I've pawed through about a million posts on mites and lice, and am ready to dust the flock with Sevin or permethrin, depending on what I can find. Am also going to make them a dust bath in a cat box with wood ash, DE and one of the above. Will spray roosts, nest boxes, perches, and all available surfaces with citrus oil and then dust with DE. QUESTION: It is the dead of winter, snow on the ground, freezing cold, more snow on the way. Must I totally clean out the coop and start over with bedding, etc.?? I'm afraid the coop won't dry fast enough and the girls can't stay outside all day in this weather. Really hard to do spring cleaning in New York in February! Am I wasting my time and risking the health of the flock if I do NOT take all bedding out, do a huge "spring clean", etc.? Or can I try mixing Sevin dust and DE into the existing bedding and nest boxes, doing the citrus oil spray and treating the chickens topically? One thing I could do is remove all the existing bedding (shavings) and not use anything wet for cleaning, just spray lightly with citrus oil and then dust with Sevin and/or DE, replace shavings, add more DE? As long as I don't get anything wet and do it quickly, perhaps I could manage that. Just really cold and windy here. Please advise! Three out of ten chickens are now affected and I fear for the rest. Even the poor rooster has a bad patch of feathers on his chest. Thanks!
