Those of you who have battled mites please advise

[Blooie]

Well, the girls haven't seemed to suffer so I'm guessing it's okay, aart. I didn't put any Neem oil directly on them, and where I have Permethryn down I I hadn't put Neem Oil there. So we'll see. All I know for sure is that at last night's check, they were actually resting very quietly on the roosts instead of stamping their feet, scratching and shaking their heads like crazy. I did see a few mites on the roosts - and I smooshed 'em with my little fingers! - but not nearly the amount we'd seen before. But a few mites make lots of mites pretty quickly. I'm just glad the chickens seemed more comfortable. We haven't won yet, but we're progressing, and we'll keep at it.

 

[aart]

Let me put it more clearly..... what brand name dust did you use.
Glad it worked for ya...I haven't actually seen mites but want to be prepared as I suspect they mite (haha) be there.

 

[Ballerina Bird]

Could I ask a few related questions? As I mentioned, I am trying to avoid chemical pesticides, which would include poultry dust/permethrin. But I don't want to create a situation where my hens are seriously ill, and if I need to resort to chemicals, I would give it serious thought. But in order to make that decision, what I would really like to know is:

How can you tell if an infestation has gotten to a dangerous point?

What signs do you see on the birds? I'm not talking about signs of the presence of some mites (that I think I get), but of a potentially dangerous problem.

What signs do you see in the coop? People mentioned seeing mites in the coop -- does that mean live mites crawling around, or dead ones that have presumably been overcome by neem oil or whatever was sprayed in there? Would seeing either be a sign of serious infestation? And seeing how many? Are there other small bugs that could live in coop wood that look like mites?

Sorry to be so fixy about this -- those of you who've seen posts from me before know that I am still kind of new and trying to figure it all out. Thanks.

 

[Ballerina Bird]

Well, the girls haven't seemed to suffer so I'm guessing it's okay, aart. I didn't put any Neem oil directly on them, and where I have Permethryn down I I hadn't put Neem Oil there. So we'll see. All I know for sure is that at last night's check, they were actually resting very quietly on the roosts instead of stamping their feet, scratching and shaking their heads like crazy. I did see a few mites on the roosts - and I smooshed 'em with my little fingers! - but not nearly the amount we'd seen before. But a few mites make lots of mites pretty quickly. I'm just glad the chickens seemed more comfortable. We haven't won yet, but we're progressing, and we'll keep at it.

Ah -- this partly answers my question. That is good information about a sign of a serious infestation. Thanks! And glad to hear they are starting to improve.

 

[Blooie]

Ballerina Bird, don't worry about being "fixy" about anything. I'm still learning this mite control thing as I go along here! They are your birds and you have every right - no, you have a responsibility - to ask questions and make decisions based on what YOU think is best for your flock.

In our case we'd noticed the girls acting fidgety on the roost bars. But since I have some Littles and some Tinys added to the flock this summer I attributed it to them sorting out a roosting order. I'm sure part of it was that. But last Wednesday we noticed a little red mite crawling on one of the eggs we brought in. I never even thought until that moment that we had a mite problem in the coop. So that night we went out with the flashlight as I described, and yup....there they were, crawling on the roosts. I grabbed one of the girls and shined the flashlight on her. Yup...mites on her too. UGH! On Thursday I spent time doing searches for what other people had done to combat it, and we took all of that information - taking into account that we didn't want to have to the chemical route if we didn't have to. We had to. We went up to Billings to get the stuff I needed to get to work on it on Friday, and Saturday the war began. When we started stripping the coop down, we realized that we had more than just a little problem....we had a mess. Ken took the screws out that were holding the roosts on the studs and there were mats of them under there. <shudder> The crevices in the plywood behind the nest boxes were also full of them. <another shudder> But after power washing the coop stem to stern, cleaning all of the things that we took out of the coop, spraying with Neem Oil, making sure to soak crevices and corners and any place where one piece of lumber met another, then dusting the girls, we saw a difference within two days. The girls were calmer, roosting was quieter, and searching out mites in the dark became less of a major shudder and more of a "Well, we still have some over here so mark this spot and we'll spray it again." thing. We planned on leaving the deep litter in and just treating it, but after we had disturbed the coop so much and disturbed the hidden mites, we saw some on our coop shoes. Okay, out goes the litter too!

@aart , I feel so silly for misunderstanding your question! Sheesh, We used YTex GardStar Garden and Poultry Dust. I ain't always the brightest crayon in the box!

 

[Ballerina Bird]

Ballerina Bird, don't worry about being "fixy" about anything. I'm still learning this mite control thing as I go along here! They are your birds and you have every right - no, you have a responsibility - to ask questions and make decisions based on what YOU think is best for your flock.

In our case we'd noticed the girls acting fidgety on the roost boxes. But since I have some Littles and some Tinys added to the flock this summer I attributed it to them sorting out a roosting order. I'm sure part of it was that. But last Wednesday we noticed a little red mite crawling on one of the eggs we brought in. I never even thought until that moment that we had a mite problem in the coop. So that night we went out with the flashlight as I described, and yup....there they were, crawling on the roosts. I grabbed one of the girls and shined the flashlight on her. Yup...mites on her too. UGH! On Thursday I spent time doing searches for what other people had done to combat it, and we took all of that information - taking into account that we didn't want to have to the chemical route if we didn't have to. We had to. We went up to Billings to get the stuff I needed to get to work on it on Friday, and Saturday the war began. When we started stripping the coop down, we realized that we had more than just a little problem....we had a mess. Ken took the screws out that were holding the roosts on the studs and there were mats of them under there. <shudder> The crevices in the plywood behind the nest boxes were also full of them. <another shudder> But after power washing the coop stem to stern, cleaning all of the things that we took out of the coop, spraying with Neem Oil, making sure to soak crevices and corners and any place where one piece of lumber met another, then dusting the girls, we saw a difference within two days. The girls were calmer, roosting was quieter, and searching out mites in the dark became less of a major shudder and more of a "Well, we still have some over here so mark this spot and we'll spray it again." thing. We planned on leaving the deep litter in and just treating it, but after we had disturbed the coop so much and disturbed the hidden mites, we saw some on our coop shoes. Okay, out goes the litter too!

@aart , I feel so silly for misunderstanding your question! Sheesh, We used YTex GardStar Garden and Poultry Dust. I ain't always the brightest crayon in the box!

Blooie, this is so very, very helpful! Thank you! I already feel a lot better, and a lot less overwhelmed, knowing I have wise help and supportive and detailed answers from members like you. Much appreciated. And hope all your girls and your coop will be totally clean and serene soon!

 

[Blooie]

You are so very welcome! It all does seem overwhelming when you are faced with it. But I survived with help from my buddies over on another forum and a few well timed margaritas! After we get this under control, we will begin an active program of prevention rather than reaction.

 

[Ballerina Bird]

You are so very welcome! It all does seem overwhelming when you are faced with it. But I survived with help from my buddies over on another forum and a few well timed margaritas! After we get this under control, we will begin an active program of prevention rather than reaction.

Margarita sounds like a great idea -- it is over 100 degrees here today.

Would love to keep up with you and hear about your prevention program and how it's working. Perhaps I will just follow you on the site if that's OK.

 

[Blooie]

You are welcome to follow me anywhere. I would be flattered. I'm a bit of a forum flitter! A little here, a little there.....

 

[aart]

Ballerina Bird, don't worry about being "fixy" about anything. I'm still learning this mite control thing as I go along here! They are your birds and you have every right - no, you have a responsibility - to ask questions and make decisions based on what YOU think is best for your flock.

In our case we'd noticed the girls acting fidgety on the roost bars. But since I have some Littles and some Tinys added to the flock this summer I attributed it to them sorting out a roosting order. I'm sure part of it was that. But last Wednesday we noticed a little red mite crawling on one of the eggs we brought in. I never even thought until that moment that we had a mite problem in the coop. So that night we went out with the flashlight as I described, and yup....there they were, crawling on the roosts. I grabbed one of the girls and shined the flashlight on her. Yup...mites on her too. UGH! On Thursday I spent time doing searches for what other people had done to combat it, and we took all of that information - taking into account that we didn't want to have to the chemical route if we didn't have to. We had to. We went up to Billings to get the stuff I needed to get to work on it on Friday, and Saturday the war began. When we started stripping the coop down, we realized that we had more than just a little problem....we had a mess. Ken took the screws out that were holding the roosts on the studs and there were mats of them under there. <shudder> The crevices in the plywood behind the nest boxes were also full of them. <another shudder> But after power washing the coop stem to stern, cleaning all of the things that we took out of the coop, spraying with Neem Oil, making sure to soak crevices and corners and any place where one piece of lumber met another, then dusting the girls, we saw a difference within two days. The girls were calmer, roosting was quieter, and searching out mites in the dark became less of a major shudder and more of a "Well, we still have some over here so mark this spot and we'll spray it again." thing. We planned on leaving the deep litter in and just treating it, but after we had disturbed the coop so much and disturbed the hidden mites, we saw some on our coop shoes. Okay, out goes the litter too!

@aart , I feel so silly for misunderstanding your question! Sheesh, We used YTex GardStar Garden and Poultry Dust. I ain't always the brightest crayon in the box!

@Blooie That's OK.....we all need a sharp tug on the sleeve once in awhile.....thanks.
Not sure I have mites..other than scaly leg ones.
I've checked the roosts by wiping the bottoms after dark looking for blood smears and none there or visuals......
......but there's missing feathers and maybe more itchy scratchy than normal.

ETA: I think it's like roaches and rats, if you see one you have dozens to thousands.