northern fowl mites

[abengel]

Have a dear friend struggling with northern fowl mites and losing the battle. She sprays, dips, and shampoos with Adams, dusts with sevin and pymethrin, and uses ivermectin drops. Coops are cleaned frequently and bombed with Adams room fogger. Bedding is stirred and amended weekly with either insecticidal dust, wood ash, or red cedar chips. She has mostly crested breeds, and weekly inspection never fails to reveal a number of birds affected- the crests are like mite nests. I've run out of advice for her, and promised I'd put it out on the forum to see if anyone has ever defeated these pests. She has a large flock and is spending about $100 per month on treatments and way too much time dealing with this, and is talking about throwing in the towel. I just read about filling the end of a stocking with sevin dust and hanging in coop doorways so that the birds are self dusting every time they brush against it. Can anyone help?

 

[zazouse]

Do they have a way to dust bath? That is how birds keep mites off themselves, i have 100's of free ranged birds and i do raise up 100's at a time for food for my family and my dogs and i can tell you i have never processed a single bird on my place that had mites not one.
My birds are totally free ranged and many times they dust bath in the ash piles left over from trees and brush i burn.
My birds are always moving to new ground to dustbath, sometimes it looks like a meteor shower hit my place.

 

[Haunted55]

Do they have a way to dust bath? That is how birds keep mites off themselves, i have 100's of free ranged birds and i do raise up 100's at a time for food for my family and my dogs and i can tell you i have never processed a single bird on my place that had mites not one.
My birds are totally free ranged and many times they dust bath in the ash piles left over from trees and brush i burn.
My birds are always moving to new ground to dustbath, sometimes it looks like a meteor shower hit my place.

I also use woodash in the dusting box I set up for my chickens. Peat moss, sand, woodash, DE and just in case the rest doesn't get them, a sprinkle of Seven. If she hasn't tried it already, use some of the DE in the nesting boxes.

 

[abengel]

Thanks, I'll let her know. Her pens are covered and I know she keeps the area soft and deep by turning it over with a spade a couple of times a year. They also get out for a couple of hours each day to roam. Maybe tell her to add peat moss? It's the only thing she hasn't tried yet I think.

 

[zazouse]

Simple turning the dirt in a pen does not keep the ground fresh, in order for the ground to be fresh in a coop it must sit in the sun and rain for a good six months being turned a few time during the process, the birds can not be confined on the ground that is what is good about chicken tractors you really can move them to fresh ground when you need to.
Like haunted55 i too use peat,sand and ashes, i have never had to use DE or Seven in the mixture, i use that to keep ants out of my ground brooder after it rains.