Steam Cleaner for mites/lice

[Pgw]

I suspect 1 of my Buff geese has mites or lice. She keeps picking at spot on her breast and picking Out feathers. I have Elector Psp but have never used yet. I also have silkies, buff brahmans and wynadotte chickens. My concern with psp is they recommend soaking the feathers. It has been below freezing daily. Wouldn't bother geese as much as my silkies especially. They sleep in separate coops at night. Geese in 1 and chickens in another. My question is about using a steam cleaner which I read is very effective for killing mites/lice and eggs. I would have to remove birds but thought this may be a better solution to problem. I planned to clean out both coops. Steam clean, spray elector in coop and treat birds lightly. Has anyone tried a steam cleaner and can you recommend a good one if it worked for you.
Thanks so much!!
Pam

 

[nuthatched]

I don't think it would help,plus the cold temperatures wouldn't alow the steam to evaporate . It would just condense and get everything damp.

 

[Pgw]

Temps during day hover in 40's-50's but at night dip down in 20's. Thought on a sunny day since humidity is so low right now it may work. Apparently they do this in Europe and have great success.

 

[CoopBoots]

Following; I'd love to hear how well this works!!

 

[Eggcessive]

You could try dry heat in the coop during winter cold temperatures to kill the mites. Maybe consult a pest control company to do it safely.

 

[Pgw]

I wonder then if just a hair dryer on high heat would do the trick? Can't remember at what temp kills them.

 

[Eggcessive]

They sell heat guns for removal of paint or wallpaper at Lowes and HomeDepot. I used to have one, and they are very powerful. Again, I would use caution, since you could cause a fire. I think the pest control people use heaters and a tent for killing bedbugs. But the temperature would need to be high and for a certain amount of time. You might have an easier time with spraying insecticide such as permethrin or spinosad.

 

[Pgw]

You are correct. After research I plan to use Premethrin dust until warmer temps. I will use the steam to deep clean later when it warms up in late spring along with Elector. The heat only process requires you to hold the heat in 1 place for at least 10 min. Too time consuming. Thanks for reply!

 

[Three Stents]

diatomacesous earth is good too

 

[RubelliteRose]

You can skip the steam cleaning altogether if you are also spraying with Elector PSP. It works well to kill northern fowl mites if that is the type that you are dealing with. What I do(when it is warm enough) is dip my birds in an Elector PSP bath. If they are particularly dirty, I rinse them first to remove dirt and poop. Then strain the Elector PSP into a small sprayer. I clean out all the bedding in the coop and thoroughly spray the coop and roosts with Elector PSP. Depending upon the humidity level, chickens and coops are dry within a few hours and new bedding is added to the coop. It usually takes a year and a sick bird before mites become a problem again - we now do periodic checks on everyone to make sure.