chickenassistant
Chirping
- Mar 5, 2021
- 23
- 24
- 51
We have had an ongoing problem with mites. On our chickens, yard, coop, kids play structure...
Used diatomaceous earth and prayed the chickens two times a week, gave them a dust bath container with it, sprayed frequently hang-out spots in the yard with D.E., sprayed the inside the coop with D.E..
When that wasn't working as well, we asked the vet and she told us to use permethrin. Which initially helped. So we sprayed the coop with liquid. Used the powder form on the chickens.... still mites.
Tried garlic in the water and food, tried spraying the coop and all areas inside the coop with the soap/oil/water mixture, clean the bedding once a week...
Still mites. They are primarily focused on one chicken (she lays eggs every day). We have 9 hens. All but 1 are laying currently (the one isn't laying but she is old). The chickens free roam the backyard. We have the occasional squirrels and bunnies in the yard.
Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Used diatomaceous earth and prayed the chickens two times a week, gave them a dust bath container with it, sprayed frequently hang-out spots in the yard with D.E., sprayed the inside the coop with D.E..
When that wasn't working as well, we asked the vet and she told us to use permethrin. Which initially helped. So we sprayed the coop with liquid. Used the powder form on the chickens.... still mites.
Tried garlic in the water and food, tried spraying the coop and all areas inside the coop with the soap/oil/water mixture, clean the bedding once a week...
Still mites. They are primarily focused on one chicken (she lays eggs every day). We have 9 hens. All but 1 are laying currently (the one isn't laying but she is old). The chickens free roam the backyard. We have the occasional squirrels and bunnies in the yard.
Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
I use permethrin. It has worked well for me. I have posted this before. I used poultry dust on the birds and in their nest boxes and sprayed inside of the coops, every crack and crevice, on and under the roosts, ceiling, walls, floors, anywhere the pests can hide. It's best to clean out the coop before you spray. I use pine shavings in my coops. I wear special clothing including a mask and gloves. I do weekly sprayings for awhile and put permethrin dust in the nest boxes, originally I sprayed the birds getting under the wings and worked it through their feathers with gloves which you can also do with the dust. If you dust the birds, do it until they look like a powdered doughnut. Permethrin only kill live pests, not the pests eggs. I use the concentrate. It did not affect the birds but I did keep them out of the coops while it dried. I spray my coops as needed and when I spray I do weekly spraying for 3 or 4 weeks then stop as I don't want the pests to develop a resistance to the permethrin. Repeated weekly spraying is necessary because again, it does not kill the pests eggs and as an added benefit is there is no egg withdrawal period. There are other products available but much more expensive, and in my opinion the permethrin works great. Mix for the (0.5%) solution 6.4 oz to a gallon of water. I use a backpack sprayer but I have several coops so when I treat one coop I treat them all. In the past I have used a gallon sprayer with a wand to get into the hard to reach areas. Good luck...
