Mites!!

[kle2684]

I have had chickens for 6 years and NEVER had a mite issue. I collected eggs this weekend and noticed tiny specs moving on my hands afterwards. I started looking around and can see mites all over the coop around the door. Since then I have tried to read everything I can about mites and my anxiety is out of control! My poor birds! I can see them on their combs (1 hen seems worse than the others- I only have 7 hens). I see posts about farmers burning their coops down to treat it. I ordered Elector PSP and am waiting for it to get here. I'm freaked out about getting mites on me while trying to treat the coop and birds. Any help or reccomendations are SO appreciated.

 

[Bagel17]

I'm no expert, but when I had black pepper mites I put garlic in their food, dusted a lot with diatomaceous earth, and used a mite spray for the birds and another for the coop. Flea powder can help, but make sure it isnt harsh (I used natural stuff). It takes a lot of persistence and really make sure they have dust bathing areas. It sounds like you have it pretty bad, though, as I never had them crawling on my coop walls!

What kind of coop do you have? If it is wooden, you might want to consider a plastic coop, but I never burned anything getting over mites and I have a wooden coop. I'd toss and burn all of the old bedding, though.

When handling your chickens and mites, have separate clothing/outerwear and supplies that you do not bring indoors. Even though they don't like non-bird blood, they might still bite you or get inside your home.

I hope this helps a little, or opens up new ideas to you. Like I said, I am no expert, but I did do research and have had mites in the past, so there are some things I tried. Keeping things clean is very important, and so are dust bathing areas and diatomaceous earth.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I have had chickens for 6 years and NEVER had a mite issue. I collected eggs this weekend and noticed tiny specs moving on my hands afterwards. I started looking around and can see mites all over the coop around the door. Since then I have tried to read everything I can about mites and my anxiety is out of control! My poor birds! I can see them on their combs (1 hen seems worse than the others- I only have 7 hens). I see posts about farmers burning their coops down to treat it. I ordered Elector PSP and am waiting for it to get here. I'm freaked out about getting mites on me while trying to treat the coop and birds. Any help or reccomendations are SO appreciated.

Elector PSP will do the job, too bad you are having to wait for it to be delivered.

Permethrin based poultry spray and dust can also be used to treat mites. If you are in the U.S. you can find these at TSC.
Bedding does need to be removed and you'll want to treat all of the housing and birds whether you use Permethrin or Elector.

Hopefully you can get them under control.

DE and natural alternatives are not effective against a heavy infestation. And yes, some people do burn the coop if infestations are severe enough.

 

[nuthatched]

I'm no expert, but when I had black pepper mites I put garlic in their food, dusted a lot with diatomaceous earth, and used a mite spray for the birds and another for the coop. Flea powder can help, but make sure it isnt harsh (I used natural stuff). It takes a lot of persistence and really make sure they have dust bathing areas. It sounds like you have it pretty bad, though, as I never had them crawling on my coop walls!

What kind of coop do you have? If it is wooden, you might want to consider a plastic coop, but I never burned anything getting over mites and I have a wooden coop. I'd toss and burn all of the old bedding, though.

When handling your chickens and mites, have separate clothing/outerwear and supplies that you do not bring indoors. Even though they don't like non-bird blood, they might still bite you or get inside your home.

I hope this helps a little, or opens up new ideas to you. Like I said, I am no expert, but I did do research and have had mites in the past, so there are some things I tried. Keeping things clean is very important, and so are dust bathing areas and diatomaceous earth.

Garlic and Diotomatious Earth won't do anything, Diotomatious Earth is actually very, very bad for you and especially your birds to be breathing, it's essentially natural asbestos.

 

[Myrshine]

Hands down, Elector PSP is the best way to control and kill mites and lice. I highly recommend it.