Mites and other bugs

[the girls club]

I've read several items that if you leave your coop free of chickens. That all the mites die. If so how long do you leave it free of animals?
I have heard 3 weeks. Would that be long enough? Or do you need longer. Like a year? The mites wouldn't have their food sourceI would give it a good cleaning before I put new chickens in the coop after the mites are dead

 

[Eggcessive]

Mites can survive in a coop without chickens for 6-8 months. Lice will die within weeks of not having a host or chicken. Here are some good articles to read with pictures, and tells what products are best and how often to treat the chicken to get both the insects as well as the larvae:
http://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8162.pdf
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/poultry/ectoparasites/mites_of_poultry.html
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig140
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/08/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification.html

 

[the girls club]

Thanks for the information. Can poultry dust be used in the nest? I.I have a container of garden and poultry dust. It says to use it in poultry houses apply to floors roost and interior surfaces. Do not apply to eggs or nest litter. I would think that you apply it to floors and other areas and then put the litter down. Why can't you apply it to the nest area?