hi all I'm new still figuring things out. I have a never ending mite problem. anyone got any good advice. and dealing with mites. can that infect me and if so what will it cause. please n thanks
Mites won't bother you. They may get on you and bite but bugs are very species specific. What have you been using to treat? Have you cleaned out and debugged the coop ?
There are 2 ways or more to deal with them. First is to have the chickens dust bathe in a medium like potting soil(dry) with some added DE. ( Diatomatious Earth), The second common solution is to treat chickens and their housing with insecticide. There are more than one chemical available, but my choice is SEVIN. According to latest versions, it is not suggested to use on chickens. Peeps have been using it for maybe 50 years or so, and it has worked quite well. If you read threads from lets say 4 years ago, peeps state that they do use it with GOOD results. I have recently used it and also have DE that just came in . Will be adding it to their dusting bath. I purchased the Food Grade type. Looks like my mite issues are solved. The lil devlz are not around. WISHING YOU BEST and
Sevin now comes with a lifetime withdrawal for eating eggs or meat and has been proven to cause seizures. It is now illegal to use Sevin on livestock.
I use NEEM oil and DE. Clean the coop out as best as you can andcremove the hens. Then spray the roosts and every nook and cranny with COLD PRESSED Neem oil (it'll need diluted, directions will be on bottle) Then let it dry and air out a bit, Neem kinda smells funky... Then sprinkle food grade DE in each nesting box and a little on the floor and add fresh bedding. The Neem will disrupt their hormones and cause them to stop reproducing, and the DE will cut up their soft bodies and kill them from contact. Both organic and safe to use, no egg withdrawal. But wear a mask with the DE, as its very fine dust and can cause irritation to your lungs if you inhale too much at once.
thanks I think I finally got the problems I sterilized the place bathed the chickens and used dusting powder. but now I lost two chickens due to egg bound. where can I find causes of that please n thanks
I'm sorry for you loss. Explain a bit more, when you say they died from being "egg bound". Do you mean they had an egg stuck in the oviduct and died while trying to pass their egg, or do you mean they had an internal laying/reproductive disorder like Egg Yolk Peritontis or Ascites? Tell us more about what type of food/treats you feed. Do you provide oyster shell free choice? How old were the 2 that died? What symptoms did you see and what treatment(s) did you use? Here's some information on egg binding, the causes, symptoms, prevention and treatment: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/07/chicken-egg-binding-causes-symptoms.html Here's some information on Peritonitis which is an internal laying/reproductive disorder that is sometimes mistakenly called "egg binding": http://www.chickenvet.co.uk/health-and-common-diseases/egg-laying-issues/index.aspx http://luckyhensrescuenorthwest.weebly.com/egg-bound-henegg-peritonitis-help-sheet.html
