The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I guess I'm different. I've only had mite problems on sick birds or broody hens. Otherwise mine make their own dust bath areas, I don't add nothing to them. They tend to contain composed donkey or goat poop. They also dust bathe a lot where the donkeys have rolled and made bare ground. For the few I've treated I've used a pyrethrin based poultry dust and will dust in the nestboxes as well as any roost cracks. We also use barn like to keep things dried out, and will dust roosts as needed.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Perhaps it's the CA weather that never gets a hard freeze.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Perhaps it's the CA weather that never gets a hard freeze.

That would definitely make things harder. We here in Wisconsin are blessed with a good hard freeze for months which helps kill things off.

 

[JanetMarie]

Northern Fowl mites do not live on the bird 24/7. If you have ever brought a sick chicken in the house, some of the mites will get off of the bird.

 

[curious chickee]

Northern Fowl mites do not live on the bird 24/7.  If you have ever brought a sick chicken in the house, some of the mites will get off of the bird.

Yes, they do move off I have had them crawl on me, but my point was their entire life cycle is spent on the host, where it feeds on blood and is a source of irritation to the bird. Eggs are laid in masses at the base of the feathers, usually in the vent area.

 

[lazy gardener]

Wild turkeys:

I just had a flock of turkeys pass through my yard. 19! My flock was out free ranging at the time. Both flocks did a wary stand off inspection of each other. Nellie, my most curious pullet had to walk around the corner of the garden for a closer look. Turkeys then took a detour into the woods. If those big scary chickens hadn't been there, no doubt they'd have ventured closer to see if there was any spilled feed to clean up. I love having turkeys around, especially given their theoretic natural immunization to Marek's dz.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
No...
Mites don't lay their eggs on the bird. But lice do just as you are describing. If you are seeing masses of eggs on the shafts of the feathers near the vent, you are dealing with lice.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

No...
Mites don't lay their eggs on the bird.  But lice do just as you are describing.  [COLOR=FF0000]If you are seeing masses of eggs on the shafts of the feathers near the vent, you are dealing with lice.[/COLOR]

I had this once on a broody silkie and needed to literally scrub the masses of white clumps off her bottom.

 

[curious chickee]

 

[armorfirelady]

As I understand it, you would only use neem oil on the roosts, wall crevices, etc. But not on the bird itself. The idea is to have an oil that saturates the eggs the mites leave in the crevices to suffocate them so they can't hatch. You should NOT apply it to your birds or yourself.

@armorfirelady used some Neem in her coop I believe when she had a mite infestation. She might want to comment here.

Neem is a very strong-smelling oil and is not pleasant to have even in the coop. Since it's used to suffocate the eggs, there are other "not-so-strong" oils I would use instead. I use various oils on roost crevices, where they meet the walls, wall seams, etc. Even something quite as simple as olive oil in a sprayer will do the trick without the strong irritation that may affect the bird's respiratory system.

You have to be especially careful with strong smelling substances - even some EO's - as they can be deadly to birds.

As far as the bird, putting some wood ashes into their dust bathing area helps. I only use them in moderation if I use them at all as they are fine and can get into lungs.

I NEVER use DE around birds. I will comment more on that if anyone cares to hear my reasoning.


When mite infestations are very bad, some have taken the wood ashes and rubbed them down into the feathers right to the skin with great success. Again, I'm very careful with ash as it is easily inhaled and can harm lungs if you're not careful.


There are also a few other tricks for natural mite removal....but the best thing is PREVENTION!

Lice are a whole different topic! I have to leave for the evening but I can comment on lice - and maybe some others can comment on natural lice preventatives and treatments - before I'm back at the computer.

Note....that infestations of lice and mites are usually husbandry-related. Natural Chicken Keeping focuses on husbandry practices that PREVENT rather than cure. But every once in awhile we need a cure before we realize that something needs fixing that will prevent!

Quote: Sorry for the wait. I had mites. I used neem oil on the roosts & any other wood in the coop. I have a hoop coop so its just the wood around the base. It smells horribly so I was thankful for all the ventilation in my coop. If you read the caution label on the neem oil you probably wont want to use it. Even the natural kind. I then dust bathed each hen in wood ash every day for a week.

They have never had mites again. I always keep wood ash available for them year round now (I think that's why they got the mites because I forgot for a couple weeks to refill it) I changed the roost to one made of tiger wood which is naturally rot & bug resistant. I will never use straw in the coop again either just hay for around the outside for the winter months or bedding when the temps are in the single digits.

I have used neem EO for a bug repellent recipe. Even in the small doses the smell is still pungent. I use it sparingly because it poisonous to my dogs & cats & I don't want them to lick it off me.

I have never had the problem again. Thank goodness !!!!!!! It seems that just keeping the wood ash accessible keeps them at bay. My hens always have song birds near them because of being in the compost pile & the flowers I grow in the garden. Still they are well. My hens love the wood ash. I keep it out 24/7 and have seen no problems with respitory issues. Maybe they hold their nose? In the winter months I add some peat moss in it as well. When the container is almost empty I dump it into the deep litter. Maybe that helps keep the bugs at bay?