Mites- Please help

[srfrgrl]

Hi There,
I have read and read and gotten info from local feed stores and nothing has worked. My chickens are infested with mites (some more than others). I have removed all the bedding, put diatomaceous earth all over the place (coop, nest, run, open area...everywhere) I have dusted all my chickens...twice...with the nasty stuff which I was really hoping to avoid, but it doesn't seem to be working either! What do I do? I know they are not going to kill my chickens but they do seem terribly miserable. Is there anything that I can give them orally to kill the mites? You know, like dogs have for fleas? One thing I am also having real difficulty with is putting the sevin stuff on them. Most of the mites are congregating on their head and neck and I am trying so hard not to get that stuff in their eyes/nose/ears. Again, any suggestions would be very welcome. I'm so sad for my girls.

 

[Eggcessive]

Actually, mites can kill chickens by making them severely anemic. Mite eggs will hatch out in 4-7 days, so the dust and cleaning must be done twice or more. Permethrin Garden and Poultry Dust and Permectrin II can be used to dust or spray the chickens and surrounding coopwalls, nest boxes, and roosts. Mites are much harder to get rid of than lice. Using straw or hay for litter is a good way to bring them in. The common chicken mite will feed on the chickens during the day, and disappear into the cracks and crevices of the coop at night. The red mite stays on the chicken. Here are 2 good links to read with pictures:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/08/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification.html
http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8162.pdf

 

[srfrgrl]

Thank you for those links. It is interesting that they both (and everything else I have read) said that the mites hand out under wing feathers and at the vents but my chickens don't have any there. They are literally all around their face and on their necks making it very hard to treat. I will try and see if I can get the spray for the coop. I have dusted it but have not gotten anything on the walls and if they can hang out there then I'm sure they are. Ugh. I wish there was a more effective way. Thanks again for your response. I am going to do my best.

 

[Eggcessive]

Certain lice will be in certain areas like that. Have you compared the pictures for lice and mites? The lice will lay white to pale gray eggs at the base of feathers and will look like little balls at the base. I haven't seen mites before, but they leave dirt or droppings in the feathers.

 

[srfrgrl]

I am pretty sure they are mites and red ones at that. They fit the description perfectly except for where they hang out on the hen.

 

[Eggcessive]

Three good articles on poultry mites: http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/poultry/ectoparasites/mites_of_poultry.html
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/2947/northern-fowl-mite-management
http://parasitipedia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2540&Itemid=2816

 

[welasharon]

Look up stick tight fleas to make sure that is not what they have.

 

[srfrgrl]

OMG that is it!!! That is what they have!!! Thank you so much! One mystery solved!

 

[welasharon]

The difference in location. They go more for the head and the mites and lice mostly (though not always) like the warm feathery bodies.