These tiny bugs / mites are infesting my coop please help

[casportpony]

You might want to look at this:
https://www.maceoinltd.com/poultry-...th-products/smite-a-mite-1-litre-concentrate/

 

[llombardo]

Regarding the ivermectin in the US... Any type of ivermectin can be used. You can use the 1% cattle injectable orally or by injection, the cattle pour on topically only, the horse paste orally, and the sheep drench orally.

None of the ivermectins are labeled for use in poultry here in the US, so most vets will recommended an egg withdrawal time. One vet that posts on another site says the withdrawal time is 8 weeks, but many people just wait two weeks.

Can the sheep drench be used on chickens? What about ducks?

Duh..now I see what you wrote.

 

[casportpony]

Can the sheep drench be used on chickens? What about ducks?

It can be given to all poultry and waterfowl.

 

[PirateGirl]

Ok, I have been dealing with this. I was recommended permethrin spray by @KikisGirls and have seen it suggested by others on BYC as well as by hatcheries. So far so good. I first noticed that it looked like the surface of my roost was crawling, then upon further inspection of the birds (which on quick glance seemed healthy) I could see where feathers were deteriorating or getting thin on some birds. Step one was clean the coop. I swept up every last pine shaving and speck of dust I could get to and put it all in a trash bag. I did this the day before trash day so it would all go far away from my coops. Once it was as empty as I could get it I sprayed everything, especially cracks, roosts, nest boxes. It's not super toxic to people, but I wore long sleeves, put a bandana over my face (it does stink), wear sunglasses or something if it's windy so you don't get any in your eyes, I wore gloves (mostly I didn't like the thought of mites all over me! I wanted to be able to pull off my layers and throw them in the wash and know I pulled all the mites off me). Spray spray spray. When the birds go to roost, spray the birds too. Repeat in about a week as more eggs will hatch. When I checked the coop this morning there were little piles of dead mites under the roosts. Very toxic to cats though, so if it's a barn or she'd you have a mouser in, keep him away for awhile. Good luck.

 

[Sire12]

Thanks alot for the suggestions I scrubbed out the coop and the laying shed too when I turned over the wooden laying boxes they were covered in them :0 quite shocking.. So I took them all out and left them in the yard then sprayed them with flea aerosol that i got for the dogs (its all I had today) then sprayed the walls and sides of the sheds with a bleach / essential oil and white spirit mix for now until I can get anti mite product, I heard that methylated spirits can help but I only had white spirit, I had large tubs of white vinegar too so I used half a container to cover the concrete floor and scrub it, I also found a couple of nearly empty tubs of motor oil so il used what's left in them to paint some of the wood, it won't cover all the wood so il paint the roosts and the wood that they're closest in contact too, So hopefully this will all help

 

[PirateGirl]

Thanks alot for the suggestions I scrubbed out the coop and the laying shed too when I turned over the wooden laying boxes they were covered in them :0 quite shocking.. So I took them all out and left them in the yard then sprayed them with flea aerosol that i got for the dogs (its all I had today) then sprayed the walls and sides of the sheds with a bleach / essential oil and white spirit mix for now until I can get anti mite product, I heard that methylated spirits can help but I only had white spirit, I had large tubs of white vinegar too so I used half a container to cover the concrete floor and scrub it, I also found a couple of nearly empty tubs of motor oil so il used what's left in them to paint some of the wood, it won't cover all the wood so il paint the roosts and the wood that they're closest in contact too, So hopefully this will all help

I know what you mean about the nest boxes... after I cleaned and sprayed all mine, since the girls were done laying for the day, I left them sitting upside down to dry out, when I went back later there were little piles of dead mites that had fallen out of the nest boxes. So gross. The number of them at times is shocking I'm sure you've removed a great deal of them with what you have done already. Good luck going forward.

 

[Sire12]

Also there's something else that I was considering, I like the idea of ridding pests with other animals and earlier this year I had considered getting some ladybug larvae to put on my roses and other plants but I went off the idea because I was scared the chooks would eat them (I wish I had now since green fly have ate most of them! ) and I know ladybugs eat spider mites so I'd imagine they eat these guys too then I'd be able to get rid of the plant eating aphids aswell as these mites too could that be worth a try? The obvious risk is that the chooks will eat them but when the larvae arrive in the post I will place them onto my rose bushes and other plants which are behind wire so that the chooks can't get at them so unless the ladybugs ventured out into the yard then they should be safe but it's whether the ladybugs have the sense not too but you'd imagine they wouldn't if they see chickens or other predators in the yard, they don't fly so they should be easy enough to keep track of, then possibly every so often I can close off the coop for a few days and put a few ladybugs in to keep the mites in check and during that time the chooks can sleep in the nesting shed, then vice versa they can lay in the coop while the ladybugs are in the nesting shed.. Is that a crazy idea or could that work? Is it even worth trying at least or would it be a waste to try

 

[casportpony]

I don't know enough about them, but who knows, maybe it would work?

 

[lazy gardener]

Lady bugs most definitely do fly. I doubt that they would stick around in your coop since they are attracted to growing vegetation which harbors the insects that ?they and their larvae like to eat. Lady bugs are not smart enough to "avoid" predatory birds, in the sense that they would not venture into the chicken run. Yes, if a bird is trying to catch a lady bug, she will try to fly away from that beak. But, that's as far as it goes. It would not harm a chicken to eat lady bugs if you are concerned about that. IMO, it would be a wasted expense if you expect the lady bugs to eat the mites that are infesting your coop. A better use of resources would be to plant crops that attract predatory insects. A quick google search will turn up a number of flowers and weeds that are particularly useful. Using this approach will ensure that you have predatory insects that are attracted to your yard and use it for many generations to come.

 

[Sire12]

Ah ok, I read it wrong it's just the larvae that can't fly but the adults can and another thing I hadn't thought of was that they can apparently hibernate in houses over winter, there's a chance they might hibernate in the sheds instead up high where the chooks can't reach them but not worth the risk incase they also hibernate in neighbours houses or something, I looked up some plants that attract other predatory insects one of them is marigolds and I already have alot of those around the place it can attract minute pirate mites (although would they also infest the coop? Or do they only eat other mites and won't bother the chickens?) the other big name in benefical insects are lacewings, so would any of those 2 would work instead - do they have any bad repercussions?