OK: It's mites. Now what?

[billmac]

Last week I posted on a hen losing feathers on her chest. Well, I've been out of town for a few days. When I went out to the barn today I notice that most of the hens have bare, red backsides.

Mites?

If so, how do I get rid of them? Is the sevin dust I've heard about the same stuff that goes on the garden? How do I apply it? Do I have to get it on the bare areas?

Secondly, what about the eggs? Are the eggs still ok to eat once they have been treated with sevin?

Thanks.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

Can you see any tiny brown mites crawling around the vent area. Seems like their favorite place to be. I use Frontline spray from Jefferspet.com (go to the dog section on top, then F & T foggers and sprays on the scroll side left, then scroll down until you see a white bottle with blue label) It's used on puppies and kittens only. Works in a day or two and the bird is good for 30 days. I do mine every 30 days and never a mite, lice or anything on them

It works like a charm. And no ill effects on the chickens. I always wait for a week to eat the eggs but you may not even have to. Just didn't want to take the chance.

 

[TheFarmMama]

Your local feed store will have a canned powder that you can sprinkle and rub into her feathers. At our TSC store it's over with the medications. We have used it before and it started working immediately. You don't have to use it very often and it's pretty cheap. BTW, from what I've heard Sevin is totally UNSAFE to use around pets and children so I would advise against that option. Good luck!

 

[cocosandy]

use poultry and garden dust. It works instantly. Its permethrin.
Also sprinkle DE around.
Be sure to reapply in a couple of wks. Mites can keep coming back and I find that my chickens stop
laying right away when they get mites. They are miserable in a way Ive neevr seen them. The mites move very fast....I check all the time and I know what they feel like at this point.
I had never had them till this year and its been a real problem.
pour on eprinex is supposed to work on them...and DE in between. But for the quickest fix I use the poultry dust.
Be sure that you check the heads and around the neck too...the little things spread fast and I found a bad infestation in one polish's top
hat...I hadn't powdered that part because I was worried about her eyes, and it got out of hand...poor thing was so uncomfortable and sick that
even after I killed the bugs I had to give her a bath and wash out the structures they leave behind. she was laying limp on the floor of the tub and I was slowly pouring warm water through her head feathers slowly...the brow stuff just drained and drained. I thought she would die but after a night inside, she got right up, all clean and shiny and went out to peck around.
What seems to happen is that once the bugs are dead, the birds rub the icky stuff off in dust bathing ...if its in an area that they cant rub, the peely crap left behind gets all gunky and can
stay there and cause problems.

there are so many cases of mites around here this year. We've had a very wet year with strange warmups followed by strange wild storms and freezes not quite long enough to kill things....and it seems that it has allowed the bugs to flourish under the leaves.
Put DE and fireplace ash in the dust bath....put some sand out, and if you dont have a good dust bathing area make one!...and reapply the medicine as directed or eggs left behind will hatch...
be sure also to dust the coop...wear a mask!

good luck...

 

[billmac]

If I use the poultry dust, are the eggs still edible?

 

[sarabeth53]

Try using Marigold Spray on their vents or wherever the mites are. It's normally used for horses, but i think it's oil based so it smothers the mites. It works pretty well and smells very nice! Also, it's natural and chemical-free!

But other than that- DE, Poultry dust, Adam's Flea and Tick Spray, Sulfur Salve ...they all work, but mites can be stubborn. I usually have to use multiple "weapons"

Sorry about your mites

They are such a pain to deal with, huh?!

Good CLuck!

 

[Chickielady]

yes you can eat the eggs, poultry dust's ingredients are made from chrysanthemums.
I made my birds a dust box, at least 20X20 inches, fill with a sack of fine sand, a can of poultry and vegetable dust (Not Sevin !)
and about a gallon of DE flour...and mix it up, ad to it every so often and straw or droppings can be sifted out every so often with a cat pan "spoon".
I build mine out of 2x8, with a plywood bottom, in an area they can get to that stays dry even in the rainiest weather.
They will love it, and there will never be mites or louse again, even in winter months when the birds usually cannot dust bathe due to mud.
That is why mites and lice can multiply and do so much damage to birds' health in the winter.
If you hold your hens wings down, against your chest, and raise her rear end up, look amaongst her fluffy "underwear" feathers or have a helper do it, and look closely, watch out for the hens' sharp toenails.
If you see the bugs scampering all over the bird's skin, you need to dust them.
When you first get the dust box built, you can go out in the henhouse the next morning early, and gently put each bird in it and dust them, they will get the idea.
Dust around their under'arms', and the chest as well as between the legs but do not dust their eyes or directly in the vent.
Your birds will love this dust box !

 

[Pye and Papa]

Good evening everyone. I just came in from locking up my birds and noticed that my Polish rooster Frenchy has pulled out some of his tail feathers and is very bloody. He is a year old as are my 6 RIR hens all did very well during this winter. I'm in Michigan by the way and this is my first time with chickens got all last spring.
Could my Frenchy have mites or lice? None of the other chickens are effected. He also got out of his yard and I chased him for two hours (no exaggeration) thru our 14 acres of woods(in my nightgown)

about 5 days ago and the only reason I was able to catch him was he finally ran out of energy and let me carry him home. Is it possible stress from that experience caused this? Also noticed that about two weeks ago all of his tall tail feathers have fallen out. Please anyone help if you can.
Thanks Pye

 

[Kazzandra]

my Polish rooster Frenchy has pulled out some of his tail feathers and is very bloody.

Are you sure his tail feathers fell out?

I have a Cream Brabanter who has NEVER let his own tail feathers grow in-- as soon as his final sex-linked feathers grew in, he did just as you said and pulled them. He's kept them maintained that way for years now. I wonder if the top-knot breeds are prone to this type of neuroticism. I'm trying Rooster Booster lotion, but it seems the minute I forget to apply it he rips them out again. They did once have mites after this that I took care of with cedar bedding, Adam's flea and tick spray, and finally, regular does of Ivermectin pour-on, but I really don't think this initial plucking had anything to do with mites. But do check. If you have them bad enough, you will come out with them on you, biting away.

He has bumblefoot now, too, bless his heart...​

 

[Pye and Papa]

Kazzandra,
Thank you so much for the info. I just came in this morning from wake up call and letting everyone out for the day and noticed Frenchy wasn't bloody anymore. Checked everyone for mites and nothing. Thank goodness. I'm a little bit of a clean freak so I often sprinkle lice and mite dust in the house on a regular basis and always turn twice a day the pine bedding in the house and replenish with adding fresh pine every two months this winter. So I was pretty sure no mites but couldn't find any answers. Yours seems to make a lot of sense. I will heed your advice.
Again thanks. Oh by the way no sooner did I turn my back and he went right back to pulling at his tail feathers again.