Permethrin spray

[casportpony]

I know this is an older thread but I would love to spray the inside of my duck run....as we seem to have a mite issue going on courtesy of a rogue pigeon. Safe to spray permethrin in a duck coop where drilling, etc will be going on? Thanks!

Perfectly safe for putting on ducks and their coops . Maybe you should wear a mask while spraying and drilling?

 

[ChickNanny13]

Was hunting for this thread to see what the ratio mix for Permethrin 10, Hubby calculated 3/4 oz per gallon water, which is under dose (.75 oz or 15ml) cause from what I've read 10ml/half gallon so that would be 20ml to a gallon.

This afternoon I was in my patio working on the workbench/brooder, sat down for a bit when I see mites crawling up my legs! I had just come from the Chicken House, thinking I had mites. Got the Permethrin 10 mixed a gallon.

I just dusted the girls (4) yesterday with Poultry Dust, rotating with DE every 2wks. I also dust with DE when I add more shavings. Never felt any nor seen any while in the CH which is open air. I sprayed the frame work, ceiling & shavings, the girls moved as I went from the back to the front, with the rake 'mixed' the shavings about & sprayed. Concentrated in the two corners they love to dust bathe in. A gallon is too much, having left over sprayed outside the surrounding perimeter. When I got done, looked back & they were bathing in the shaving.

Returning to the patio, confused, it wasn't until I was in the patio I saw the mites on my legs. My workbench is the top of my brooder in the patio that I use for storage when not a brooder. Opened it up & moved some things around, I see mites! Mixed up another gallon sprayed inside & out of the brooder drenching the cracks top, bottom & sides, the whole patio & the outside walls of the house attached to that patio.

Years ago I had chickens that I never cooped, they slept in the patio with the cat on a shelving unit. I never knew of mites until I saw these dark spots on my white walls in the house! A guy from Board of Health came showed how to check, running his hand along shelf, you could feel them crawling. Told me thats why it's best the chickens roost away from the house & better if cooped. Recommended Malathion which I bought & sprayed the WHOLE yard, outside walls of the house & fogged the house. Followed up 2wks later.

Mites bite while lice don't? Hate biting insects, mosquitos are the worst here. THANK YOU BYC for this website!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Was hunting for this thread to see what the ratio mix for Permethrin 10, Hubby calculated 3/4 oz per gallon water, which is under dose (.75 oz or 15ml) cause from what I've read 10ml/half gallon so that would be 20ml to a gallon.

This afternoon I was in my patio working on the workbench/brooder, sat down for a bit when I see mites crawling up my legs! I had just come from the Chicken House, thinking I had mites. Got the Permethrin 10 mixed a gallon.

I just dusted the girls (4) yesterday with Poultry Dust, rotating with DE every 2wks. I also dust with DE when I add more shavings. Never felt any nor seen any while in the CH which is open air. I sprayed the frame work, ceiling & shavings, the girls moved as I went from the back to the front, with the rake 'mixed' the shavings about & sprayed. Concentrated in the two corners they love to dust bathe in. A gallon is too much, having left over sprayed outside the surrounding perimeter. When I got done, looked back & they were bathing in the shaving.

Returning to the patio, confused, it wasn't until I was in the patio I saw the mites on my legs. My workbench is the top of my brooder in the patio that I use for storage when not a brooder. Opened it up & moved some things around, I see mites! Mixed up another gallon sprayed inside & out of the brooder drenching the cracks top, bottom & sides, the whole patio & the outside walls of the house attached to that patio.

Years ago I had chickens that I never cooped, they slept in the patio with the cat on a shelving unit. I never knew of mites until I saw these dark spots on my white walls in the house! A guy from Board of Health came showed how to check, running his hand along shelf, you could feel them crawling. Told me thats why it's best the chickens roost away from the house & better if cooped. Recommended Malathion which I bought & sprayed the WHOLE yard, outside walls of the house & fogged the house. Followed up 2wks later.

Mites bite while lice don't? Hate biting insects, mosquitos are the worst here. THANK YOU BYC for this website!

Wow, 1 gallon is a lot. I have a bottle that's maybe 20 oz which I have used for more than a year now for 2 goats 3 dogs and about 60 chickens. Lice do bite as far as I know, otherwise why your head itch so bad when you get them?

Were you using DE already prior to finding the mites crawling on yourself? I wonder if they had even made it to your chicken house yet or if they were concentrated to just that area? Thing is I see red mites (1 or 2 every now and then) out in the yard sometimes under a piece of wood or something. NEVER seen them in my barn where I concentrate any treatment needed. But I realize we all have different environments, needs, and perspectives.

So last year you sprayed your whole property with malathion but still have a problem this year? Possibly wild animals/birds/or rats bringing them in. Seeing you are HI, your weather is probably prime for them. I personally would hesitate to spray my whole yard as that stuff is toxic to most insects even the beneficial ones. But I tend to be a bit on the conservative side when it comes to using poison. Also, malathion is considered highly toxic to bees and other beneficial insect, MODERATELY toxic to birds, low toxicity to mammals... just as an FYI.

I personally hate DE and think it's over rated. I sincerely DOUBT that you need it in your dust baths which you sprayed with the permethrin... Seems like it's just adding one more thing for the birds system to deal with when the permethrin is so effective. Yes, DE *can* work as a deterrent, though not usually as a remedy for an infestation. Aside from being strip mined, IF it creates microcuts to insects, is it not doing the same thing to the birds skin and lungs? Even though their bodies are self healing and we might not SEE the damage doesn't mean it isn't occurring or adding something else for their immune systems to fight off. Note, I'm not talking about silica dust being the toxic part, just the micro cuts. Please be clear, I mean to have a conversation here, not just rant about DE!

