Treated new bird for mites - now how long before I introduce to main flock?

[Scifisarah]

Picked up a few very nice birds at the Ohio Nationals this weekend. I was disheartened to see that two of them had quite the colony of mites, especially around their tail feathers. Also lots of little white sand looking dots on their tail feathers I assume to be eggs. I bathed them, blowdried, applied 0.25cc pour-on Ivermectin to skin at the back of their neck and near the tail, and dusted their pine shavings with Sevin dust. They are currently in our basement in a large rubbermaid tub (with a ring of pyrethrin around the top to keep anything from crawling out!) with grating over the top. I am wondering how long I need to wait before I can put them in the coop with our other chickens. We have to travel for Thanksgiving, so I am hoping to too long. I have never had mites the past 6 years I've kept chickens, these are yucky!

 

[dawg53]

Since you know about biosecurity with your new birds, you did the right thing by quarantining them away from your other birds and treating the newbies for external parasites.
Now about the things you CANT see...I recommend that you keep them quarantined for 6 weeks. This will give time for respiratory issues to show themselves as well as other problems. Now would be a good time to worm them. Remember, mites suck blood and eventually weaken a bird to the point their immune system weakens as well, making them susceptable to diseases.

 

[Scifisarah]

I am hoping not to keep them in my basement quite that long, although I agree, it probably would be the safest thing to do. Soon it will be winter here in Michigan and I do not have another insulated coop to keep them in for that long. Just trying to get the mite situation figured out for now...