Permectrin?

[mylilchix]

My girls have mites, and I need to do a major clean out. I called the local feed store and the only product they have from mites is Permectrin. I haven't used this before and was wondering if I would need to toss eggs if I powdered them with it?
Thanks,
Sonja

 

[MotherJean]

Permectrin is okay. You must dilute it with water at the rate specified on the label for poultry. A couple of cautions, however. Do not get the spray in the eyes. And, the directions say not to re-spray for 2 weeks, but I would ignore that. You need to re-spray within 10 days to kill any newly hatched mites before they mature and lay eggs. Alternatively, you might consider using Sevin dust - a garden insecticide that is available at many hardware stores. I've even seen it at Wal-Mart. This is what I use. It is inexpensive, works very well, easy to apply to both birds and environment. Sevin is safe for the birds. It is actually recommended by poultry experts at the University of California.

 

[mylilchix]

Thanks for the help. I've seen the sevin dust, but I thought there was a week long egg toss period after using it.

 

[MotherJean]

Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought that it was even recommended that you toss the eggs for almost a week with Permectrin. Would it shock you to know that I use Sevin liberally in my vegetable garden? I don't plant any type of root vegetable (carrots, beets, turnips, etc.) without first dusting the soil with Sevin to prevent worms and I also dust plants for aphids, cut beetles, rolly-polys, and other bugs. If Sevin is safe to put on my edible veg, it doesn't seem to make much sense that it would somehow be unsafe to eat the eggs.