Perfectly safe for putting on ducks and their coops . Maybe you should wear a mask while spraying and drilling?

I think drilling is a reference to the ducks digging with their beaks.. might be funny to see one wear a mask though.

Does anybody have a clue... so eggs are safe to eat when used according to directions. How long before you can eat the meat? Thanks.

 

[casportpony]

think drilling is a reference to the ducks digging with their beaks.. might be funny to see one wear a mask though.

Does anybody have a clue... so eggs are safe to eat when used according to directions. How long before you can eat the meat? Thanks.

I have ducks and I just spray it. It's approved for use in poultry houses, and on poultry. Label does not mention withdrawal, so no withdrawal?

 

[Folly's place]

Use more mature folks remember some pretty awful insecticides; DDT, malathion, and lindane, for example. Sprayed everywhere, indoors and outside. The 'good old days', not that long ago! Mary

 

[ChickNanny13]

EggSighted4Life - Yes, I realized after mixing a gallon it was way too much & more is NOT BETTER Learned my lesson. I do find those red ones in my garden area, now & then, as you say under some dead leaves or rocks. The Malathion was used at another house years (1980s) ago. I was desperate, hate biting bugs cause they LOVE me & I have an allergic reaction to some Malathion isn't so easy to come by anymore, I'm fighting White Flies on my plants now with Neem & Insect Soap. May not work as well & takes more persistance but it's "cleaner" I read some are painting the Neem inside their coops, I'm going to do that too, like the smell & hopefully will help.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

So I forgot to report that I took one of my hens to the vet to check for mites as feathers are looking pretty rough and I have treated using Permethrin and could see no signs.

It was depluming mites I was worried about. But also no mention of scaly leg mites on the Permethrin bottle. With more research those 2 are systemic parasites that may never touch the sprayed permethrin. So a wormer like Ivomec is needed to treat them. I bought it ahead of time thinking he would confirm, what I could not with his experience. Quite the opposite, he confirmed the hen had NO signs of parasites despite feather damage. YAY, Permethrin is working!

Not sure how long it had been since I sprayed the boys, had a rooster going to a new home the same day. Need to keep a calendar by the coop door and write stuff down. So checked him on the way out the door and sure enough he had things crawling around his vent and some irritation.

My long story short... permethrin works if you use it. And just because 1 bird seems clean, don't assume all are.

 

[Folly's place]

We lived on an army base in Okinawa in the early 1970's, a semi-tropical climate, with BUGS, snails, and poisonous snakes. And unexploded bombs from WW2. There was lindane impregnated shelf paper in the kitchen cabinets and the floor wax, and maintenance came around every three months to spray- something - everywhere in the house. We had the big tropical roaches, and the small European ones too. Cured me of ever living in the tropics!!! Mary

 

[aart]

hens to the vet to check for mites.....It was depluming mites I was worried about.....he confirmed the hen had NO signs of parasites despite feather damage....

Curious if this was an avian vet familiar with diagnosing depluming mites? From what I have read they are invisible to the human eye and live inside the feather shaft...so how would they be quantifiably observed/diagnosed?
Just me always wondering yet again 'how exactly do they do that'?

Curious too. what kind of feather damage and did vet diagnose cause?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Curious if this was an avian vet familiar with diagnosing depluming mites? From what I have read they are invisible to the human eye and live inside the feather shaft...so how would they be quantifiably observed/diagnosed?
Just me always wondering yet again 'how exactly do they do that'?

Curious too. what kind of feather damage and did vet diagnose cause?

Great question! I like to know details as well. Yes, he is an avian vet. He said to check for them he would do a skin scraping, but there should still be irritated skin despite not actually seeing crawlies. And the feather shaft would be maybe lifted or something like that, maybe the skin at the base of the shaft, going by recall here. He could find no irritated skin that would indicate a need for scraping so said he wouldn't even know where would be best to try. So more about following the clues and then using the microscope. He USUALLY seems pretty good and although his meds are pricey.. doesn't seem to try and take me on unnecessary treatments (other than cleaning my dog's teeth which I'm sure they actually could use). He did indicate there may have PREVIOUSLY been lice, which I did see on a couple birds in the past. In addition to a major cause of this girls damage was she accidentally got into my stag pen when she USED to hide her nest (that incident cured her), so many neck feathers that were pulled have only come back in as pins so far several months later and yes she still lays. And many of the wing feathers I can see the center shaft very well and they don't have the barbs that hold the end of the feathers together so they look a little barren. I will take a pic and post MUCH later today. I knew a lot of her damage was mating related, but she had the overall worst look of all the birds so I went with her. Plus her calm demeanor makes her a delight to do things with. I also have to wonder if girls who haven't yet molted seem to show more damage simply because the feathers are older and thus actually have more wear?

I also plucked a couple feathers, and tried to observe the shaft (underside) under the microscope in order to aim for my own diagnosis. But my microscope skills stink! I did purchase the microscope last year to learn to run my own fecals and such. With 3 dogs, 2 goats, and 60+ birds on a regular basis it could save some $ eventually, not to mention time spent going to the vet and such. Haven't practiced enough yet, but will do so along with having them done at the vet until I can get my #'s to line up pretty well with what they get.

As far as the boy that was leaving that day.. I'm not sure exactly which bug we saw. It was brown... and died instantly when sprayed.