Mites, mites & MITES!!!

[cherryc]

i got mites too hundreds of them when i go and get the eggs out of the nest box there all over my hand have to hose off before i go in the house my mites are very tiny and dark in colour, im off to the feed barn tommorow see if they have anything that would be like this DE stuff.

 

[ChooksinIowa]

CherryC - those definitely sound like problem mites (not like the red spider mites). Have you checked your chickens? They tend to infest the area around the vent first. It would be best to get some permethrin dust for your hens. If you look at the base of the feathers around the vent, sometimes you can see egg clusters - little clumps of white stuff.

I use permethrin dust for mites. Best to get them early. I routinely check my hens every couple of weeks or so.

 

[Rhett&SarahsMom]

I cant get food grade DE around here. So I have to order it online.
After going through 5 lbs of it with no success I gave up and bought Sevin Dust. Problem gone. Plus I can get it anywhere and its not very expensive

 

[cherryc]

thanks iv made a note and i'll see whats available tommorow need to get it sorted out asap, what sort of damage can they do to the chooks.

 

[ralphiegator]

I feel for you! I have about 40 free-range chickens, we just got the property about a month ago, and this weekend tore down and cleaned up where the previous owner had a bunch of nasty old cages. There is no grass anywhere the chickens lived, but there were a bunch of vines covering the roof of one of the bigger "coops". I noticed the last few days, my favorite Roo's comb and eyes are covered in mites, and since we have been tearing down the cages, we have been getting covered in them too. We bought some 7 dust, and some spray, so we can douce the area. I carry a roll of tape in my pocket to pick the evil things off our clothes or skin when we do feel them crawling on us. My skin is crawling right now thinking of it. YUCK!

DOES THE SEVIN DUST REALLY WORK? It's been pouring all day, so we havent been able to go out to the property yet to do any treatment. ANY ADVICE?

 

[Reinbeau]

I'm sure sevin dust works great, but the collateral damage isn't something I want to deal with.

 

[cherryc]

i got some maldison 50 from the feed barn it was $36 but only need to use 5ml to 1ltr of water, we have sprayed the yard the coop and the chooks, its used by farmers on all kinds of animals for fleas, ticks mites and lice.

they also said to use lime as a dust bath as the mites and lice wont like this.

 

[eeiko321]

Quote:
well i may as well rid those spidermites.....

apparently they attack plants like junipers etc.

ive got a small collection of bonsai...and spidermites are aparrently one of the biggest enemies.....
ill try some DE and ill keep you guys posted.

 

[ChooksinIowa]

Oh, I didn't want to imply that all spider mites are no problem. The regular type that get on my plants are he*l on earth to get rid of, and they are very tiny - even tinier than the red ones, and white or tan color, and they make little webs all over the plants, often the growing tips. Nasty, nasty things. I've had them numerous times on houseplants.

But, the little tiny red ones don't do that.

Beautiful bonsai collection - I just love it!

As for what mites can do to chickens, serious infestations can literally kill them. They can get a lot of scabs and blood loss and their immune system will be compromised as well, since they are having to deal with the bites and such. Mostly they are very irritating to the birds and egg production will also drop.