Treating Mites on 3 Week Old Chicks

[Lilorp14]

Hello all, I have 4 3 week old chicks that live outside with their broody moms. I know that my flock has mites, Imo they're a part of owning chickens and I only treat them when there get to be too many. When I lift the wings of the broodies, I only see 1 or 2 mites, but on the chicks they're rampant. Eggs in the brows, the works. The chicks don't seem any more worse for wear but one has an injury and although it's doing great I don't want to further stress it. My question is - how do I treat them for it? I have an effective regiment for my adult birds but I wouldn't know the dose for chicks. I use Soresto Cat Flea & Tick and use 1 rub with a qtip on the back of the neck. Would their exposure to their mother's be enough to treat them? I'm open to alternative treatment recommendations because I would like to get away from using pesticides. I do a month long egg withdrawal but I'd like to get away from it nonetheless. Thanks!

P.S. Diatomaceous Earth has never worked for me.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Permethrin. No withdrawal period, perfectly safe. If you want more natural, and can find it, Pyrethrin was isolated from the natural source, it degrades even faster than Permethrin does.

DO NOT use around cats or fish however. Both lack the enzyme that breaks it down extremely quickly on the flesh of most higher order animals.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

and I'll link to @Lady of McCamley very informative post to another BYCer as additional info.

 

[Pampered chicken girl]

I use poultry protector. you can spray it on the birds and their home it works very well and is natural. My 3 month old had VERY BAD mites but I used this every day and now they are gone maybe 1 or 2 I see every now and then but mostly I don't see anything

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hello all, I have 4 3 week old chicks that live outside with their broody moms. I know that my flock has mites, Imo they're a part of owning chickens and I only treat them when there get to be too many. When I lift the wings of the broodies, I only see 1 or 2 mites, but on the chicks they're rampant. Eggs in the brows, the works. The chicks don't seem any more worse for wear but one has an injury and although it's doing great I don't want to further stress it. My question is - how do I treat them for it? I have an effective regiment for my adult birds but I wouldn't know the dose for chicks. I use Soresto Cat Flea & Tick and use 1 rub with a qtip on the back of the neck. Would their exposure to their mother's be enough to treat them? I'm open to alternative treatment recommendations because I would like to get away from using pesticides. I do a month long egg withdrawal but I'd like to get away from it nonetheless. Thanks!

P.S. Diatomaceous Earth has never worked for me.

I'd use Permethrin poultry dust on chicks that young. Dust them and Mom, repeat in 10days.
Clean the nesting box/their housing and treat that too.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Note that "Poultry Protector" is water, yeast, citric acid, and a preservative - potassium sorbate - which they claim as the active ingredient. Potassium sorbate is effective against most molds, some bacteria, and not much else.

This has been badly translated from the original - full of spelling errors, but it looked at Potassium Sorbarte and some other natural chemicals (like boric acid) on larger mites and aphids. tl;dr? Potassium Sorbate was the least effective of the chemicals tried.

Here's CO State talking about Potassium Sorbate to control mites on cannabis:

Potential Use in Colorado Cannabis Pest Management. There is very little - if any - data to support label claims of potassium sorbate to be able to effectively control mites or insects on growing crops, including those that affect Cannabis. Given the primary use of this product in food preservation it may have some value in suppression post-harvest fungi, but this is neither been tested nor is among label claims.

There are claims that potassium sorbate breaks the reproductive cycle - I've seen them repeated on BYC and elsewhere, but I can find no research supporting those claims. There are ALSO claims that it kills on contact. Again, I can find no research supporting those claims, and suspect they were made out of mistake or confusion. Insecticidal soap uses a potassium salt of fatty acids (at concentrations 10-30x greater than present in the manna Pro product), but that is potassium hydroxide, NOT potassium sorbate. Some other insecticides use potassium permangante crystals - again, NOT potassium sorbate. The products are not interchangeable, anymore than hemoglobin and chlorophyll are interchangeable (though they have more in common with one another than do Potassium Sorbate and Potassium Permanganate)

I use some Manna Pro products, but this is one I can't recommend.

 

[Lilorp14]

Permethrin. No withdrawal period, perfectly safe. If you want more natural, and can find it, Pyrethrin was isolated from the natural source, it degrades even faster than Permethrin does.

DO NOT use around cats or fish however. Both lack the enzyme that breaks it down extremely quickly on the flesh of most higher order animals.

When you say don't use around cats and fish, do you mean they shouldn't get exposed to the physical substance or they shouldn't ingest it, or both? Like do I need to keep my cat away from the spot in my yard I'll apply it to the chickens in.?

 

[Lilorp14]

and I'll link to @Lady of McCamley very informative post to another BYCer as additional info.

So after looking at that thread and googling it looks like I have poultry lice, not mites. Is permethrin still an effective treatment? Thanks

 

[janiedoe]

Id use permethrin powder (poultry & garden dust) on the hen, the chicks will get plenty of powder off mom. Works on mites and lice.
I usually dust all my broodies as soon as they begin sitting, but I have dusted one after her chicks hatched.
Cats shouldn't be exposed to permethrin, but I haven't had any harmed by using it on the chickens.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Permethrin works on all insects, without any exception known to me - and yes, you need to keep the cat away.