Red mites/ 3rd round of topical Ivermectin & coop treatment

[bumblerumble20]

Hi All, well it turns out I have a pretty severe mite infestation. Thankfully no hens were lost. I had to bring out the big guns after trying poultry dust multiple times and then progressed to topical ivermectin with a prolonged egg withdrawal. It seemed like things cleared up well and I wasn’t seeing any signs in the egg boxes and the girls pinked back up on their combs and their head shaking mostly stopped. But this morning I found evidence of red mites in the egg boxes again!!! I tread them again this morning with a 3rd treatment total. I’m afraid these mites are going to develop a resistance to the ivermectin and then I will have a bigger problem. Please help! Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[JaeG]

I'd try using liquid permethrin to treat the coop rather than the dust. It's easier to get that into every nook and cranny. You can use it on the birds as well.

Rodents such as rats, as well as wild birds can carry mites so is there any way they are accessing the coop and re-infecting it?

 

[bumblerumble20]

I left that part out: I am treating the coop with permethrin liquid diluted and I did try and treat the birds with it and it didn’t do anything!! They came right back within 48hours.
I upgraded to a new coop the beginning of the summer and NOTHING can permeate this coop. We live in a place full of wild life and predators-I’m positive nothing is getting into this new coop. My old coop was a disaster and mice could get into it.
Thank you for your thoughts! Keep them coming please!

 

[JaeG]

I had a very long battle with mites last summer (I'm in the southern hemisphere) and none of my usual tricks worked. It can be very frustrating and it got to the point where every morning I would let the chickens out then spray the inside of the coop with flyspray - every single day and for 10 days after I was finding no more evidence of mites. Hopefully someone else has some ideas on how to help the situation.

 

[bumblerumble20]

It is soooo frustrating!! I am really at my wits end. Thank you for your post Happy you got rid of yours. What type of fly spray?


QUOTE="JaeG, post: 23249325, member: 310596"]
I had a very long battle with mites last summer (I'm in the southern hemisphere) and none of my usual tricks worked. It can be very frustrating and it got to the point where every morning I would let the chickens out then spray the inside of the coop with flyspray - every single day and for 10 days after I was finding no more evidence of mites. Hopefully someone else has some ideas on how to help the situation.
[/QUOTE]

 

[JaeG]

It is soooo frustrating!! I am really at my wits end. Thank you for your post Happy you got rid of yours. What type of fly spray?


QUOTE="JaeG, post: 23249325, member: 310596"]
I had a very long battle with mites last summer (I'm in the southern hemisphere) and none of my usual tricks worked. It can be very frustrating and it got to the point where every morning I would let the chickens out then spray the inside of the coop with flyspray - every single day and for 10 days after I was finding no more evidence of mites. Hopefully someone else has some ideas on how to help the situation.

[/QUOTE]

Just the general household stuff.

I completely sympathise! But you just have to keep at it until you've won the war.

 

[dawg53]

Remove all bedding from the coop and nest boxes. Mix a 50/50 solution of bleachwater to kill the mites. Spray the inside and outside of the coop thoroughly including nest boxes. Let it dry, you can use fans to speed up the drying.
Then mix together a pile of Permethrin dust and Sevin dust and put it at the entrance to the coop. Close all vents. Get your leaf blower, put your mask on, and turn on the leaf blower full blast at the pile of dust.
It will look like a smoke bomb went off inside the coop. The dust will get in every crack and crevice. Let the dust settle before opening vents and replacing bedding etc.

Red mites are dangerous as they can pass spirochetes into the chickens bloodstream.

Ivermectin has lost its effectiveness in poultry in treating internal AND external parasites due to overuse.

Elector PSP works but is expensive.