Neverending mites

[cmom]

I have posted this before, the best product to get rid of the mites and lice in my opinion is permethrin which is very cost effective. There are others such as Elector PSP but it is very expensive. I had some birds that were severely infested. I thought they were just molting but weren't getting their feathers back in when I discovered they were loaded with mites. The first thing I tried was DE. The birds weren't improving and still had mites. I first discovered them in only one coop but eventually found them on birds in another coop. I dusted the birds and the coops with the DE and no improvement after treating them for a couple of weeks. Next I did use some sevin dust that I had but it was almost gone but it did help. I did some research and came up with permethrin. I'm pretty sure the wild birds brought them into their coop. I used the dust on the birds and in their nest boxes and sprayed inside of the coops, every crack and crevice, on and under the roosts, ceiling, walls, floors, anywhere the mites can hide. It's best to clean out the coop before you spray. I use pine shavings in my coops. Wear special clothing including a mask and gloves. I did a weekly spraying for awhile 3/4 weeks and put permethrin poultry dust in the nest boxes, originally sprayed the birds getting under the wings and worked it through their feathers with gloves which you can also do with the dust. Slowly the birds began to recover and get their feathers back in. I think if I hadn't treated with the permethrin when I did I probably would have lost some birds to the mites. The birds were in bad condition. Permethrin only kill live pests, not the pests eggs so repeat treatments are necessary. TSC carries the permethrin powder, premixed spray bottles and the concentrate. I use the concentrate. For my initial application, I mixed it a little heavy. It did not affect the birds but I did keep them out of the coops while it dried. I spray my coops as needed and when I spray I do weekly spraying for 3 or 4 weeks then stop as I don't want the pests to develop a resistance to the permethrin. Repeated weekly spraying is necessary because again, it does not kill the mite eggs and as an added benefit is there is no egg withdrawal period. The birds are beautiful again. There are other products available and some are much more expensive and in my opinion the permethrin works great. Good luck...

 

[roosterhavoc]

I have posted this before, the best product to get rid of the mites and lice in my opinion is permethrin which is very cost effective. There are others such as Elector PSP but it is very expensive. I had some birds that were severely infested. I thought they were just molting but weren't getting their feathers back in when I discovered they were loaded with mites. The first thing I tried was DE. The birds weren't improving and still had mites. I first discovered them in only one coop but eventually found them on birds in another coop. I dusted the birds and the coops with the DE and no improvement after treating them for a couple of weeks. Next I did use some sevin dust that I had but it was almost gone but it did help. I did some research and came up with permethrin. I'm pretty sure the wild birds brought them into their coop. I used the dust on the birds and in their nest boxes and sprayed inside of the coops, every crack and crevice, on and under the roosts, ceiling, walls, floors, anywhere the mites can hide. It's best to clean out the coop before you spray. I use pine shavings in my coops. Wear special clothing including a mask and gloves. I did a weekly spraying for awhile 3/4 weeks and put permethrin poultry dust in the nest boxes, originally sprayed the birds getting under the wings and worked it through their feathers with gloves which you can also do with the dust. Slowly the birds began to recover and get their feathers back in. I think if I hadn't treated with the permethrin when I did I probably would have lost some birds to the mites. The birds were in bad condition. Permethrin only kill live pests, not the pests eggs so repeat treatments are necessary. TSC carries the permethrin powder, premixed spray bottles and the concentrate. I use the concentrate. For my initial application, I mixed it a little heavy. It did not affect the birds but I did keep them out of the coops while it dried. I spray my coops as needed and when I spray I do weekly spraying for 3 or 4 weeks then stop as I don't want the pests to develop a resistance to the permethrin. Repeated weekly spraying is necessary because again, it does not kill the mite eggs and as an added benefit is there is no egg withdrawal period. The birds are beautiful again. There are other products available and some are much more expensive and in my opinion the permethrin works great. Good luck...
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The pests already are resistant to permethrin. Probably because everyone uses it so often with weekly sprayings.

 

[DMOTS]

I could be wrong about this but all my chickens take dirt baths, it's natural for them but they need access to good clean dirt. My dirt is sandy and they practicaly bury themselves and they have no mites.

 

[cmom]

I spray with permethrin for at the most 4 weekly sprayings then stop. They will develop a resistance to it if used as a preventative.

 

[roosterhavoc]

1 time with sevin dust and frontline. Do it at night check the next day same time and you won’t find a mite on them.

 

[arimenthe]

How many birds have you found with mites? How many have you treated? How often a year?

I have 13 birds. Normally we have to treat once in the fall when birds migrate.

This year, since about march, we've treated with elector once a month, and starting in august we stepped it up to every two weeks. We use the higher concentration 12ml/gallon for the coop and structures, 9ml/gallon on the birds. I'm seeing very few on the birds now after treating them, but still seeing little red and brown mites in the hay i pulled out, and on structures...normally after treating they're gone. I switched to every 2 weeks on the advice of the lady i get my chickens from...

the only difference is we moved the coop out from under our deck and into the yard. (oh, and we were covid shutdown for months, so lots more wild animals/birds)

 

[arimenthe]

I spray with permethrin for at the most 4 weekly sprayings then stop. They will develop a resistance to it if used as a preventative.

i was told by our vet that once a bird is treated with frontline that you couldn't ever eat eggs from then again?

 

[arimenthe]

I could be wrong about this but all my chickens take dirt baths, it's natural for them but they need access to good clean dirt. My dirt is sandy and they practicaly bury themselves and they have no mites.

Yeah, that's how it usually is for us, which is why the bottle of elector psp has lasted for a couple of years - in fall we have a large amount of migrating birds pass through in a few week period and mites always show up no matter what...but this is much much worse.

 

[arimenthe]

Sevin dust and frontline spray. Problem solved. Neither are approved for poultry use as you’ll soon be told 50 times but they both work and your problem will be gone by the next day.
Make a powder puff from sevin dust with pantyhose and dust the birds really well all over under their wings, belly around the vent etc. Then spritz each bird once under each wing and above or below but not on the vent with frontline spray.

i thought you couldn't use frontline due to a lifetime ban on eggs? its what my vet told me

 

[roosterhavoc]

i was told by our vet that once a bird is treated with frontline that you couldn't ever eat eggs from then again?

I was told by a vet that I was holding a hen when in fact it was a rooster with a pea comb. That vet was my cousins wife. Lol They don’t know everything but frontline isn’t approved for poultry use. Permethrin is still considered a carcinogen though.
I treat my birds usually once a year, occasionally twice. I eat the eggs all the time. I’m still very much alive.