Udate!...still need a bit of direction please..

[hen-at-home]

Rancher hicks - Just wondering, what do you use to distribute the DE? I have a large shaker container but it doesn't get cracks or walls well. I too have a 50# bag and have used DE but not in large amounts. Before the infestation I had been sprinkling it just on the floors before I put fresh pine shavings in and in their dust bathing area. What do you use to get it on the walls or in cracks, anything special?

 

[they'reHISchickens]

The best tip I read was to use a nylon stocking to hold the Sevin and use as a powder puff. It worked VERY well!

 

[citychickx6]

Well we looked close at ours last night and it appears to be the fluff louse.

We used the nylon and upside down method to apply sevin to them. The farm store had no poultry powder.

I think we got them pretty well. I know I had the stuff all over my clothes.
I had on goggles and a particle mask as well. That stuff is pretty fine.
I just went and let them out for the day and all seems well enough.
I am going to keep a close watch on them.

 

[hen-at-home]

citychickx6, I think I'd rather have the lice than the mites. At least you know you can treat the hens and be rid of them. Lice don't infest the coop! There's some good news!

I noticed two of my girls are flicking (for lack of a better descriptive word) their heads every 10 - 20 seconds. It's not really shaking their heads, but more like a quick, short shake or flick. What could that be from? Would that be related to the mites? (Which I didn't see any of (mites) when I looked two nights ago, but didn't check again last night.)

I'll try the nylon stocking idea, thanks!

 

[citychickx6]

This is my first go around with icky buggies on my birds. I had birds for years when we were in the country and had no issues ever. I am still trying to identify symptoms myself. I will let you know what I find.
The nylon works great for distributing the powder though.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I use Epernix Pour on on my chickens, when I use dust I end up with most of it on me and I don't do a very good job of dusting the birds, plus I don't think it's a good idea to hold them upside down either. The epernix is used just like frontline and there is no egg withdrawl, but you do need to empty out all the old bedding and use either somekind of spray or dust but again hard to reach all the crevices with dust, put in just enough bedding to cover then in 10days remove bedding treat coop again and put down new bedding. I have only had a mite break out once, and since I have used epernix I have had none. plus epernix does kill internal parasites too.

 

[CMV]

Quote:
The head shaking was my first clue when my birds had bugs (mites). I never actually saw any bugs on my birds, but they were rapidly failing for no apparent reason despite worming and a great diet. Once I dusted the head shaking stopped nearly immediately, they started looking/acting much better, and they started laying again. Mites are hard to see. In retrospect, I had noted that my birds' feathers looked dingy/dusty/dirty. At the time I just assumed it was normal from dust bathing, but now I know it was mite droppings.

Good luck.

 

[lovinmy2angels]

You need to dust the chickens extremely well even if you didn't see any mites. And another problem with mites is that you can see them easily at night with a flashlight, but not usually in the daylight. I use Y-Tex GardStar Garden and Poultry Dust. This stuff works great on a multitude of bugs. There is something else you need to do. When you dust chickens, within a few days the dust is gone due to them shaking it off. I actually have a large rubber pan filled with dirt and some sand in the building with my birds. Do this and put the powder in there as well. This way when they have a dust bath, they are treating theirselves I hope this helps and good luck.

 

[hen-at-home]

I checked my girls last night and didn't SEE any mites on any of their faces. It was in the high 40's for temps, so they wouldn't have been dormant because of cold. I'm feeling a little hopeful!!

Quote:
It will be 7 days since the dusting with Sevin this coming Tuesday. I think I'm going to spend the extra money, ( I think that Ivomec Eprinex is at our TSC store for $39.99), and use that on each hen instead of dusting again. I have never wormed them, (with the exception of one hen which I wormed with valbazen Jan 1st because she has had chronic diarrhea for months. That was before I discovered the mites.) I will definitely clean out the shavings and dust the coop with Sevin and put new shavings in.

Question: Can I use the Ivomec Eprinex pour on on the hen that I gave one dose of valbazen to back on Jan 1st?

Also, do you have to reapply the Eprinex monthly?

 

[chickened]

Painting the roosts with a 50/50 mixture of kerosene and linnseed oil is recomended by The Chicken Health Handbook by Gail Damerow. (excellent book).