mites and insecticidal soap?

[peepacheep]

Discovered mites in a dog crate the hens use for a nesting box yesterday. Pulled the dog crate out of the coop and thoroughly sprayed it with insecticidal soap. It looks like the soap killed the mites on contact. Does anyone know it it is safe to use in a chicken coop? I would like to do a a thorough nooks and crannies coop cleaning today. Thank-you for any info!

 

[CMV]

Brand name and manufacturer?

 

[peepacheep]

I usually have Safer brand Insect Killing Soap by Woodstream on hand. This kills aphids, mealybugs and plant mites. At the moment I have Natural Guard Insecticidal Soap concentrate made by Neudorff. The active ingredient, (2%), in both is potassium salts of fatty acids. Years ago a boss who had a degree in chemistry explained that when diluted as directed this made a mild soap. I sprayed a very dilute mix of this on my shoes and old jacket yesterday before catching and putting a few drops ivermectin on each of the chickens. The day before I was crawling with mites after picking up a one of the hens, nothing noticeable after a light spray of soap. Hopefully the ivermectin and coop cleaning will take care of the mites but I suspect I will have to repeat this a few times to stay ahead of future mite hatches. It would be good to have some options on what is safe to spray the coop down with.