Mites --- Still!

[Justicedog]

I'd had a chicken with red mites, fly strike end of April, she was euthanized. I had cleaned out the coop, threw away the bedding, sprayed it with diluted Permethrin 10. Dipped the 3 remaining chickens in a bucket of Permethrin 10. 7 days later, I cleaned the coop again, sprayed it with the Permethrin 10, and sprayed the chickens. 8 days later, I cleaned the coop again, scrubbed the walls, sprayed it with water, then sprayed it again with the P10 and sprayed the chickens again. I never saw a mite inside the coop.

I'd then integrated my new chicks into the coop with the old chickens.

About a month has gone by and they all seem to be itching and preening excessively, 2 of the old ones have dirty red butts with missing feathers. After handling one of the new ones, I saw a tiny black mite crawling on me. They seem to also have dandruff. I don't see what I think would be lice or anything moving on the one I caught.

How do I fix this once and for all? Do I need to repeat the Permithrin treatment, using a higher concentration? (I'm not even sure what I'd used last time - I think I'd read 1:200 concentration so I aimed for that.

Burning and replacing the coop isn't really an option.


I have also sprinkled DE in the coop, made a couple dusting bath bins, put one in the coop, one out in the run, I've not seen them use these, I also sprinkled it in the yard where I see them dust bathing, tossed it on the roosts.

 

[cmom]

What strength are you mixing the permethrin 10? Here is a chart from another BYC member. I use the 0.50% solution and spray weekly for 3 or 4 weeks thoroughly spraying inside the coop, every crack and crevice, everywhere. It has worked for me I also use poultry dust in the nest boxes.

For Permethrin 10

 

[cmom]

I used DE in the past and it didn't work for me. I know some people swear by it and I'm glad it works for them. Good luck...

 

[cmom]

The dandruff could be the lice or from lice. The same permethrin treatment for mites will work on lice. Some mites only come out at night and feed on the birds. I use a headlamp so I have both of my hands free to inspect the birds after they roost. Again good luck...

 

[Justicedog]

What strength are you mixing the permethrin 10? Here is a chart from another BYC member. I use the 0.50% solution and spray weekly for 3 or 4 weeks thoroughly spraying inside the coop, every crack and crevice, everywhere. It has worked for me I also use poultry dust in the nest boxes.
View attachment 2712691
For Permethrin 10
View attachment 2712693

I think I was aiming for the 1:200 Ratio - which would be the .05% I think that was too weak. I was finding hugely varying information. I went to the manufacturer's website and saw this, which says 1:200. Maybe that's for the direct onto bird spray and it's the 1:19 for the coop.

 

[Folly's place]

Also you can have reinfestations, from those wild songbirds, any time. Last year we had an awful time with mites, thanks to house wrens invading the coop during the day. Better this year, so far, but I'm not counting on it.
Mary

 

[cmom]

I went for years with no issues. When I first discovered my birds had mites, I thought they were molting but weren't getting their feathers back in. I tried different things including DE but after a couple weeks of DE the birds were looking worse. Originally when I sprayed my solution was weak and still had a mite issue. I started doing some research and found others in the same boat and discovered my solution was too weak. I mixed the stronger solution and began spraying weekly and the birds started improving. Lesson learned the hard way. Now if I have an issue, I spray the 0.50% solution for 3 or 4 weekly treatments and no more mites. One bird also had lice and it worked for the lice too. Good luck...

I first came across this for permethrin 10 and then another BYC member made a chart.

The Premixed sprays are 0.50%

 

[cmom]

If I want to bathe my birds, every over-the-counter (OTC) treatment for head lice on people contains either pyrethrins (Rid or Triple X) or permethrin (Nix). They are effective treatment. They only kill live pests, not the pests eggs.

 

[rlhagan56]

Elector PSP off Amazon is safe effective and gets rid of everything without harm to you or the chickens. Look it up on here for directions. DE is useless, I have no idea why people bother with it, it is dangerous to breathe in.