sevin dust for mites/ lice :-(

[karri25]

So sad to say that as I was loving on one of my silkie babies I saw a running yellowish little pest on his neck:-( I checked one of my cinnamon sex links (much to her roos chagrin) but noticed nothing on her. i am afraid that the frizzles that I am asking for help with under the egglaying topic might have brought bugs to my coop! So I read that sevin dust can be used in the coop and on the birds. Has anyone had luck? How do you do it? Does that mean I have to buy new everything for the coop??? Do I have to throw out the three bags of straw that I have down in my run???? Any advice would be appreciated. I am so not ahappy camper about my birds being infested. AAARRGGHH!

 

[Heidi]

I just finished with the Sevin to kill red mites on my girls. I cleaned the whole coop out - took everything out. Sprinkled sevin on the floor, bottom of the nesting boxes, and the roosts. I put everything back in the coop and put down a layer of wood shavings and shut the door. I then preceded to catch every chicken one by one and layed them on their backs and rubbed sevin by their vent, under their wings, tummy, and then on their back - then I put them in the coop and shut the door. After I had all 19 done I reopened the doors for the girls to come out. I also dusted each hole that they bath in. I waited 2 days before checking them again and the mites are gone. I've checked 2 more times since and so far so good. Oh - the girls hated me for about 2 days!

Good luck. Oh, I bought the Sevin 5%.

 

[LynnGrigg]

Diatomaceous Earth(sp?) or sevin should work. Before I was able to get DE, I put sevin dust in an old sock, caught the chickens and lightly dusted them- make sure to dust the vent area. It seems to work well. It's recommended to clean and/or dust the coop also. Someone else will surely jump in with other options or advice on what to use to clean the coop. I just dusted the chickens. I now sprinkle their dry "dust bath" wallows with DE and they dust themselves.

 

[karri25]

THanks for the help!! So you didn't dust the run and they aren't reinfested yet? That's good news, I just bought a ton of straw! Also do you know how long it takes for any mite eggs to hatch so that I can re apply? My girls are going to think that I'm trying to kill them, they are so spoiled! I don't even know how I'm going to get at my roo, he really thinks he rules the roost

 

[LynnGrigg]

oops... My chickens roost in an eight foot high roost. I put a little sevin up there on the bars but it's near impossible to really clean effectively. I did dust the nesting area with DE when I received my order (since it is food grade and safe) .

 

[karri25]

I really appreciate all of your help. Does anyone know how long it takes for the eggs to mature so that I know when to treat them again???
Also, about DE....I tried that early in the summer to help with flies and saw NO change so I thought that maybe it just wasn't working. Did I do it wrong maybe???
I am totally freaked out too b/c I just looked at my silkie again and it looks like there are like tons of eggs on his head?!?!?!?!?!? It's like it all sprang up over night!!!!

 

[Heidi]

I've been dusting my girls with DE and their house and boxes. It worked fine until my dad brought me 12 bales of straw to put on the west and north walls of my coop. I think they got the mites from that because they have been in no contact with anything else. I notice the straw had white feathers on it too. I had checked my girls that Tuesday and they were fine, got the straw on Friday, and checked the girls Sunday and they had red mites. I about died. Make sure you dust everything they come in contact with. You don't want to have to treat everything twice. I'm not for sure about the eggs of the mites - I think it is a week. You might want to use the search tab - that's how I found out how to treat my girls with Sevin.

 

[karri25]

Ok, probably a stupid question but...will giving them a bath help get the eggs off? I can only see them on two of my chickens. I was thinking about bathing them and then dusting everyone. Do you think that would help?

 

[Heidi]

I've heard of people bathing their chickens in dog flea shampoo - someone awhile ago mention doing just that. I don't think it would really hurt, just make sure they are dry before they are let outside if it is cold.

 

[karri25]

OK, ladies and gents here is my plan of attack:
1) buying sevin dust at 8 am
2) throwing out EVERYTHING from inside the coop3) spray clean with bleach water
3) while coop is drying bath the four that are showing mites, dry them off, dust them
4) dust the dried out coop, put in new shavings and straw and dust all of that
5) dust each bird one by one. Start with my roo since he is such a he-man
6) Put each bird into the coop as I dust them so that I don't re-dust anyone
7) dust their sand box and run

I need to google how long it takes their eggs to hatch so that I can re-dust after that time period has passed.
How often after this do I need to dust the coop to prevent reinfestation?

Oh yeah meanwhile....I'm supposed to clean the house today and teach 5th grade and Kindergarten (we homeschool), and then get the kids to soccer by 2 pm?!?!?!?!?!??!?!? Who wants to bet $$ that most of that won't happen today????