RED MITE

[Wilson74]

Had anyone tried Mana Pro poultry protector? It says it's all natural and can be used in/outside of the coop and on the chickens to kill mites and lice.

 

[JaeG]

Then you are not using enough or using it properly.I can
assure you it works very well,and l have kept chickens 40 +
yrs.When it came along we stopped losing birds by 70 %.

Here's my poor tiny OEGB Pixie still covered in mites even after being dusted with DE (very carefully as they were all over her face). You can still see the powder everywhere. She was broody, so in a nice, dark nestbox where they could snack on her all day. It was her that alerted me to the horrible outbreak of mites that had invaded my coop. Thankfully I was able to order Vetafarm Avian Insect Liquidator and it arrived the next day (there's very little available in New Zealand to battle mites and most is DE based and useless - I tried everything in my 6 week battle). That Insect Liquidator is almost instant death to mites (I did test it on a bunch in the coop but it's expensive so I couldn't do my whole coop with it), safe to use even on finch eggs and chicks. The only time you can't use it is if you are intending to eat the chicken/s you are spraying. But DE has never worked for me no matter how I tried to use it.

 

[Debbi H]

Just want to give you all an update. And the news is GOOD! I've been mixing up my own magic elixir that I found after months of research a few years back when I had spider mites. It is doing the job. There are no mites crawling on the walls at all anymore. I still have a few in the shavings that I had just put in the henhouse a few days ago right after spraying with enzymes.
Today, I'm going to remove the shavings, totally spray the henhouse again with my mixture, and replace with new shavings. Besides getting rid of the mites, the henhouse now has a very pleasant smell of cloves!
Then hens are already looking better and happier.
As for Archie, I wasn't able to even find the Tylan suggested by the vet from UCDavis, but I happened to find that I still had a bag of over-the-counter oxytetracycline to mix in the chickens' water, so am doing that and changing it daily. Archie's eyes have already cleared up, and no more of that weird "yawning" from him or the couple other hens that were starting to get respiratory infections. Will continue the meds for a week as per directions. Am not throwing the eggs away, but rather scrambling them up and feeding them back to the chickens! No wasted eggs, no wasted meds!
So my mixture is: Monterey Garden Insect Spray (concentrate) and SaferGro Pest Out (a cottonseed, clove, and garlic oil mix). The Monterey contains spinosad. I was able to get the Monterey at a local organic farm/garden supply store, and the SaferGro I found at a Hydroponics store. But I see that you can get both online at Amazon, too.
I use a garden sprayer -- the kind that you fill the jug and then insert the pump unit that builds up the pressure. I mix 1.5 oz (3 Tablespoons) Pest Out and 2 oz (4 Tablespoons) Monterey to a gallon of water. I spray all the walls, ceiling, nest boxes, roosts, floor, etc of the henhouse, until everything is covered and wet. I even sprayed the outside of the henhouse, and beneath it where there is an open area that the hens use in the summer to dust and stay cool when they aren't running around on the property.
Now I can actually grab the door jamb and not find my hand covered with mites! YAY! My henhouse is built of wood (2x12 lumber...I was lucky and got it free from a construction school that had previously used it and was throwing it away) and its dimensions are 6' x 8' x about 7' tall. I have one "window" on one side with shutters that are the same wood and covered with chicken wire to let in the breeze during the day, with the shutters closed at night. It took less than two gallons to do the entire thing.
I sprayed a bit on the chickens feet, too, to keep any mites from crawling up on them at night.
The hens themselves have just had DE, and a light spritzing of my mixture. I'm still going to get wood ashes from my son to add to their dusting holes.
But at this point, I'm ECSTATIC that the mite population has almost been completely eliminated!

 

[Debbi H]

Here's my poor tiny OEGB Pixie still covered in mites even after being dusted with DE (very carefully as they were all over her face). You can still see the powder everywhere. She was broody, so in a nice, dark nestbox where they could snack on her all day. It was her that alerted me to the horrible outbreak of mites that had invaded my coop. Thankfully I was able to order Vetafarm Avian Insect Liquidator and it arrived the next day (there's very little available in New Zealand to battle mites and most is DE based and useless - I tried everything in my 6 week battle). That Insect Liquidator is almost instant death to mites (I did test it on a bunch in the coop but it's expensive so I couldn't do my whole coop with it), safe to use even on finch eggs and chicks. The only time you can't use it is if you are intending to eat the chicken/s you are spraying. But DE has never worked for me no matter how I tried to use it.

View attachment 1058512

I have to say your little Pixie is an adorable little girl! She reminds me of my tiny English bantam hen, Precious. Precious is the "girlfriend" of my bantam rooster, Doodle, that you see on my shoulder.

 

[Wilson74]

Yesterday I cleaned out the coop and sprayed mana pro poultry protector all over, and some DE and sweet pdz. I didn't see any mites and I checked nooks and crannies. If anyone's interested here's a video: