Spinosad for mites

[Ninjasquirrel]

Omg how horrible... so u you could tell by seeing moving pieces of dirt??? So skeeved... not looking forward to anything like that... how are their feathers? Feel so bad for all of you.

Their feathers are fine. I didnt even notice any signs of lethargy other than this one bird but she has a known illness.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Picked up the Permethrine dust. It says to use 1 lb for every 100 birds so I should only need a 1/4 lb to treat everyone. It doesnt say how often to treat though.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Checked them all before application and the one with ascites was the only one observed with parasite residue. I didnt see any live ones but I saw some dead ones and their feces which just looked like black specks. Either way we treated all the birds. We went out looking like a hazmat crew amd chucked everything in the wash after. I hate using chemicals like this but I know they are necessary in this situation. I'm gonna check their feathers daily and repeat if no improvement in 3 days

 

[rosemarythyme]

Picked up the Permethrine dust. It says to use 1 lb for every 100 birds so I should only need a 1/4 lb to treat everyone. It doesnt say how often to treat though.

For NFM, repeat at around 7 days. Roost mites, 4-5 days. After that I'd do periodic checks but you should be good to go unless there's a heavy infestation.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

For NFM, repeat at around 7 days. Roost mites, 4-5 days. After that I'd do periodic checks but you should be good to go unless there's a heavy infestation.

I think it is NFM. They're not red in color. My fiancee just thought it was dirt until I said "no dirt doesnt MOVE". We didnt notice it until we had her in the garage and had been draining her ascites for a few minutes. She still needs further draining but I didnt want her in the house like that nor did I want to shock her system by losing too much fluid at once. Shes also the only one with evidence of an infestation. Our guess is that in her weakened state she was not dust bathing so she wasnt regulating herself. We dont know for sure but we dusted them all to be safe

 

[rosemarythyme]

Our guess is that in her weakened state she was not dust bathing so she wasnt regulating herself. We dont know for sure but we dusted them all to be safe

Makes sense, and yes it's best to treat all of them. They may be congregating on the easiest target, but even if it's hard to see it's likely the others have a few already on them, and last thing you want is for them to start feeding and reproducing more and more.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Makes sense, and yes it's best to treat all of them. They may be congregating on the easiest target, but even if it's hard to see it's likely the others have a few already on them, and last thing you want is for them to start feeding and reproducing more and more.

It makes me itchy just thinking about it. I had lice as a kid and it just makes me recall the disgust and disdain I endured...even though lice love clean hair because they can move around easier. I remember my mom threatening to shave my head if I didnt do exactly as she said. Which involved the medicated shampoo followed by the comb; another medicated shampooing, another comb; vinegar, vodka and wood ash shampooing, another comb and one last medicated shampooing and comb. That was just the day I came home from school with it. I also had to wash EVERYTHING i owned. It is probably up there with one of the worst days of my life. Especially since everyone found out I had lice and avoided me the rest of the year. My chickens are my closest thing to children as of now because I have none of my own. I feel the shame of poor ascite ridden Garbage. Not being insulting to my poor dear...she just likes to eat things she shouldn't which is why we named her that. We would never have known when we named her that one day she'd have organ failure and be covered in parasitez

 

[rosemarythyme]

It makes me itchy just thinking about it.

Last time we had mites, I was actually itchy - they were being carried inside the house inadvertently (my hubby would go out and pet the chickens before bed, in his pjs, then ditch them next to the bed) and I was being bitten each night. By the time we figured out it was chicken mites, I had dozens of bites on my torso.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Last time we had mites, I was actually itchy - they were being carried inside the house inadvertently (my hubby would go out and pet the chickens before bed, in his pjs, then ditch them next to the bed) and I was being bitten each night. By the time we figured out it was chicken mites, I had dozens of bites on my torso.

Yikes! How did you rid them of your home? I only feel itchy when I'm thinking about it and thats just anxiety. We thankfully don't have them in the house. We even checked the dog to be safe

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yikes! How did you rid them of your home? I only feel itchy when I'm thinking about it and thats just anxiety. We thankfully don't have them in the house. We even checked the dog to be safe

Glad you don't have that issue, but IF it pops up, I wrote down everything we did to fix the issue:

If mite bites on you are an issue, or mites are getting into the house:

While treating the chickens I suggest keeping a dedicated set of chicken-only clothes, gloves, boots, etc. either in garage or shed, somewhere out of the house, and only use those around the chickens until treatment is done. Before going back into the house, check arms and legs carefully for any mites.

I also got some permethrin spray for use in the house, and sprayed all our muck boots, as well as hubby's office chair and the sofa.

Launder everything you've worn recently in hot water + hot dry. Launder your sheets as well. Even things like pillows... let them tumble in the dryer on high for at least 30 min. I even threw jackets in the dryer. If you happen to have rubbing alcohol to spare, my pest guy suggested spraying the mattress as well.

Continue vacuuming daily for a couple of days and make sure to empty out the vacuum/remove bags when done.

I even put Frontline on the dogs, just in case.