Topic of the Week - Lice and Mites - Prevention and Treatments

[casportpony]

@tamberlin , what products have you treated the chickens with? Northern Fowl Mites live on the bird, so you must threat each bird.

 

[Mytoylilred78]

Can I use Creolin in the coop before adding the hens?

 

[casportpony]

Can I use Creolin in the coop before adding the hens?

Welcome to BYC! I would not use it because I think it contains phenols.

 

[tamberlin]

The chicken who I first noticed the mites on has died. Her former roommate has had a bath with flea and tick shampoo while I waited for the Elector PSP to arrive. Today was nice and warm I washed out the entire coop, let it dry and sprayed with Elector PSP and kept the girls out until it had dried. After dark we sprayed the girls with Elector as well.
Keeping my fingers crossed. The directions say repeat in 14 days - Does that sound right?

 

[RobandSue2]

HELP PLEASE.....I have had my girls in a large insulated Garage for the winter...
I started noticing saddle feather loss and then BAM they all had it. Not much choice as I am in Northern NH and snow just finally left and they have been able to get out and about. I have tried cleaning the entire coop/garage and spraying with Strombergs Poultry protector.....each bird with same....each bird hand dusted with DE.....they still have feather loss. Their egg production has come back but could be the warm weather.....some seem to have discharge from vent not normal....I am at a loss...I've done garlic in water and probiotics to fend off what I thought was mites and I am still concerned I am missing something. Close inspection of birds I can't see anything on the bare spots...I only have 4 roosters to 47 hens....combs had been grey and dull but are starting to get red again.....tough to know if it's the weather or feeling better.
Any help advice or diagnosis would be greatly appreciated....I'd also like to hear from anyone that had it this bad also and when the chickens grew back their feathers and started looking good again? How long does it take?
Thanks!!!

 

[Richard Pryor]

I'm in Central Oregon. Should I be worried about this? I know we have no lames disease here so figured maybe I would be lucky? Or is this something everyone in ConUS needs to be worried about.

 

[Kates Chooks]

Cackle Hatchery has an excellent video on youtube about how to check for lice or mites, how to hold the bird , where to look for the bugs and how to spray the bird. They suggest several different products. I would give a link but not sure that is allowed. You can find the video easy by a search. Hope this helps you.

 

[RobandSue2]

After weeks and weeks of battling what I thought was mites I discovered it was Lice.....now I did full coop deep c
Earning along with Permethrin spray....they Permethrin bath for all 46 birds!! Not fun....but fantastic results as I have seen no living lice this am just loads of eggs....now I am debating if I let them free range or do a 2 week quarantine-next week full coop clean and bath and repeat at week 3......

Any problem in my logic? There is plenty of room in their coop (garage).... just hate depriving them of free range....

 

[Folly's place]

I just sprayed the birds and coop when everyone was roosting at night; a spritz from underneath including the roost bar, and a spritz on the topline also while on the roost, and then the walls and floor of the coop. No handling each bird, and no repeat spraying needed! I check birds about once a week at night with a flashlight, anas of last week, no issues. Mary

 

[Raggedyroad]

My question is about mites. I discovered just as our new little chicks were hatching that my flock has mites. The chicks hatched on May 18th. I separated the mama and 3 chicks to a brooder and then treated the rest of the flock and their housing with Diatomaceous Earth. How old do the babies need to be before I can treat them and mama? I also have a spray called Poultry Protector by Manna Pro. This says they need to be at least 10 days old. Can I still treat mama hen or is this also unsafe to the babies? I know mites are very detrimental to the health of chickens so I hate to wait to long.