No eggs but Mites! Help

[fairie]

So my chickens have not been laying for 2 weeks now. I have been trying to find out why, asked them they wont tell me! I thought they were molting, there are some feathers on the floor, but only from 1 hen.

We clean the coop 1x a week. We sprinkle wood ash on the floor and in the cracks. Then we use straw in the coop and in the plastic next boxes (the get washed each week too).

Now we cleaned the chicken coop today and found mites under the roost (of course), and looked a bit better and found them EVERYWHERE in all the cracks above the roosts (none on the floor or next boxes)! I can not tell if there is anything "wrong" with the chickens, they look okay.

1)Do I need to power wash the house out with water? It's wood on the inside, some is painted some is not, and there is wood ash everywhere.

2)Can I spray the coop with Neem Oil (bought to kill bugs on organic fruit trees)?

3) I have DE and would use it but dont know how to get it on the ceiling

Thanks for the help.

 

[lightchick]

Oh no! Sorry for such a late answer! I use garden and poultry dust and it works really well.

Of course this answer might not matter anymore because you've probably fixed the problem by now.

 

[fairie]

Thanks, we cleaned the whole house. used Neem Oil (in a spray for apple trees) I sprayed the whole house until it was wet and drippy then let it dry out and then dusted with Diatematous Earth (sp). I put the DE all in the straw and cleaned the plastic next boxes. There were mites everywhere on the ceiling but not in the nest boexes! On the wooden doors outside and under the house, hiding I guess.. I am still vigilant with the DE when we clean the house every week lifting up the roosting bars and turning them over to check.

Now we get 3 eggs every day

, one hen is still dropping her eggs in the bushes, and I can not find them

!
And another hen has hatched 12 chicks

. She got lice while sitting on her nest in the bushes, so all the hens got a DE and woodfire ash bath every other day for a week.

I keep checking the chicks and so far, as far as I can see they dont have lice or mites.

I really didn't realize that it could be this complicated.

 

[lightchick]

Wow! Sounds like your doing OK! If you don't want your hen laying in the bushes I'd try keeping them in the coop as long as possible in the morning.

 

[fairie]

Yep that's the plan, we are gonna keep her in tomorrow. My son tried this morning to not let her out, I heard a lot of noise from outside then he came in and said "that is the hardest job ever, you need to do it" I assume the noise was her fighting her way out the door past the 11 year old chicken rangler. Tomorrow at 6 she will meet me the 40 year old chicken rangler, will see you wins. Dah dah dahhhh

 

[lightchick]

Lol! She sounds like a determined girl!

 

[JoePa]

What I would do for mites is mix up some liquid seven in a spray bottle and spray the whole inside of the coop - and use the power on the chickens - it gets them all the time -

 

[fairie]

Hi, I think I have it under control.. but...Everyone keeps talking about Liquid Seven.
I come from California and now I live in Europe and I don't know what Liquid Seven is.
I also live on an Organic farm and MUST only use things that are considered organic.

1)What is Liquid Seven
2)Is is organic?

Thanks for the enlightenment.

 

[fairymelina7]

I also had a girl who had mites... EVERYWHERE! Her leg mites were so bad almost all her scales fell off I felt so bad for her.. any way to have the best chance to get rid of them bath the feet in oil to get rid of leg mites along the shank,hock and foot. This suffocates them and kills the quickly. Them bath the bird completely in seven dust or any other all natural environment safe bug killer. Do the same to the other bird in the flock even if they don't have seem to have them. To double check look under the wings and near the vent or other warm areas on the bird as that is the most common location they are found. Spray down the coop with liquid seven (try tractor supply) this kill remains of the bugs so it can not come back. Give the birds a bath place them inside and you are done. If you want to be extra careful was the coop too! Hopes this helps!

 

[annemarie g]

I use food grade diatomaceous earth. I find mine at tractor supply in the 'feed room' with the chicken feed and other chicken products. I put it in their dust bath areas and in the nest boxes. The reading I've done on it says that the texture of the dust on the exoskeleton of the mites is like razor blades. Once their exoskeleton is compromised they are unable to sustain the moisture inside their exoskeleton and basically dehydrate and die.
I hope this helps.