mites, mites, mites

[snaffle]

After 2 weeks of worrying and battling with mites, i finally got rid of them! Yahooo!

Tell us again what treatment you used...

also... keep checking ... just in case

 

[RobinsEggs]

I think I redosed after a week with eprinex. I'd have to check my notes. Hopefully, they still got dewormed - I'm not dissing eprinex. It might (!) work fine on normal mites. We had super mites. =[

 

[enola]

If you don't redose at the appropriate intervals, eggs that have already been laid and the new babies start a whole new cycle.

 

[snaffle]

Do eggs have to be discarded when using eprinex and if so...for how long?

 

[enola]

There is no egg withdrawal time.

 

[542farmgirl]

I recently discovered that my chickens had mites. I removed everything from their coop and scrubbed all nesting boxes and wood surfaces with a mixture of dawn dishsoap and neem oil. I then used DE to create a paste and "painted and puttied" every flat surface, crack and crevice with it. I purchased a bottle of Poultry Protector from my local WFC and sprayed everything I could with it, it didn;t go very far...
I sprinkled DE on the floor of the coop and raked it in making sure that I worked it under where the nesting boxes sat and also on the roosts.


We started applying vaseline to their legs at night and I replaced their pine bedding with sand on the floor and sprayed the new shavings and hay in the nesting boxes with the poultry protector. I made sure to spray the outside of the coop as well.

I first noticed the mites on my gloves after collecting the eggs, and later noticed raised scales on their legs so I am not sure what kind of mites they had exactly. After a few days I still noticed mites on the eggs so I purchased a bottle of Permethrin and made two bottles: One with a higher concentration to use on the coop and nesting boxes and another to use on the chickens. Since this was in the middle of February, I was limited with application on the chickens so I made sure to spray them in the morning and only when it was sunny out and they would have plenty of time to dry off and warm up.

Since I had been finding the mites on the eggs, I tried to make sure to pay attention to which chickens were in the nesting box so I could keep track of which eggs had mites on them and which ones didn't. There were two chickens that I wasn't able to catch and those are the ones whose eggs still have mites on them.. I was able to get out to the coop early this morning with some reinforcements and spray all but one of the chickens again.

Since the first attempt at eliminating the tiny f*****s, I don't find them crawling on my gloves after being in the coop and I don't notice raised scales on the chickens legs. Removing the pine shavings from the floor of the coop has helped I'm sure, not to mention that it is soooooooooooooooooo much easier to clean. I keep the roosts sprinkled with DE to help the poop dry up and also so that the chickens get a stealth sprinkle of it any time they flap their wings or hop around.

I also made sure to sprinkle the spots they regularly dust bathe in with DE.
I guess none of this really answers any questions, but I feel like I have a pretty good handle on the mites at this point. I guess I won't know for sure until I am able to get my wild bantam in the coop at night and spray her in the am.

I haven't been eating the eggs because I was unsure of a withholding period, but my chickens have also not been laying much or they've been laying somewhere else ever since the coop purge.

Hope this helps!

 

[snaffle]

@542farmgirl you certainly are going through a lot of work to get rid of the mites. May I ask how many chickens you have?

I have never heard of mites on the eggs or getting on gloves. I saw a lot of mites when I checked the vent areas on my hens, but never got any on my gloves and have never seen any on my eggs.

It seemed to have taken forever to dust 24 birds in my hen house. A few days later I applied eprinex.

I have checked a few hens lately and have not seen any mites, although some of those chickens are loosing more feathers.

Any one have suggestions on how I can make up a dust bath concoction for them? I could but a small tub in the hen house for a dust bath if that would help.

I do not have access to wood ashes so that is out.

I plan to pick up some Frontline for Cats and keep that on hand just in case.

I

 

[snaffle]

@542farmgirl your chickens had mites, mine had lice. Maybe mites crawl on eggs and gloves. ??

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Does the wood ash work on lice? How do you treat chickens in the winter time? I am worried about spraying them. Any suggestions? I could bring them in my house one at a time till they dry.

If your bathing your birds with dishwasher detergent, baby or pet shampoo, these detergents are stripping the natural oils off your birds' feathers.

In that case a quick dip in a mixture of water and Permethrin, (an organic based mite and lice killer) seems to me to be a better, safer, and more natural remedy to use to banish mites and lice.

Wood ash is more of a preventive measure but fine hard wood ashes will help banish lice and mites as well as help prevent them from returning.

IMHO ashes works especially well on lice. You need a dedicated dusting area that stays high and dry 24/ 7 /365 for wood ash to live up to its top potential..

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I recently discovered that my chickens had mites. I removed everything from their coop and scrubbed all nesting boxes and wood surfaces with a mixture of dawn dishsoap and neem oil. I then used DE to create a paste and "painted and puttied" every flat surface, crack and crevice with it. I purchased a bottle of Poultry Protector from my local WFC and sprayed everything I could with it, it didn;t go very far...
I sprinkled DE on the floor of the coop and raked it in making sure that I worked it under where the nesting boxes sat and also on the roosts.


We started applying vaseline to their legs at night and I replaced their pine bedding with sand on the floor and sprayed the new shavings and hay in the nesting boxes with the poultry protector. I made sure to spray the outside of the coop as well.

I first noticed the mites on my gloves after collecting the eggs, and later noticed raised scales on their legs so I am not sure what kind of mites they had exactly. After a few days I still noticed mites on the eggs so I purchased a bottle of Permethrin and made two bottles: One with a higher concentration to use on the coop and nesting boxes and another to use on the chickens. Since this was in the middle of February, I was limited with application on the chickens so I made sure to spray them in the morning and only when it was sunny out and they would have plenty of time to dry off and warm up.

Since I had been finding the mites on the eggs, I tried to make sure to pay attention to which chickens were in the nesting box so I could keep track of which eggs had mites on them and which ones didn't. There were two chickens that I wasn't able to catch and those are the ones whose eggs still have mites on them.. I was able to get out to the coop early this morning with some reinforcements and spray all but one of the chickens again.

Since the first attempt at eliminating the tiny f*****s, I don't find them crawling on my gloves after being in the coop and I don't notice raised scales on the chickens legs. Removing the pine shavings from the floor of the coop has helped I'm sure, not to mention that it is soooooooooooooooooo much easier to clean. I keep the roosts sprinkled with DE to help the poop dry up and also so that the chickens get a stealth sprinkle of it any time they flap their wings or hop around.

I also made sure to sprinkle the spots they regularly dust bathe in with DE.
I guess none of this really answers any questions, but I feel like I have a pretty good handle on the mites at this point. I guess I won't know for sure until I am able to get my wild bantam in the coop at night and spray her in the am.

I haven't been eating the eggs because I was unsure of a withholding period, but my chickens have also not been laying much or they've been laying somewhere else ever since the coop purge.

Hope this helps!

I am pretty sure that in the U.S. that there is currently no withholding period on either chickens or their eggs when using Permethrin to control lice and mites.