Official BYC Poll: How Do You Deal With Lice & Mite Infestations in your Coop?

[BDutch]

Yes, DE is a waste of money. It doesn't control lice or parasites, and it's bad for chickens to breathe the dust.

Since raising chickens, I have changed my mind about the merits of going completely organic. Organic "remedies" like diatomaceous earth or fragrant herbs are at best ineffective half-measures. I still feed myself and my birds organic grain and produce, but if my birds (or I!) have trouble with fleas, lice, mites, or other parasites, I use modern medicine to cure them (or myself!)

I no longer buy organic meat in the grocery store, either. I used to insist that all my meat be raised completely organically, but I now believe that it's cruel to raise animals or birds to suffer with parasites or other ailments that can quickly be addressed with permethrin, ivermectin, or amprolium.

After all, I wouldn't let myself, my family, or my pets suffer when an effective remedy is available -- why should I require that my birds or my meat suffer?

Nope, no more organic meat for me. "Grass fed", "hormone free", "cage free", and "free range", YES; but "organic"? NO.

I don’t see you’re points. Why would organically kept animals suffer more from from parasites? The problems with parasites often emerge in overcrowded stables and less in spacious environments (also organic).

Where I live we have to deal a lot with red bird mite. And DE is even used by the factory farmers because the red mite has become resistent for the permethrin and most other mite killers are forbidden for the food industry bc they don’t break down easily and they are poisonous for the humans who eat the eggs and meat too.

Yes, I do use DE. Once to eliminate a light bird mite infestation. And after that to prevent them for coming back into the coop. I use it as a paint (mix DE with a little water) , a few spoons in their favourite dust bath area, under the bedding in the nest boxes. I also use a little tobacco and lavender in the nest boxes. I have sand on the bottom of the coop.

I never had problems with other parasites.

Giving you’re flock lots of space, healthy feed and a natural environment is also a way to prevent trouble with parasites and illnesses. Less stres and no GMO feed -> less health issues. So far (7 years) I didn’t use medicines or poisons and I prefer to keep it that way. For that reason I don’t buy chicks or chickens but buy fertilised eggs and raise my own chicks too.

 

[21hens-incharge]

How do you prevent contact between your birds and wild birds? Mine free range part of the day. Also, wild birds come to glean what bits of scratch mine might leave behind in the run. Occasionally one will nest in the hen house. And my birds have a large, open run the wild birds visit to peck for seeds and bugs. I have no way to keep them separate that I can think of.

Maybe the screenshot I posted wasn't the clearest. The ones in bold are what I do.

There's not much we can do about the wild birds. Some of those are really tiny and fit through everything except the fencing with holes 1/2" or smaller. We have a lot of finch and black cap chickadee here. Even fencing them out of the run they can still get within inches of the chickens by landing just outside the fence.

My answers in the poll are to keep the coop and nest boxes clean and dry, lots of good dusting space, doing regular inspections for pests and treating any infestation with a known effective product (permetherin 10).

That and never bringing in started birds since quarantining on my small property would be impossible.

 

[Mutchi]

i chose other, i just got mites in my flock, we dusted the coop and flock with DE

 

[BDutch]

i chose other, i just got mites in my flock, we dusted the coop and flock with DE

Did you clean the coop first? Are you talking about red bird mites?
Best way to get rid of these mites is to clean thoroughly first. Use a steam cleaner if you have one or borrow one if you can. Some people say it’s impossible to get rid of all mites with DE if you have a bad infestation. Others say you have to do it properly and you need patience too.
Be carefull with the dust using it pure. I use it against the walls and on the roosts as a paint with a little water. This ‘paint’ sticks on wood and works well after drying. Mix it with sand in the dust bath and under the bedding/ shavings.

 

[Agiboney]

Thankfully, I have not yet had mites in my flock. With lice, I do periodic checks and spray down the coop and birds with permethrin as needed. I find the liquid permethrin to be far superior over the dust both in ease of use and efficacy.

What bend of liquid permethrin do you use?

 

[CatSeg57]

This is what I do:

View attachment 2744857

I treat the birds and coops as needed with permethrin dust or spray.

View attachment 2744858​

View attachment 2744859​

For permethrin dilution amounts:

Permethrin Dilution - Updated with Product PDFs​

I dusted their legs with the Permethrin powder. Now about 10 days later they do look better. We will retreat in the next day or two.
I also dusted the roosting bars and coop areas. I will soon put DE into the run floor for dust bathing.
I guess I thought I was one of those people that thought 'nothing bad was going to happen to MY chickens'.
Well, guess again girl!.

 

[Show Sebright]

I put 0.1 mL on 1% ivermectin injectable on the neck. Kills everything in or out. 3-4 week withdrawal.

 

[BDutch]

I put 0.1 mL on 1% ivermectin injectable on the neck. Kills everything in or out. 3-4 week withdrawal.

Ivermectin is quit a heavy poison. It is prohibited to use by farmers and all the poultry keepers who sell eggs.

This is from a Dutch article on chicken forum:
Ivermectin is actually quite a strong drug. Collies and shelties and very young animals are known to die if it reaches the brain (if it can cross the blood-brain barrier, which is what happens in these dogs and young animals). Certain bird species and fish are also fairly sensitive to this substance, so that you could get symptoms of poisoning (especially neurological in nature: brains and nerves are affected) and death could theoretically occur.
I have not yet heard that chickens have died from it, but it does indicate that the substance should not be used lightly.

Because ivermectin dissolves in fat, it can be very easily excreted through the eggs. So it certainly ends up in the eggs. It is also unclear what this remedy does in humans if there is a residue in the eggs, but it will certainly be unhealthy. And especially with young children!

So eating eggs and chickens is a big drawback of ivermectin. You can give it to animals that do not lay eggs (cocks or old hens). But I certainly wouldn't use it with young chickens.

source: https://www.kippenforum.nl/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=23534

 

[Show Sebright]

Ivermectin is quit a heavy poison. It is prohibited to use by farmers and all the poultry keepers who sell eggs.

This is from a Dutch article on chicken forum:
Ivermectin is actually quite a strong drug. Collies and shelties and very young animals are known to die if it reaches the brain (if it can cross the blood-brain barrier, which is what happens in these dogs and young animals). Certain bird species and fish are also fairly sensitive to this substance, so that you could get symptoms of poisoning (especially neurological in nature: brains and nerves are affected) and death could theoretically occur.
I have not yet heard that chickens have died from it, but it does indicate that the substance should not be used lightly.

Because ivermectin dissolves in fat, it can be very easily excreted through the eggs. So it certainly ends up in the eggs. It is also unclear what this remedy does in humans if there is a residue in the eggs, but it will certainly be unhealthy. And especially with young children!

So eating eggs and chickens is a big drawback of ivermectin. You can give it to animals that do not lay eggs (cocks or old hens). But I certainly wouldn't use it with young chickens.

source: https://www.kippenforum.nl/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=23534

Oh well I don’t usually eat the eggs. I use it only on my girls over a year right before show time. Never had any issues. My advisor uses it so I didn’t know. Always learning.

 

[Bella Dominique]

I’ve never found any mites on my chickens yet though I’m paranoid so I put diatomaceous earth on their perches and periodically use Vaseline on their legs, just to be sure. I’ve read that because Vaseline is thick it last longer than veg oil. Ive only have had chickens for a year so I know it may be a problem eventually. I’ll read up on pyrethrum after reading these posts. Thanks