My worst mitemare

[gsagona91]

One of our broody hens seemingly died of a mite infestation I was not aware of until our dog tracked some into our house from the coop 2 days after the hen died. This is going on my third year as a chicken owner and the internet has me panicking as it says i will need to hire a pest control professional. Is this true? So far I have bathed dog twice, changed bedding twice, putting everything dog came into contact with in the washing machine and vacuumed what I couldn’t put in the wash. I mopped the floors, sprayed the coop down with permethrin solution according to directions on the bottle, dipped the rest of the flock, and showered 5 times myself as I kept finding them on me. Since doing all of that I have only found 1 on me and really couldn’t see any on the rest of my hens who would let me check. I know I will have to reapply permethrin in two weeks. Am I missing anything? Should I go to a doctor to get a special shampoo since I have long hair? Please tell me everything is going to be alright. Kinda regretting getting chickens even though I love them.

 

[gsagona91]

One of our favorite hens seemingly died from mites while broody. We were unaware of the mites until 2 days after she died and our dog tracked them in from the coop. This is my third year as a chicken owner and the internet is scaring me about chicken mite treatment, saying I will need to hire a pest control professional. So far I have given dog 2 baths, changed our bedding twice, thrown everything possible dog came into contact with into the washing machine, vacuumed what I couldn’t wash, mopped the floors, used a permethrin solution to spray down the coop according to directions on the bottle after removing all old bedding, dipping the rest of the flock in diluted permethrin solution according to directions on bottle, and showered 5 times in the past 24 hours as I kept finding them on me. I know will have to reapply permethrin in two weeks. Am I missing anything? Please tell me everything will be ok. I am panicking. Should I go to a doctor to get a special shampoo since I have long hair? Since doing all this I’ve only found 1 on me and really couldn’t see any on the hens who would let me check. Kinda regretting getting chickens even though I love them.

 

[rosemarythyme]

You don't specify what type of mite you have. Assuming Northern Fowl Mites you want to re-treat the chickens in 5-7ish days (I think I used to advise 7-10, but 5 seems to be the correct number). Red roost mites I think have a longer lifespan so that has a different re-treatment time (maybe that's where you saw 2 weeks?)

For the coop - Clear out all the bedding. Burn it or otherwise bag up and dispose of it. Spray all surfaces (though I skipped the ceiling and top parts of wall though, because my coop peak is too tall) and crevices with liquid permethrin, including roost bars and nests. After it all dries, put in new bedding (I made sure to do my spraying early in the day, so it was mostly dry by late afternoon so the chickens could go back in).

For the chickens - Dust with permethrin powder or spray with liquid under belly, under wings, on back, around base of neck, around vent. If they're getting them on their heads (which you may see scabbing around comb or even eyes if it's bad), I'd carefully pat some around the base of the comb or just behind the head, but I wouldn't spray them directly in the face.

If mite bites on you are an issue, or mites are getting into the house:

While treating the chickens I suggest keeping a dedicated set of chicken-only clothes, gloves, boots, etc. either in garage or shed, somewhere out of the house, and only use those around the chickens until treatment is done. Before going back into the house, check arms and legs carefully for any mites.

I also got some permethrin spray for use in the house, and sprayed all our muck boots, as well as hubby's office chair and the sofa.

Launder everything you've worn recently in hot water + hot dry. Launder your sheets as well. Even things like pillows... let them tumble in the dryer on high for at least 30 min. I even threw jackets in the dryer. If you happen to have rubbing alcohol, my pest guy suggested spraying the mattress as well. Rubbing alcohol has been further confirmed to work by other folks on BYC.

Continue vacuuming daily for a couple of days and make sure to empty out the vacuum/remove bags when done.

I know it seems like overkill but if you can get it under control with the chickens, the ones in the house should get eliminated/under control in the same time frame as long as you don't drag more in. Best of luck!

 

[sourland]

You are doing all of the right things. It is not uncommon for a broody hen to become mite infested. You may very well have to treat the coop and birds several more times. Keep the dog out of the coop for the near future

 

[gsagona91]

You don't specify what type of mite you have. Assuming Northern Fowl Mites you want to re-treat the chickens in 5-7ish days (I think I used to advise 7-10, but 5 seems to be the correct number). Red roost mites I think have a longer lifespan so that has a different re-treatment time (maybe that's where you saw 2 weeks?)

For the coop - Clear out all the bedding. Burn it or otherwise bag up and dispose of it. Spray all surfaces (though I skipped the ceiling and top parts of wall though, because my coop peak is too tall) and crevices with liquid permethrin, including roost bars and nests. After it all dries, put in new bedding (I made sure to do my spraying early in the day, so it was mostly dry by late afternoon so the chickens could go back in).

For the chickens - Dust with permethrin powder or spray with liquid under belly, under wings, on back, around base of neck, around vent. If they're getting them on their heads (which you may see scabbing around comb or even eyes if it's bad), I'd carefully pat some around the base of the comb or just behind the head, but I wouldn't spray them directly in the face.

If mite bites on you are an issue, or mites are getting into the house:

While treating the chickens I suggest keeping a dedicated set of chicken-only clothes, gloves, boots, etc. either in garage or shed, somewhere out of the house, and only use those around the chickens until treatment is done. Before going back into the house, check arms and legs carefully for any mites.

I also got some permethrin spray for use in the house, and sprayed all our muck boots, as well as hubby's office chair and the sofa.

Launder everything you've worn recently in hot water + hot dry. Launder your sheets as well. Even things like pillows... let them tumble in the dryer on high for at least 30 min. I even threw jackets in the dryer. If you happen to have rubbing alcohol, my pest guy suggested spraying the mattress as well. Rubbing alcohol has been further confirmed to work by other folks on BYC.

Continue vacuuming daily for a couple of days and make sure to empty out the vacuum/remove bags when done.

I know it seems like overkill but if you can get it under control with the chickens, the ones in the house should get eliminated/under control in the same time frame as long as you don't drag more in. Best of luck!

Thank you! Yes, northern fowl. Should I be concerned about permethrin being carcinogenic? I saw someone on the internet saying they got lymphoma from it…?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thank you! Yes, northern fowl. Should I be concerned about permethrin being carcinogenic? I saw someone on the internet saying they got lymphoma from it…?

No idea. I wouldn't spray myself with it and I mask up anyhow to do stuff in the coop but intermittent use only as needed shouldn't be enough to expose you to toxic levels of anything.

Permethrin is toxic to cats though, and all bugs including beneficial ones like bees, so I'm not an advocate of using it without an active infestation to treat.

 

[gsagona91]

You are doing all of the right things. It is not uncommon for a broody hen to become mite infested. You may very well have to treat the coop and birds several more times. Keep the dog out of the coop for the near future

Thank you. Is there a best time to treat? I read that night time is the best since all the mites will be out, which might actually work because my chickens have been sleeping on top of the coop anyways.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I read that night time is the best since all the mites will be out

You said you have NFM, not roost mites - roost mites are the ones active at night.

 

[gsagona91]

You said you have NFM, not roost mites - roost mites are the ones active at night.

Welp now that I am reading about them I’m not sure which mite we have. They don’t appear to be on the chickens but are on the coop so I’m assuming that means they are roost mites.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Welp now that I am reading about them I’m not sure which mite we have. They don’t appear to be on the chickens but are on the coop so I’m assuming that means they are roost mites.

Read up on the difference in appearance and see if you can compare to what you're seeing. Treatment changes for the type of mite. Roost mites are tougher in that they can survive longer without feeding, and I believe the timing of the permethrin re-treatment is longer than with NFM. I haven't dealt with them so not sure.