Is it better to administer ivermectin orally or topically when treating mites?

[Homo sapien]

Is it better to administer ivermectin orally or topically when treating mites? How about when treating internal parasites? What would the dosages be for each?

 

[Shadrach]

Is it better to administer ivermectin orally or topically when treating mites? How about when treating internal parasites? What would the dosages be for each?

There are better options for both internal and external parasites than Ivermectin.
The problem with Ivermectin is it only kills the mites that bite the bird. What the keeper should want is for the birds not to get bitten in the first place. The existences of the mites is a secondary consideration. It is easy to understand how one can get locked into continuous dosing if one considers the reproductive rate of the mite in question.
An externally applied insecticide such as permethrin has the advantage of killing the mite on contact. One powders or sprays the bird, killing hopefully most of the mites in the process, and they wont get to feed, or lay any more eggs.
Sulfur powder is another option that works.

Ivermectin is reported as having decreased effectiveness on internal parasites in some areas.
There are products on the market such as, Flubendazole, Abendazole and others that are produced to deal with internal parasites that are effective and proven to be reasonably safe.

For red mite. It's the coop that needs treating.

 

[Anon112]

When my vet prescribed Ivermectin, the direction was to do a "drop" (the amount that can sit on the end of the 1mL syringe) under each wing. This was for medium sized hens (4-6 pounds).

Like the post above says, you'll want to do a REALLY good clean of the roosting bars/coop to make sure you're eliminating as many mites as possible.

Something I learned recently that I hadn't known is that Permethrin is toxic to cats, so be cautious using or storing it around cats.