down in Stanwood, WA, about two hours south of the border, so I can supply it to you if you want to drive down that far, but you can probably get someone to order it for you closer to the border. PM me if you want to drive down this far.) Tell border security that you're driving down to shop at Costco -- everybody does it, and it won't draw the same kind of suspicion as it would if you try to explain that you're bring across a product that isn't available in Canada. Sometimes they get a bit nervous about that. You can mix the bottle in with all your Costco purchases.

 

[aart]

I'm tired just by writing about it! Haha!

Anyone know if the steam clean idea will work? I heard exterminators in houses use steam so thought it might work.

Thanks all!

Steam is hot, so it will kill...but do they use any chemicals too or is it just water?
Not sure you want to introduce a lot of moisture....that could cause other problems like the growth of molds, mildews.

 

[casportpony]

 


You are absolutely right!  I am the OP and we are still dealing with mites!  I haven't had the chance to update this tread as it's been busy this summer. 

I am now in a panic to find something with ZERO egg withdrawal as we have 30 chickens and customers requiring eggs.  I am really disappointed my efforts were in vain! 

We did remove the infested plywood, but only certain sections.  The insulation behind it was poly'd over, but am sure the buggers were in there (knowledge/impression after the fact).

We live in Canada and I am having a hell of a time tracking down a poultry product with "Spinosad" in it (like the US "Elector PSP" everyone is raving about).  Spinosad has apparently ZERO egg withdrawal and is considered "safe" or "organic" at this point.

Any ideas if "garden spray" with the same type of "Spinosad" would be okay to try using?  (Just throwing it out there).

Thanks all for your help and discussion!

~Monica~

Elanco is the manufacturer of Elector PSP.  You can contact them to find out where you can purchase it in Canada.  I would think that some of the retailers that sell it in the U.S. would be willing to ship it to Canada.

Many people use garden powders and garden sprays on their birds.  You would need to be sure than spinosad is the only active ingredient, as you don't want to have additional ingredients in your spray that you weren't expecting.  You will need to make up the spinosad to the proper dilution.  Elector PSP is sold as a concentrate of 44.2%, and the directions call for the concentrate to be diluted using 9 ml to a gallon of water.  When you do all the math, that comes out to be essentially 0.1% spinosad to be used for application directly to the bird and the coop.  There could potentially be a concern about the inert ingredients, if there is something in there that could be dangerous to a live bird.  That's unlikely, but I certainly wouldn't spray it on the entire flock the first time.

This product is available in Canada, but it's only 0.5% Spinosad, so math is needed to get it diluted to 0.1%. I think if used as directed it would be too diltued.

I like this MSDS because it has a section on toxicity to animals.
http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/msds/Monterey_Garden_Insect_Spray_MSDS_6-15.pdf

My gut feeling says that diluted properly that this product is okay to use, especially on coops, perches, etc.

-Kathy

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote: This product is available in Canada, but it's only 0.5% Spinosad, so math is needed to get it diluted to 0.1%. I think if used as directed it would be too diltued.

I like this MSDS because it has a section on toxicity to animals.
http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/msds/Monterey_Garden_Insect_Spray_MSDS_6-15.pdf

My gut feeling says that diluted properly that this product is okay to use, especially on coops, perches, etc.

-Kathy
To convert 0.5% to 0.1%, you would add 1 part product to 4 parts water. An example would be to add 1 cup of the 0.5% Spinosad liquid to 4 cups of premeasured water, then mix thoroughly. I have found that it stays on the feathers better if you also add a tiny amount of dishwashing detergent (the kind for hand washing dishes, not the kind you put in an automatic dishwasher).

 

[Sydney Acres]

Here's something from Jeanette Green in Australia:


My Red Mite treatment for poultry sheds..

