MITE ALERT!! They are bad this season~ need to be vigilant!

[AngieB]

I thought we might have mites because there were some very tiny grey bugs crawling on the eggs in the nest box. They were soft and slow and I could just squish them with my finger tips. I put DE in there, and now they are gone.

I checked 3 of my 11 hens and couldn't find a single bug or egg sack. If we had a mite problem, would I have found them on the hens? My hens are 2 years old and look very healthy. I'm not sure whether to just keep checking them, or if I should get some poultry dust.

Maybe it was just a hatching little swarm of aphids or something in the nest box?

Any thoughts on how aggressive I need to be, or whether they were even mites? Can just one chicken get them since I have a variety of breeds? Some of the hens are hard to catch so I would need to check them at night.

 

[Funky Feathers]

One or all birds could have them. It is best to check them all every few weeks. Look on the skin around the head, neck, vent area & under the wings. Use a magnifying glass if you have one. It is good to use DE, Sevin or Poultry Lice Dust once a month as a preventative.

 

[AngieB]

Thanks. My husband picked up the poultry dust for me today, so I put some in their dust bath and sprinkled some in the coop. Tonight I will go in and dust them all when they are roosting.

Just talk of mites has made me itch, so I think preventative sounds good!

What he bought is Prozap permethrin Garden & Poultry Dust. Is it safe to put in the nesting boxes?

 

[Funky Feathers]

Yup, Permethrin is good.

 

[ChickenAsylum]

I am about to do my yearly clean out and disinfection. My coop is huge and it takes 8-12 hours. Any suggestions about what to do about the girls laying that day. My nests aren't portable.

 

[gapeach717]

at what age do you start treating for this? my chicks are 2 weeks, 1 week, and 4 days.

 

[ivan3]

gapeach717 wrote: at what age do you start treating for this? my chicks are 2 weeks, 1 week, and 4 days.

When they're old enough to be out and about just make sure they have a place to both sun and dirt bathe:

Then just check them every few weeks, closely, for any crawling critters (for `roost/poultry mites check flock at night after they go to roost - these mites live in cracks and crevices of coop and feed on blood at night). If examined on a regular schedule infestations rarely get out of control. Pretty thorough reference (different geographic areas/climate zones have greater/lesser propensity for different species): http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/library/lvstk2/mf2387.pdf

 

[Nslangton]

My coop is new and I am a clean freak. How can you prevent the problem. I know my neighbors chickens are infested with mites. They have the scaly leg thing and missing feathers and red skin in patches. I do not want my chicks contacting any of this. Any suggestions. The chicks have only been out two times and just moved to the coop last week. I designed the coop for easy cleaning. Plastic nest boxes, painted wood, tile floor, etc. There are some crevices though, like the framing around the windows. I know bugs can get in because the other night I had a glass of red wine out there. I went out to do a few things in the yard and when I came back there were a million ants crawling over the glass. I would love to prevent a problem before it occurs. We never had a deep freeze here this winter and I know the flies, ticks, etc. are going to be a huge problem this year. Thanks for any input.

 

[Funky Feathers]

I am about to do my yearly clean out and disinfection. My coop is huge and it takes 8-12 hours. Any suggestions about what to do about the girls laying that day. My nests aren't portable.

Move the hens out (portable cages or something) the day you clean and put plenty of DE or Sevin in the nests as well as the floors & cracks/crevices of the coop.

 

[Funky Feathers]

My coop is new and I am a clean freak. How can you prevent the problem. I know my neighbors chickens are infested with mites. They have the scaly leg thing and missing feathers and red skin in patches. I do not want my chicks contacting any of this. Any suggestions. The chicks have only been out two times and just moved to the coop last week. I designed the coop for easy cleaning. Plastic nest boxes, painted wood, tile floor, etc. There are some crevices though, like the framing around the windows. I know bugs can get in because the other night I had a glass of red wine out there. I went out to do a few things in the yard and when I came back there were a million ants crawling over the glass. I would love to prevent a problem before it occurs. We never had a deep freeze here this winter and I know the flies, ticks, etc. are going to be a huge problem this year. Thanks for any input.

Dust all their bedding & roosts with DE or Sevin dust. Also give them a dust bathing box with that in it.