Sevin??, Permectrin?? bad lice problem photos

[GardenerGal]

I've been trying to treat a chicken for mites, using Ivomec pour-on, and it doesn't seem to be working. Mites are still doing fine a month after treating. I've rarely used Ivomec -- trying to avoid overuse -- so I'm surprised that the mites appear to be resitant.

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
I recommend you user sevin dust. Redust them again in 10 days to kill nits that have hatched since the first dusting. Dust their house, roosts and nests. Redust again in 10 days. If they are still persistant; redust everything again in another 10 days.

 

[GardenerGal]

Thanks, Dawg. I'll use Sevin (I liked your approach of "shake-'n-bake" and using your fingers to apply the dust to the neck and head). As a side note, I have noticed that the Ivomec does work on lice. Within a few days of applying it to some infested chickens, the lice were completely gone, while the mites persisted.

Is it safe to add Sevin to the coop bedding? I do have concerns about dusting the barn with it. Although I've read that while Sevin is lethal to invertebrates, it does not stay in the tissues of vertebrates, I still am a bit concerned about my flock ingesting too much of it through preening, dustbathing and scratching/picking through their bedding.

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
Yes, it's safe to add it to their bedding. I use hay in their house and I clean it out once a week. I replace it with fresh hay and lightly sprinkle sevin dust on it and pat it down with a broom to get it settled in. Once you dust your chickens, they always shake themselves off and alot of the dust goes away. Mites are persistant and you might have to repeat dustings a couple more times.

 

[GardenerGal]

Thanks again! I use pine shavings or sawdust (depending on what the feed store has that week), and remove the top 2 inches or so each day and replace it with a fresh layer (twice a year, I remove all of the deep-litter bedding and bleach the floor beneath). I'll try putting down a dusting of Sevin on the new layer of bedding.

Yeah, mites are a @#$&* to eradicate, so it looks like I'll have to be diligent. Lice seem a lot more susceptible to the more conventional treatments; maybe they don't develop tolerance as quickly and easily as mites do, though their generations seem to turn over almost as quickly. I'll have to review the life cycles of those varmints again, in my poultry science books.

 

[Emmalion]

I inherited a horrific mite problem when I took my brothers chickens and coop. I figured it out the second night I had them when I could see them crawling all over the door jam when I locked them in for the night.

I ended up evicting the chickens from the coop for the day. Spraying out the entire thing with my hose with a high power stream of water. Dried it out then sprayed it with the liquid sevn to get it in to all the cracks and corners. Once that was dry I dowsed the floor and walls along with sleeping area with the powered sevn and added in ceder chips. I know ceder isn't that great for them but its a natural bug deterrent.
After 10 days I repeated the process and was clear of everything a month later. I continued with the ceder until the bag was empty.

Also pay attention to the outside of the coop when you are spraying it. You will see where those buggers are hiding out and can spray them down. If I remember correctly I sprayed the outside as well because they were trying to escape that way.

I have not had another bug problem and its been almost a year. But the mice that is a whole different thing. LOL

Hope this helps


Oh I forgot to add that I also used some ash from my fireplace mixed with the sevn as a dust bath for them. I just pored them a big pile in one of their holes and they took care of themselves

 

[clayhill]

I used to use sevin regularly until a few years ago I had trouble finding it locally. I was advised to use 10% permethrin in it's place. Mixing 1 oz. per gallon of water in a garden sprayer, I spray inside of coop (walls, floor, ceiling,etc.) even the birds themselves. Works great! Now use permethrin only, for birds, garden insects and even on the dogs. Spray garden as needed to control insects, spray or towel onto dogs once a month for tick and flea control. It also keeps wasps and mosquitoes at bay in the coops. I would personally recommend it to everyone to try. Buy mine from Farmer's Co-Op for about $20 a quart, it goes a long way.

 

[GardenerGal]

I have permethrin powder that is labeled for poultry. The feed store didn't have any Sevin, or at least I didn't see it if they did, so I opted for the permethrin for now. Will try it this week and see if it works on NFMs. If not, I'll go to the other local feed store or Home Depot to get Sevin.

 

[mtnlady621]

I dust my birds in First Saturday Lime. Sprinkle it in the nests and on the floors as well. Natural and organic.