Good morning peeps.
I was away at a funeral in Maryland and was only gone for 2 weeks. While gone, my son called me to tell me one of my Roos had died. There was no evidence of anything getting into the pen with him, or the hen with him. She is fine. Before I left I dusted the girls and Roos, as well as their pens, nesting boxes and so on. I used 2 large size containers of dust. (5%) I also cleaned out their pen and added new bedding.
So when I get back from Maryland I am horrorfied to see how many mites were on my girls. Egg production had slowed and there were lots of feathers all over. I was horrorfied how ratty my girls were beginning to look. Immediately I went on line, BYC, and read all the things people used to kill the mites. Adams flea and tick mist caught my eye. So I brushed that onto the visible mites. I cleaned the pens, treated with dust and Adams. In the next couple days it looked like the mites were gone. So just for the heck of it, I cleaned the pens again and treated with the dust. We even went out to the pens in the evening.
I check the girls on Saturday and what do I see....MITES!!!!! So once again I cleaned the pens and used the dust. I also treated the girls and Roo, the surrounding area, the barn, the dogs, any cracks, knooks and crannies I could find. I even took alcohol and saturated the girls roosting beam. I scrubbed it, rinsed it then applied some dust.
Oh and the bedding I clean out gets burned, even the dirt goes into the fire pit. So, I ask, has anyone had such a problem with mites? How often should I use the dust? I am in Florida, (Hudson) is there any place that sells the dust in a larger bag than what I can get at the garden shop? I need help to kill the mites before they kill my girls.
I was away at a funeral in Maryland and was only gone for 2 weeks. While gone, my son called me to tell me one of my Roos had died. There was no evidence of anything getting into the pen with him, or the hen with him. She is fine. Before I left I dusted the girls and Roos, as well as their pens, nesting boxes and so on. I used 2 large size containers of dust. (5%) I also cleaned out their pen and added new bedding.
So when I get back from Maryland I am horrorfied to see how many mites were on my girls. Egg production had slowed and there were lots of feathers all over. I was horrorfied how ratty my girls were beginning to look. Immediately I went on line, BYC, and read all the things people used to kill the mites. Adams flea and tick mist caught my eye. So I brushed that onto the visible mites. I cleaned the pens, treated with dust and Adams. In the next couple days it looked like the mites were gone. So just for the heck of it, I cleaned the pens again and treated with the dust. We even went out to the pens in the evening.
I check the girls on Saturday and what do I see....MITES!!!!! So once again I cleaned the pens and used the dust. I also treated the girls and Roo, the surrounding area, the barn, the dogs, any cracks, knooks and crannies I could find. I even took alcohol and saturated the girls roosting beam. I scrubbed it, rinsed it then applied some dust.
Oh and the bedding I clean out gets burned, even the dirt goes into the fire pit. So, I ask, has anyone had such a problem with mites? How often should I use the dust? I am in Florida, (Hudson) is there any place that sells the dust in a larger bag than what I can get at the garden shop? I need help to kill the mites before they kill my girls.