For mites, I treat with Diamatious earth every other day for 3 weeks.
What a nightmare and some serious prolonged exposure for both you and the birds. To ineffective to warrant my attention. My time is valuable and why subject the birds to all that?
DE is CRAP in my opinion for ALL things chicken related. Yes it works for some uses, but is over touted and over used snake oil in the chicken world.
Guess what... lots of feeds already have DE in their ingredient list because it is approved for use at a rate of up to 2% in order to keep it from clumping... and NOTHING more. Have you read yours lately?
No it won't work as a wormer as it becomes ineffective when wet. If it worked as a wormer, those companies that include it would tout that on their bags. They don't because it isn't true.
Seems like if you were facing mites, better to use something that is safe, effective, and affordable... also approved for use in chickens and no required withdrawal time for eggs... Permethin spray is my preference due to ease of application. It is also available in powder and won't require treating every other day. Guess what else... kills on contact the very first time. Repeat may only be needed a couple weeks later depending on species and according to the directions.
You can make a dirt bath inside if you want. Many people do. Again the DE is irrelevant and many claim it works as a preventative... even if they've never seen said parasite with their own two eyes. Doesn't mean it works, just means they don't have an issue.
No... looking for mites is easiest by... using a flashlight after dark. Remove the bird keeping lights dim. Place bird on their back or hold them like that (2 people is easiest), legs bent towards chest, and part the feathers near the vent and on the abdomen and look for things crawling away. Some mites live in cracks of the wood and only come out to feed on the birds at night. While others do live on the birds. Yet there are some that are completely microscopic and live in the feather shaft or under the leg scales and you will NEVER see them but only evidence of them. Those kind are treated differently.
In addition... I've never had lice or mites cause head shaking. That would be more along the lines of the gape worm mentioned, something else stuck in the wind pipe as chickens do not have a gag reflex, or an ear infection. I have also never had mite on or around the face and that sounds more like stick tight fleas... though I do learn something new everyday if I can and certainly have not yet experienced all that I will in my chicken keeping adventure...
Any treatment requiring every other day intervention on my part for 3 weeks MIGHT well result in a cull... or more efficient means of treatment attempted at the very least. There are other organic ones called elector PSP or Spinosad that may be used instead of the permethrin. They are a little pricier, but still better than snake oil if I had to choose one.
I'm all for natural and organic, if it works WEll. But even natural or organic poison is still POISON, period.
Anyways, I highly doubt your head shaking is caused by mites. Did you check that symptom tool yet?
Hope you get it figured out!
