Possible mite solution?

[jjunge08]

I was down filling up my food storage container today after work and started to clean up around the brooder. Chicks are almost two weeks old and I noticed last week at least half were itching pretty good. I had looked them over and couldn’t see anything. I had one weak chick so I made up some home made electrolytes in a cup and had added about half to the water. I put the leftover electrolytes cup down about 3 feet from the brooder and forgot about it. Well today when I was cleaning around the brooder I saw the cup and went to throw it out and it had a lot of drowned and still living mites. This is my first batch of chickens ever so I looked up and it sounds like they are northern fowl mites. Has anyone else had luck getting rid of mites with basically sugar water? The mites seem to have been attracted to the water and left the chicks. Haven’t noticed them itching at all this week.

 

[chckndaddy]

Hmm, that's an interesting solution. If they seem to come back I'd look into making a dust bathing box for them, if you can. I just get some cheap sand from walmart, some diatomaceous earth from the farmers market, mix it all together, and throw it in a small shallow box of some sort. If you have a wood stove the ashes from that are good to put in there as well. The diatomaceous earth kills mites. I did this for my Peacock and it seems to have worked pretty well. I'm sure it works the same for chickens and chicks.

 

[jonalisa]

Hmm, that's an interesting solution. If they seem to come back I'd look into making a dust bathing box for them, if you can. I just get some cheap sand from walmart, some diatomaceous earth from the farmers market, mix it all together, and throw it in a small shallow box of some sort. If you have a wood stove the ashes from that are good to put in there as well. The diatomaceous earth kills mites. I did this for my Peacock and it seems to have worked pretty well. I'm sure it works the same for chickens and chicks.

This is a great idea- just wantto add -always wear a mask when using DE.

 

[Dephora]

If it was actually northern fowl mites, sugar water wouldn't be what gets rid of them. Unsure what was drowning in the water, but northern fowl mites aren't so easy to get rid of. They are actually a huge pain in the butt to get rid of.

 

[aart]

If it was actually northern fowl mites, sugar water wouldn't be what gets rid of them.

No kidding.
Treat the birds with permethrin spray.
If you have roost mites, you'll need to spray the structure too.
Good post about mite ID by Lady McCamley:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-chicken-has-mites-now-what.1273674/page-2#post-20483008

 

[jjunge08]

Thanks for the replies! I will have to try and get a picture. They look a lot like the northern fowl mite in that mite id link but I am also very new to this so I could definitely be wrong.

 

[aart]

They look a lot like the northern fowl mite in that mite id link

The key is when and where you find them.


Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.

Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.

Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight, easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.


Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).

 

[cmom]

No kidding.
Treat the birds with permethrin spray.
If you have roost mites, you'll need to spray the structure too.
Good post about mite ID by Lady McCamley:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-chicken-has-mites-now-what.1273674/page-2#post-20483008

Great advice.

 

[jjunge08]

After a lot more research and reading over everyone’s comments I think they are actually clover mites not northern fowl mites. Never seen either one prior to this so wasn’t really sure what I was looking at. Thanks for the advise though going forward.

 

[cmom]

To be absolutely sure you still may want to check the birds at night after they roost. I use a headlamp so I have both of my hands free to check over the birds. I realize you have chicks but the same principle will work. I also use poultry dust in a low tote with sand in it for them to dust bathe in.