mites

[apryl29]

This will be cheapest:
View attachment 1412221 View attachment 1412223

This for your coop.
View attachment 1412224

I did this to clean the coop.
But I used Garden/ Poultry dust on the birds themselves. https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/y-tex-gardstar-garden-poultry-dust?cm_vc=-10005
I cut the foot off an old pair of panty hose, filled it w/ the powder and dusted under their tail, the chest, and the back between the wings, (don't get it by their face or they'll breathe it in) then used my fingers to make sure it got down to the skin. If you do it this way, wear a face mask and do it away from your coop and any garden/ fruit trees, etc that you may have. I locked my birds into the run and completely emptied the coop and sprayed everything. Any mites should die instantly when you spray them. The permethrin bottle should have instructions for cleaning as well as application to the animal, read carefully. Make sure you spray the underside/ ends of things too, pay special attention to corners and where boards meet; the door, frame, and jam. I also sprayed around the outside door of the run, and the ramp. When it was dry I would take 1 bird out of the run, treat her, then put her in the coop, repeat until they're all done. Then I raked out the run, making sure to get every single feather I could find. We burned all the bedding that was removed from the coop.
Then I repeated all of this a week later. I haven't had a re-infestation.
In the future, make sure your birds have a dusting area. My rooster who doesn't dust was absolutely covered in mites, but my girls who dusted frequently had much less mites. I only noticed them b/c they were crawling down my rooster's legs.

 

[Isay Willow]

I use just DE (Diatomaceous Earth) only. First I put some on all my roosts, I use 2X4s as roosts and just place a layer of DE on the roost and I place about one ounce in each nest. I do this every other month. Have been doing this for over two of years now and do not have any problems with mites or lice or other bugs.

 

[JaeG]

Has anyone tried Neem for mites? How about pyrethrum instead of permethrin?
I think I have mites, as my hens are picking at the rooster, like grooming for bugs

Wipe the undersides of the roost bars to find out if red mites are the culpret. If you see smears of blood you'll know you need to treat. Because they feed on the birds blood egg production being down is often an initial symptom.

Neem isn't toxic to birds or humans/mammals - you can spray your veges with it and eat them the same day. It's slightly toxic to aquatic animals but breaks down pretty fast in water. If you spray bees directly it will hurt them but they won't be harmed by residue on a plant. I paint the inside of my coop with a strong solution of neem mixed with warm water when mites are about (which is frequently round here because of the huge brown rats that like to live around the storm water culvert that runs through our backyard). Rodents are major carriers of red mites and unfortunately in my country they are introduced and have no natural predators other than the odd backyard cat or hawk if you live in the country (which we don't).

I had a huge outbreak initially and battled for 6 (very itchy) weeks trying to use the 'cures' available in my country with absolutely no luck, even though I was treating weekly. I painted the inside of my coop once with the neem, sprayed the chickens with Vetafarm Avian Insect Liquidator especially concentrating on their legs (it offers up to 6 weeks protection) and the mites were gone, no second treatment required. I still paint the inside of the coop every 6 months as a precaution.

DE is useless against red mites - they will move away from it but it doesn't kill them and unless it's airborne (which is bad for everyones lungs, birds included) it does nothing (I found thousands of mites happily living in the thick bed of DE I had under the bedding in my nests).

 

[Kathy Golla]

I have been battling an invisible pest and I believe it to be the depluming mite. Are you seeing broken feathers? Is it only affecting certain chickens or all of them?
I have tried everything - from vitamins to ivermectin and everything in between (permethrin on schedule). I am going to give sulphur a try. I read about a sulphur dip that could help.

Read this and twocrows’ post.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/feathers-being-eaten-mite.1051617/
You have to treat for quite a while. Those mites are hard to control but it can be done.
Can contact twocrows via PM if u need more info.

 

[Below frigid]

Have you tried drenching the birds in a Permethrin bath? Upping the strength for spraying the coop. Maybe try Elector PSP expensive but it is supposed to work.

 

[Folly's place]

Mites reappear, brought in by those pesky wild wrens and sparrows. I've had to treat for mites twice so far this year. They go away with the permethrin spray, but then reinfection happens.
Mary

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Read this and twocrows’ post.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/feathers-being-eaten-mite.1051617/
You have to treat for quite a while. Those mites are hard to control but it can be done.
Can contact twocrows via PM if u need more info.

Yeah. I have read that thread. When I first treated it was for leg mites. So, I only did it for two rounds. I am taking a different approach for the depluming mites. If it doesn't work, I will try the ivermectin again for longer.

 

[adrikeen]

I have been battling an invisible pest and I believe it to be the depluming mite. Are you seeing broken feathers? Is it only affecting certain chickens or all of them?
I have tried everything - from vitamins to ivermectin and everything in between (permethrin on schedule). I am going to give sulphur a try. I read about a sulphur dip that could help.

Sorry, catching up. I only noticed broken "chewed" feathers on one hen...but she may be my hen that's on the bottom of the pecking order....so I couldn't tell if it was mite or pecking. What caught my attention was the constant scratching of heads and backs and my DE Blue hen constantly pecking at her tail...when I inspected, she had picked herself raw so figured this was mites. I'm waiting for the spray Kiki recommended to come in, but I got desperate and just sprayed her, the houses, and the run down with Seven Dust. It appears to have helped for a few days and while waiting for the spray to come in, I'm treating the hen's wounds. As far as scratching - it looked like every hen was doing it...but the Blue hen was the worst.

 

[adrikeen]

So I treating the coop. Based on our design, it looks like I am going to have to disconnect the roof from the ceiling in my pictures with the hardware cloth. I wish I knew that coops should be easily "disinfected" when we built ours. Wood seems like a ridiculous product to use for this reason. I guess I will also be painting to help fill in the crevices and corners, maybe even caulking. Ugg. I have the chance to build a new coop for my mom. If there was a thread about coops and making them easy to clean, I would follow that thread. As I said, I am considering metal these days.

Not sure how big of a coop you need but I purchased the plastic snap lock houses. I have both the "large" and "small". Those have been the best as far as keeping clean and pest free. I honestly have had no issues with the houses (had them 5 years now), until this year. We just purchased a small coop for our roo...it's made of the same material the composite decking is made out of. I'm curious to see how that works out.

 

[adrikeen]

I think the issue with neem oil is it is not "labeled" for use on birds.
Permethrin is.

I've used that on orchids...haven't tried chickens. I'm not sure I would, it can be pretty potent.