MITES!!! Can they cause weird white ear bumps?

[sixlittlechicks09]

Hi everyone,
I've been battling mites HARDCORE since the beginning of Feb (curse this warm winter we had!!) I've been through two bags of DE, bottle after bottle of Poultry protector, I've cleaned the coop down twice - I'm really trying to beat them without using sevin, but I think it's going to come down to that. =(
However, recently my rooster and some of my hens have started getting weird white bumps on their earlobes. Someone told me that was because of the mites, any ideas? They all act healthy, if not a little itchy, so I'm not terribly concerned, but has anyone had this problem before? Thanks everyone!

 

[dawg53]

I'm not sure about the white bumps on the earlobes. Here's what the experts say to do about treating mites:
http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

 

[klmclain1]

DE=waste of money!

 

[Funky Feathers]

For real?? I just bought some a week ago & used it in my coops! Why doesn't it work? What should I use instead?

 

[BlazeJester]

DE is a preventative. It is a very fine powder made up of hard, angular fragments of diatom shells. This works against insects by cutting into the exoskeleton and absorbing moisture, basically mummifying insects that get into enough DE to cause fatal injury. It helps keep flies down and can prevent crawlies, but with an active infestation the egg/pupa form is what you really want to be fighting and DE is not effective there. It also has to be physically coated onto everything the bugs touch, which is just about impossible.

I bought SEVIN spray and will be using it along with DE when I clean out my coop this weekend. The spray can get into cracks and crevices the granular/powder form cannot, and is supposed to last a while. Since I don't have an active infection I will use a layer of DE on the dirt floor of the coop and in the nest box as a preventative measure.

 

[dawg53]

Sevin dust is more persistant than sevin spray. Put a pile of the sevin dust at the entrance to the coop and hit it full blast with a leaf blower...see what happens. Wear a mask.