Mites

[stephanie1992]

how do u apply the drops on the chickens to treat mites?

 

[SilkieBantams]

I'd honestly recommend using Sevin Dust for any mites that are on chickens.

 

[stephanie1992]

all i have is drops and i know people who use them and they work great. its eaither mites or lice. and the drops are suppose to work, i just dnt know how to apply them

 

[Judy]

What kind of drops?

 

[stephanie1992]

flea drops for cats

 

[Judy]

Quote:
That doesn't tell anyone much. You need to look up the ingredients, then check to make sure they have been used on chickens without a problem.

Many of the medications we use on chickens are not sold for them, so we often are left with checking to see what others' experience has been. This is one of the many things BYC is very helpful with.

 

[Bat Cave Silkies]

Pyrethrin---Sevin dust isn't effective against mites, but is effective against lice.

Permethrin is the only thing I know of that will kill mites, and when applied as an "all over" spray helps in preventing.

Ivermectin drops (on the skin between the shoulders) prevents internal & some external parasites.

Once infestion occurs, the key is "follow up"; you can't treat just once and expect the problem to be gone, you must retreat

 

[stephanie1992]

ive never actully seen anything onmy birds. its just i know they tend to get lice and my little cusin goes in there pen all the time and thats all i need is his mom to blame the birds. cuz i dnt wanna have to get rid of them. im already in danger of not being able to have them. i dnt need another reason to get rid of them.

 

[real_redhead]

I just found lice when I thought I didn't have any. Pull up the tail feathers and look around the vent...that's were they like to hang out and lay eggs.

 

[MimiChick]

I've found one of the most effective ways to keep mites and lice off my chickens is to make sure they can dust bathe regularly. I have an old cat litter box that I keep filled with sand and wood ash. Wood ash seems to be particularly effective for this. I keep it in a covered area of the run so it stays dry and they can dust bathe in it whenever they want. You can also add poultry dust to the mix or DE if you want. But I agree with other posters that if you have an active infestation you must give the chickens a good dusting with sevin, pyretrhin, permethren, poultry dust or whatever to clear the infestation first. And you have to repeat it weekly a few times to make sure you get the eggs. You also may want to spray or dust the inside of the coop to prevent re-infestation. After that, make sure they can dust bathe and that should keep the critters at bay. Also, don't worry about your cousin picking up lice from the chickens. Chicken lice and mites are species specific. That means they can't live on humans. If you have a bad infestation you might see a few on you, but they won't stay and multiply on people.