SEVIN DUST YOUR CHICKENS

[Lazy Farmer]

My Daughter years ago raised Show Birds in 4-H and FFA. To be able to be brought into the Southeastern Youth Fair, All Chickens had to be Dusted with Vegetable Grade Sevin Dust 5%, then washed a few days later. All Birds had to pass inspection before they were allowed into the facility.

My question is does anyone here do this to treat or prevent infestations, or are there any other alternatives?

Also does using Sevin Dust make your Eggs inedible? Is there a withdrawn period?

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Seven dust is no longer safe for poultry,do not use it.

Permithin works better.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

No longer safe or was never safe? It was used for years. Not saying I am going to use it but we were forced to use it pre-show. And it never hurt the birds back then. In fact, we had the birds for years after and their health wasn't comprised.
Did they change the chemical properties of the product making it no longer safe?
I am going to check out "Permithin". We don't want to harm our birds nor put a halt on our edible egg sales.
Thank you a bunch.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

Is it called Permithin or Permethrin? Google doesn't show Permithin.

 

[casportpony]

Seven dust is no longer safe for poultry,do not use it.

Permithin works better.

This is not true... It's no longer "labeled" for use in poultry in the US. It's still safe, and some countries, like Canada still use it.

 

[casportpony]

No longer safe or was never safe? It was used for years. Not saying I am going to use it but we were forced to use it pre-show. And it never hurt the birds back then. In fact, we had the birds for years after and their health wasn't comprised.
Did they change the chemical properties of the product making it no longer safe?
I am going to check out "Permithin". We don't want to harm our birds nor put a halt on our edible egg sales.
Thank you a bunch.

It's safe. There was a labeling change and since pesticides are not supposed to be used "off label", many people have chosen to not to use it.

Permethrin is what most people use now, and it's actually more effective.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The formulation has not changed. There has been no new research I'm aware of that shows it is unsafe, the research they use is mostly from the1970's era. What has changed is the way they look at it. It used to be that since it has not been proven to cause harm it was OK to use it for dusting birds. Now, if there is any residue detectable after a certain time period it is off-label to use it, whether that residue causes harm or not. Off-label does not mean it is not safe, just that it is not suggested. Many things recommended on here for treating worms are off-label for chickens, yet people use them.

For what it is worth, Sevin 5% is still on-label for veggies. And if you get a prescription for Sevin from a veterinarian Sevin is still OK to use.

Cas, why do you say Permethrin is more effective? Sevin has been used since I was a kid, many decades ago. There have been a few cases where the pests have developed a resistance to Sevin, but very few. As far as I know it is still very effective in most areas. Permethrin was only developed in the early 1970's so it's not been around as long and probably not as heavily used. Sevin has been a standby for decades. I'd think as it becomes more commonly used pests will develop a resistance to permethrin if they haven't already.

Don't get me wrong, permethrin is a good product too.

 

[casportpony]

Okay, so I'm gonna go though this a section at a time...
First up:

And if you get a prescription for Sevin from a veterinarian Sevin is still OK to use.

ELDU = extra label drug use = "off label"
From a page on the AVMA website:

"Q: Are pesticides subject to ELDU?

A: The use of pesticides by a veterinarian is not subject to ELDU regulations as these are subject to the primary jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)." Pesticides must always be used according to the instructions on the label.
Source - https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/FAQs/Pages/ELDU-and-AMDUCA-FAQs.aspx

That means that veterinarians cannot prescribe Sevin.

Cas, why do you say Permethrin is more effective?

UC published a paper about mite resistance in California, and there is someone in Washington that that has reported mites there are resistant to permethrin, so I guess it depends on what part of the country you live in.

I'll try to find that UC paper.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

I think it depends on how often it is used to treat the same group of mites,and whether it is an extreme case or not.

 

[casportpony]

http://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8162.pdf
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/901d/db8b5f6e0f76a4c2467e9b331376c053f2d4.pdf