Spraying Sevin on/in coop, run, and chickens

[joebryant]

I'm starting to think that my chickens "might" have mites, but I'm not sure; they pick at themselves quite a bit though. Anyway, tonight I'm planning to fill my four-gallon, backpack sprayer with liquid Sevin and water. I will use it to spray the entire run, dust bath bins, entire interior of the two outdoor coops and everything in the barn's four 4- X 10-foot pens in a 12- X 24-foot area. At the same time, I will spray a mist over all of the chicks, hens, and roosters.

Does that sound like a good plan? Do you know of a better way treat your chickens with Sevin dust or spray?

BTW, if you disagree with anyone's using Sevin that's okay, but please don't reply.

 

[dawg53]

I think you have a good plan, but have you picked up one of your chickens and visually inspected for mites/lice, especially around their vent area? Are they in moult? I wouldnt spray your chickens with sevin, why risk getting the liquid in their eyes? I would rather use sevin dust itself. Put some sevin dust in a small garbage bag and put a chicken in it, head sticking out the top, gently 'shake and bake.' Repeat spraying coop, roosts/ nests in 10 days. Redust your chickens in 10 days. To me, dusting everything is much easier and it seems it would last longer in the coop rather than spraying.

 

[elmo]

I agree with the previous poster. Don't skip the retreatment, though. That's critical, because mite eggs won't be affected by the initial treatment.

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
Quote:
Thanks, I think you're both right. What would you think of my spraying everything but dipping all of the chickens (not their heads though) for maybe 10 seconds each into a five-gallon bucket filled with liquid Sevin/Water?

 

[dawg53]

Sorry, I cant answer that, I've never done it. I've always used the dust with great success...so I stick with what works best.

 

[patandchickens]

I'd really suggest confirming what the problem IS. That would be the first place to invest your time and energy. Just a logical guess isn't the best basis on which to proceed.

Misting sevin on the outside of the chickens' plumage won't do much. If you have mites or lice, they mainly are down at skin level (or in the case of roost mites, they are on coop furnishings rather than on the chickens during the daytime).

I would absolutely totally NOT dip or drench them with liquid sevin unless you happen to obtain a preparation FOR POULTRY that SAYS SPECIFICALLY to use it that way. Sevin is not the least toxic of all things in the world, and just cuz it is relatively ok to dust their skin with *dry* sevin does not in any way mean it would be equally safe to put *liquid* sevin on them (even if it were the same concentration).

Really, use tested products as per label directions, don't "freelance". Unless you consider your chickens disposable.

As for decontaminating the coop, your suggestion of spraying sevin all around is unlikely to do very much good. Mites or lice, if any there be, are going to be HIDING, and unless you get them WHERE THEY ARE, you will just be wasting money and time, and exposing yourself and your flock to not entirely harmless chemicals for no good reason.

If you are going to treat the coop, first remove and dispose of all bedding, including nestbox filler and aisle sweepings. Then clean well (sweeping, vacuuming, scraping, damp cloth, whatever your personal style is). THEN apply your sevin to the BARE SURFACES, making sure to get underneath the roost and roost brackets and all around and in and under every part of the nextboxes and other furnishings. Then put in new bedding. For the run, remove all loose material -- although this is unlikely to be a big issue unless you have a serious infestation of northern fowl mites or lice.

If you don't do all that cleaning BEFORE treating, you are just sevin-ing the dusty shavings-y surfaces of things, not the bugs themselves.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
OUCH! That sounds like a lot of work; nobody told me treating for mites would be a lot of work. "I think I better think this out again."

 

[lisabailey]

Skipping the entire issue of what the problem might be, we dusted our flock with very little issue. We have 8 hens in a tractor with underneath and adjacently attached run space. We blocked the opening between the two runs and then caught the birds one at a time. Then, while I held them, my husband dusted them with sevin dust, which he shook out of a large shaker container (an empty Costco-sized spice bottle.) They were very tolerant of the procedure, and he was even able to powder under their wings, down to the skin, and under their bellies. Once powdered, we put the treated birds into the run extension via the external door, then caught the next one. All in all, the entire activity took 30-45 minutes.

I then took the shaker and powdered the floor of the tractor and put down fresh pine shavings in their egg boxes. I mixed sevin in with the shavings, along with DE. We are in the Pacific Northwest, where we are getting torrential rains as if it were winter, so the yard is like the Everglades. So, the hens dust bathe in the egg boxes, and when they dust themselves, they are also re-treating themselves with the sevin dust mixed in with the shavings.

This seems to have done the trick, as we've seen no more "critters" on the hens, or inside the coop itself. Just be careful when powdering...keep the dust out of their eyes/face/etc.

 

[patandchickens]

Another quick and easy way of dusting the birds is to fill the end of an old (no holes!) sock or pantyhose foot with your dust, knot it, then use it to "pat" all over the birds against the lay of their feathers. Pay especial attention to under the wings, the vent area, the base of the tail, all the way out on long tailfeathers of roosters, and the skin where the neck and hackle feathers come from. I do it when they are on the roost at night -- wear a headlamp -- and would estimate it takes maybe a minute per bird.

You can use the same dust-filled sock to apply your dust to the roost and nestboxes.

I've never actually had to be any more serious than that plus a total bedding changeout. Although I *did* have trouble getting rid of some northern fowl mites before I figured out about the bedding change and read about the need to treat long tailfeathers.

Pat

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
Quote:
Pat and Lisa, thanks for coming to my rescue with these great suggestions. I'll get 'em dusted.