War against mites

[BayBay Peepers]

I have been trying to get rid of mites for some time now. I've been dusting the bedding with DE and I have also been using Manna Pro Poultry Protector to spray the chickens and the roosts. Just when I start to think I have finally won this war they pop up again. About once every two weeks I see them in a nesting box and I go to town on the coop with DE and the spray. I clean my coop weekly, but they're still here. I had two sick chickens in January and that's how I discovered the mites. They're fine now thankfully, but now I have another sick one. She's not nearly as bad off as the first two, but nonetheless this is a problem. Is there some kind of nuclear war I can wage on these bugs? Any recommendations for total mite annihilation?

 

[Judy]

There are several options, but DE is not going to work, and I doubt Manna Pro will do much to fight an infestation, either (I can't even find a list of ingredients.) If it were my coop I'd use Sevin 5% garden dust, repeat in 10 days, and be done with them. But evidently this is out of favor, though it was officially recommended and used for years. Take care with the DE as it is highly irritating to their respiratory tracts. Here are two good discussions:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig140

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/818674/are-these-some-kind-of-egg-clusters/0_20#post_11897957

 

[BayBay Peepers]

I went the Sevin route. Do I need to worry about discarding any eggs?

 

[Judy]

The withdrawal chart I have says seven days:

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/29874841/Chicken-Withdrawal-Time-Chart

I doubt very much that everyone who uses Sevin allows any withdrawal time, though.

 

[BayBay Peepers]

Thank you!