*Sigh...*
And we have mites. Everywhere. No snow here in Georgia, just some comfortable cooler weather -- perfect for mites.
At first I thought the chickens with ruffled, picked feathers were just getting bullied, but I took a closer look and saw lots of mites around the vent area where the feathers are picked out on several of my birds. I checked the coop and found them there also. This has probably been going on for a while *bangs head on brick wall*
So this is my battle plan after 5 minutes of research.
I'm going to try something that has worked for lice (on our family *cringes and blames dingy rental*): listerine mouthwash. Yup. It worked. I'm going to bathe all of my chickens first, soak 'em in a pale of minty mouthwash, then coat their feathers in DE once they're dry. I won't even bother treating the coop; I need a new one anyway. I'll just have to keep the birds contained away from the infested area and then move them to a lonely shed with a new, attached run once I know all them suckers are gone. I may even nuclear bomb that thing first just in case, then let it air out.
So what do y'all think? Does this even sound feasible? I have a currently daytime free-range mixed flock of chickens, ducks, and guinea fowl. The ducks have been recently moved to a separate pen to eat separately and sleep in at night. The guineas are pretty dumb and just perch on top of the chicken run. So far the ducks and guineas are alright, and I'm assuming because the ducks are on the pond most of the day, and the guineas are usually running off to get into trouble and get run over and stuff, so... I'm assuming they'll be alright?
And we have mites. Everywhere. No snow here in Georgia, just some comfortable cooler weather -- perfect for mites.
At first I thought the chickens with ruffled, picked feathers were just getting bullied, but I took a closer look and saw lots of mites around the vent area where the feathers are picked out on several of my birds. I checked the coop and found them there also. This has probably been going on for a while *bangs head on brick wall*
So this is my battle plan after 5 minutes of research.
I'm going to try something that has worked for lice (on our family *cringes and blames dingy rental*): listerine mouthwash. Yup. It worked. I'm going to bathe all of my chickens first, soak 'em in a pale of minty mouthwash, then coat their feathers in DE once they're dry. I won't even bother treating the coop; I need a new one anyway. I'll just have to keep the birds contained away from the infested area and then move them to a lonely shed with a new, attached run once I know all them suckers are gone. I may even nuclear bomb that thing first just in case, then let it air out.So what do y'all think? Does this even sound feasible? I have a currently daytime free-range mixed flock of chickens, ducks, and guinea fowl. The ducks have been recently moved to a separate pen to eat separately and sleep in at night. The guineas are pretty dumb and just perch on top of the chicken run. So far the ducks and guineas are alright, and I'm assuming because the ducks are on the pond most of the day, and the guineas are usually running off to get into trouble and get run over and stuff, so... I'm assuming they'll be alright?