​

JEANETTE GREEN·THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2016​

If you have amounts of mites the first thing is to clear the shed and boxes back to bare soil...scrape off even an amount of the soil and remove as it can contain eggs..wash and dry the nestboxes...Spray the entire shed and boxes,posts,rails especially any nooks and crevices,overlaps of tin or wood....with garden Pyrethrum..you may need to do this sevral times over a week to get the egg rehatch..three times over a fortnight if they are bad...Leave the floors bare...then proceed to the repellant mix... Make up an amount of the citrus vinegar..this is soaking citrus skins into vinegar and seal in a jar leaving in the sun or a warm place inside, for as long as you can...i use the skins of fruit i have juiced already and frozen in icecubes for later culinary use...or cut up fallen fruit into quarters....the oil from the skins is the repellant..Ive used my Mukrut/Kaffir Limes....you can use oranges,lemons,limes... Take about a litre or two of the citrus vinegar and pour into a bucket....add a small 50ml bottle of Tea Tree Oil....add a bottle of Eucalyptus Oil..200ml.....Other oils can be used..they are insecticide and repellants.Rosemary/Lavender /Cedarwood/Citronells/Lemongrass/Neem/Lemon Myrtle /Mints/Peppermint.All theseOils are welcome being bug killers and odourous repellants... Mix it all up ,with a litre of cheap oil...sunflower for example ..veg oil of some sort... Dilute it with more white vinegar until you have it stirred up and thin enough to paint around...another litre or more..depends what consistency you want......Wear gloves and preferably glasses...i had a splotch in the eye and it stung badly... Paint all the wooden surfaces..posts rails,perches,wooden nest boxes....Repeat this a few times over the season... To use it as a spray,mix the citrus vinegar with the essential oils,diluting with white vinegar to the amount and strength you want...it can be used to spray the shed floors ,walls,the litter,the nest boxes. A lot of oils are insect repellant and effective against different types of insects...Citronells / Cloves / Lemongrass /Lemon /Cedarwood/Rosemary /Tea Tree /Eucalyptus / Cedarwood /Catnip/Lavender/Peppermint/Basil /Rose Geranium/ Cinnamon/ Thyme/All Citrus oils/Pine..these can be added to vinegars for spraying..or made into a vinegar using the herbs soaked in vinegar.

 

[beeks]

Hi;
I'm battling red mite on my farm now too. I thought I'd chime in to say that I had tried steaming my coops with a hand steamer. It didn't kill them, unfortunately. I've been spraying with a pine oil cleaner, that kills them directly and I finally gave up and I hung no-pest (with Dichlovos) strips in each coop. I plan to leave them in there for two weeks on and off. Hopefully, I can get it under control soon. They are horrible when you see large numbers of them. I didn't know anything about these mites before this summer. We've only ever had Northern Fowl Mites here.

I've heard of others in BC currently having mite problems too. Maybe it's because we had such a warm winter last year?

Oh, I also dusted the chickens with sulfur and a little Carbaryl dust mixed with it and I will do this again soon. I mixed the two to cut down on my and the birds exposure to Carbaryl. Sulfur in general seems to work fairly well on mites.

Good luck, hope you get rid them.

 

[Sydney Acres]

I have used sulfur powder to dust my birds also, and have been impressed with how well it works. The Northern Fowl Mites here are resistant to carbaryl, and pretty much all other insecticides except spinosad, but still very sensitive to sulfur. I use spinosad in warm dry weather, when getting the wet is ok, and sulfur in cold weather, when they need their fluff to stay warm. I just use the pure sulfur powder. I started out mixing it with corn starch, but found that the the pure form is more effective.

There are many different grades of sulfur powder. Most sulfur is a byproduct of diesel production, so the lesser grades will have a lot of contaminants. Here's a list of the different grades: http://www.dudadiesel.com/sheets.php Although it is not specifically mentioned in this chart, Feed Grade is the same as Tech / Industrial Grade, not the same as Food Grade. I would not recommend using Agricultural Grade for dusting chickens, as it has the highest level of contaminants.