Mites! Do I need to toss their Deep Litter?

[Haunted Chicken]

I've been anxiously awaiting spring to clean out the deep litter and add it to my compost pile....only to find my girls have mites. Unfortunately their favorite place to play behind the coop is covered in bark dust. I"m guessing that's where they got them. Or is that possible? We also added 2 new girls two months ago, I thought they past the quarantine test...they seemed fine)

My girls free range all day and there really isn't a feasible way to block such a large area of the yard from them. I'll start removing the bark dust, but it will be a long process as it's over a foot deep in some areas. (Gardener used to stock pile it there)

So my questions are:
Do I need to toss the litter or can it still be used in my compost (I was so excited to use it in my garden next year)
Do they get mites from bark dust? (It would be nice to not have to remove that much bark, but we will if needed)
Can I safely treat these areas ? (compost pile and bark dust)

Thanks!!!

 

[Haunted Chicken]

I should add the hens, coop and run will be treated tomorrow!!! I figure I need to do it on a day I don't work so I don't have to rush it.

 

[Fox]

I have never had mites until this year! It must be a bad year for mites. I took out all my bedding and burned it. The last thing I wanted to do was have mites wherever I dumped the stuff, so burned it up. I cleaned out the coop and then I treated with Bayer Advanced Insect dust. It has the same active ingredient that Adam's Flea and Tick uses, and it's cheaper than Sevin dust (although I used both). I sprinkled the dust around the perimeter of the coop, sprayed the Flea and Tick spray in crevasses and cracks and places I could not reach, then I sprinkled under the nest boxes (tore them out first and washed them down). Then I put my nesting materials in, sprinkled with some dust and more nesting materials. I dusted the chickens with Sevin dust and then treated them Ivomec Pour On (for cattle). I have not seen anymore mites, but I am watching. I would get rid of the deep litter for sure if it were me. But this is my first year with mites, so someone who has more experience with it may offer better advice for you. Editing to add that I feel like using the dust is safe enough since it can be used on vegetables in the garden. I know the ingredient was effective on these mites, because I tried the Adams spray first and it worked so well on them.

 

[Haunted Chicken]

I have never had mites until this year! It must be a bad year for mites. I took out all my bedding and burned it. The last thing I wanted to do was have mites wherever I dumped the stuff, so burned it up. I cleaned out the coop and then I treated with Bayer Advanced Insect dust. It has the same active ingredient that Adam's Flea and Tick uses, and it's cheaper than Sevin dust (although I used both). I sprinkled the dust around the perimeter of the coop, sprayed the Flea and Tick spray in crevasses and cracks and places I could not reach, then I sprinkled under the nest boxes (tore them out first and washed them down). Then I put my nesting materials in, sprinkled with some dust and more nesting materials. I dusted the chickens with Sevin dust and then treated them Ivomec Pour On (for cattle). I have not seen anymore mites, but I am watching. I would get rid of the deep litter for sure if it were me. But this is my first year with mites, so someone who has more experience with it may offer better advice for you. Editing to add that I feel like using the dust is safe enough since it can be used on vegetables in the garden. I know the ingredient was effective on these mites, because I tried the Adams spray first and it worked so well on them.

Sounds like good advice. I just hated to lose all that good manure. (7 months worth) But it's not worth risking. I thought I read that you could bag it for a few weeks or maybe it was months since the mites would die off by then. But I don't want to risk it.