More about mites. Please Any Info. will Help!

[babychickfarmer]

How do I know if it's lice or mites? I notice a little bit of white stuff at the base of some of thier feathers. I also found that there was balding on one of my leghorns bellys. It doesn't look the same though, not as red and puffy as my other ones. I don't think what is goin on is molt either because of two reasons, I have had one already go through that this fall and it didn't look anything like this and Bacani. The chicken I posted pictures of in my other thread has had a bald butt like that for a 4 months now.

 

[susanhai]

sounds like what one of my hens had... it was chicken louse. Here is an address that has info and a pic of what you might be seeing.... don't know how to send a link.

http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8162.pdf

 

[susanhai]

ok, maybe I do know how to send a link!

Hope this helps!

 

[SandraChick]

WHile your figuring it out....the treatment is the same- and you should begin sooner than later.

I personally use Food Grade DE....but others will use fowl mite powder available at feed stores, or smite spray for birds found in pet shops that sell stuff for birds......and as a last resort you can use sevin dust found at nurseries for plants.....

Don't forget to clean the coop and treat the nest boxes, roosting areas......

Good luck
Sandra

 

[babychickfarmer]

I have food grade D.E on the way. I will hopfully will be dueing the treatment in 4-5 days. Depends on how fast the mail gets here. Thanks you for your help.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

In the mean time, make sure to give them a dust bath of loose fine dirt, sand and/or wood ashes, if they don't already have one.

 

[Fowl ball]

First, let me say that this is my first posting on BYC, after weeks of reading and enjoying, but more importantly, learning about my very beloved pair of hens (one is a Barred Rock and the other is a Wyandotte). I have two questions, to stay on topic, with one being related to the treatment of poultry lice and mites. And the other being about the use of cat litter for their under roost waste collection. After the discovery of both the lice (and very scurrying black microdot creatures, that at this point I'll call mites?), we have purchased a poultry dusting powder made with permethrins. We had attempted to avoid the pesticides by treating the coop with DE and occasionally applying DE to the ladies, but this proved to merely stave off severe infestation. They were still seeming to look really miserable. So today's the day and we are going to wait until nighttime when they are sleepy to apply the powder to avoid any unwanted application to their eyes and mouth. So this brings me to my question. When applying the powder (due to toxicity) should I do the "put the chicken in a bag up to her neck" and really coat her, or should I lay them down and just apply to each area generously? We have also been told to use eucalyptus oil around the head, but the oil could burn their eyes and I don't want the oil to irritate them, but I like the natural approach to this dilemma as much as possible.. Any feedback on th E. oil would be most appreciated also. OK, Back to the Pesticide powder. If we apply the powder to their whole body and not as 'generously" to the head, won't they congregate on their head 'til the coast is clearish? Or will the pests be exposed to the powder any way by contacting the body? We will also be treating the coop generously, with the powder and using bleach on all the wood areas by the roost. (Also more DE). Can I use household pest spray (Mine has Lambda Cyhalothrin) to treat the coop also? The next group of questions is about using the standard clay cat litter to put under their roost the ease the cleaning of their waste. my concern relates to them eating it often as a consequence to scratching/foraging for their scratch in their coop. I know that they will eat it sometimes, but could this harm them in anyway? Should I stick w/ hay or cedar chips and abandon the cat litter idea altogether? Thanks again, for this wonderful forum, and I look forward to the replies!

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I would not use clay cat litter under the roosts. Sand would work very well there and be much safer for the chickens. Quite a few people on the forum use sand under the roosts and like it.

 

[Fowl ball]

Thanks, for the feedback on the litter, any ideas about using the household "bugspray" in addition to the DE for treating the coop for lice and mites? My biggest concern is whether it is toxic to the ladies and us if we're eating the eggs. I'm actively working on the coop today, so I keep checkin' in after breaks in the action, so forgive the lag time.

 

[ivan3]

Welcome, sorry you're having problems with the vermin. We use a large grain sand (`play' sand) mixed with DE as a base with pine (NOT cedar) shavings. As far as cleaning the roosts you might consider a citrus based product (orange oil) rather than bleach (easier on the birdies). I defer to the `mighty' to weigh in on the merits of bagging the girls for mite dusting.

Good luck!