Mites on mama.... Now what?

[farmerbrownsdaughter]

So I just noticed my hens nest is full of mites but when I bought the dusting powder it says avoid contaminating eggs, she is setting on eggs due to hatch on Sept. 1, now what? Just leave it for now? What will happen to the chicks?

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

Oh my, we just did that today. I hope it will be alright. The one-pound cannister of flock and garden dust did not advise not to. Maybe its another kind of product?

I have a thread all about it, but nobody answered yet. The good news is, we got rid of the mites. For today. Will redo the whole thing on Wednesday.

Good luck!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Both of you, what was the product you used, and its active ingredients? Sevin can be used in nests with eggs and tiny chicks.

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

Prozap Garden & Poultry Dust,$6.99 for 2 pound shaker. The dust is very fine, smells like simple clay, is light gray in color. Active ingredient is 0.25% permethrin.
Dawn (not the antibacterial) dishwashing liquid to wash out the inside of the coop walls, roosts and floors. "Adams" dog flea & tick shampoo to bathe the infested hen.

I went back into the coop tonite to check the birds, no mites on me. Last night when we patted them goodnite, the mites swarmed all over our hands

so, the dust seems to work. Today, so far, no more mites.

...and, it was good hard work and a great little bonfire to clean out, wash up, and burn away their old cute basket and other infested decor. Tonite they sleep in hip, new plastic (mite-free) furnishings.

DH says, "maybe thats why the Egglu is plastic? Maybe they had a bad day with mites and learned the hard way......."

 

[farmerbrownsdaughter]

The stuff I bought is just called "dusting powder" it's for fleas and mites in all kinds of livestock 5% w/w carbaryl.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Carbaryl is fine for chicks. I think the permethrin is as well.

 

[elmo]

Mites can be deadly, especially for chicks.

If the nestbox is wood, mites can hide in the cracks and crevices. If you can, throw the box away and start with a fresh one. That's one reason why I use plastic nestboxes, because there's no place for mites to hide in it. Be sure to discard the contaminated bedding.

I put a light layer of poultry dust in the bottom of my plastic nesting boxes, then put bedding on top of that. I dump out the shavings and replace them frequently, too, just in case.

Your hen may not like having her nest disrupted like this, or being dusted for mites herself, but it's for the best.

Where we are in Texas, mites seem to be more of a problem later in the summer than in the spring. That's why a very experienced poultry keeping friend of ours doesn't let his hens go broody after May. There are other reasons that make spring breeding optimal, but mites seem to play a part, also.

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

I wonder now about disposing of the dusted pine shavings, which I used to mix in with my garden compost. Now that its full of permethrin dust, maybe I shouldn't compost it?

One of the birds' favorite pastimes is digging through the compost heap. This morning I picked up 2 of them from the compost heap and checked their vents and toes, no evidence of mites. But that doesn't mean the mites aren't in the compost from all summer's harvest of poopy chips out of their coop. I guess I'll just have to keep dusting the birds and the coop.

The dusty poopy wood chips make pretty good firestarter for the bonfire pit.