Treating mites in cooler weather

[Mistyridgechickens]

Hi, my chickens have mites or lice, and the only thing I have to treat them with is a liquid spray. Is 55 degrees F too cold to do that? Is it worth ordering and waiting for a powder treatment?

 

[azygous]

Do you have a magnifying lens lost in a junk drawer in the house? Hunt for it and snatch one of the bugs off the chicken and look at it under magnification. A louse has six legs (including what looks like horns coming off one end. A mite has eight legs as spiders do. Mites are worse than lice most of the time, although some lice can be blood suckers like mites and can do a lot of damage to a chicken. Do the butt feathers have nits cemented to the base of the feathers?

Tonight, in order to be thorough, take a damp paper towel and wipe it over the roosting perch after dark and well after the chickens have gone to sleep. If you get smears of red on the towel, your coop has mites and will also need spraying down with a chicken approved insecticide such as permethrin or spinosad.

If it's sunny and there is no chilly breeze, you can spray your chickens' skin and let them air dry, or blow dry them.

 

[Mercyr79]

Do the butt feathers have nits cemented to the base of the feathers?

Hi. One of my hens has this. What does it mean? Thank you.

 

[azygous]

@azygous, this would make a wonderful article!

Hi. One of my hens has this. What does it mean? Thank you.

White crust along the feather shafts around the vent area means lice. Lice lay white eggs along the feather shafts near the vent so that they remain moist until they hatch. The eggs (called nits) are cemented on so firmly, they won't even wash off when you bathe the chicken.

The eggs hatch and the lice emerge to feed on dry skin and dander, and rarely in some varieties, they bite and feed on blood. Poultry dusting powder with permethrin will take care of the live lice, but when the eggs hatch in two weeks, another dusting is required.

 

[Mercyr79]

White crust along the feather shafts around the vent area means lice. Lice lay white eggs along the feather shafts near the vent so that they remain moist until they hatch. The eggs (called nits) are cemented on so firmly, they won't even wash off when you bathe the chicken.

The eggs hatch and the lice emerge to feed on dry skin and dander, and rarely in some varieties, they bite and feed on blood. Poultry dusting powder with permethrin will take care of the live lice, but when the eggs hatch in two weeks, another dusting is required.

Thank you so much. I’m a first timer and I get a little lost with all of this. Do mites leave eggs as well or just lice?

 

[azygous]

Mites lay eggs in crevices in the coop. It makes it very difficult to go after them as they hide in the crevices during the day and mostly come out at night to prey on the chickens' blood. Getting rid of coop mites is a much more arduous task than lice and requires top to bottom cleaning and spraying with a non-toxic insecticide.

The best way to find out if you have coop mites is to go out after dark and wipe a white cloth over the perches. If the cloth comes away stained with red, it's proof of mite infestation. Also, if you examine a mite under a magnifying lens, it will have eight legs while a louse has just six.

 

[Mercyr79]

Mites lay eggs in crevices in the coop. It makes it very difficult to go after them as they hide in the crevices during the day and mostly come out at night to prey on the chickens' blood. Getting rid of coop mites is a much more arduous task than lice and requires top to bottom cleaning and spraying with a non-toxic insecticide.

The best way to find out if you have coop mites is to go out after dark and wipe a white cloth over the perches. If the cloth comes away stained with red, it's proof of mite infestation. Also, if you examine a mite under a magnifying lens, it will have eight legs while a louse has just six.

Awesome, thank you so much for your help. It was so helpful.

 

[Erinnlyn]

White crust along the feather shafts around the vent area means lice. Lice lay white eggs along the feather shafts near the vent so that they remain moist until they hatch. The eggs (called nits) are cemented on so firmly, they won't even wash off when you bathe the chicken.

The eggs hatch and the lice emerge to feed on dry skin and dander, and rarely in some varieties, they bite and feed on blood. Poultry dusting powder with permethrin will take care of the live lice, but when the eggs hatch in two weeks, another dusting is required.

I am battling lice now as well. I discovered them on my roo after he came back from the vet for an injury! Two vets didn't even notice! Ahh! That was over a month ago. I still am seeing eggs. Roo was pretty bad. I found them under his wings as well. It hasn't been warm enough to spray with Elector PSP, so I've been using the dust. I've already washed Mr. Roo and blow dried him....took forevvvvver! I will admit I went 2 1/2 weeks without re-dusting. I hope I can get all these little buggers. I have just been applying the dust directly under the vent and on back of the neck of the hens -did everybody's wings initially. Roo, I keep doing under his wings too. Should I just keep after them with the dust until weather warms up and I can douse them with Elector PSP?

 

[azygous]

Don't panic. Lice may be a little uncomfortable, but don't present a significant health issue that mites do. At most, as the lice munch on feather dander and dead skin, it may promote itchiness.

Two permethrin dustings a couple weeks apart should keep the lice under control until you can reassess come warmer weather.

Meanwhile, though nits cement themselves to the feather shafts, you may yank those feathers. This can be done mostly painlessly by grasping the base of the feather close to the skin and plucking it out quickly. New feathers grow in within a few weeks.

 

[Shadrach]

Thank you so much. I’m a first timer and I get a little lost with all of this. Do mites leave eggs as well or just lice?

Yes mites lay eggs, lots unfortunately.