We have mites...again....😭😭

[Shadrach]

So we started treating mites 3-4 weeks ago. First we treated with permethrin for a week or 2 then switched to ivermectin for 2 weeks.

We cleaned the coop out and sprayed it down each time we treated the birds. I double and triple checked the dosages and concentrations we used. We checked last Saturday and no mites! I sprayed the coop and birds again with permethrin just for good measure.

This morning my buff silkie (who started the infestation in the first place) was covered in mites....again.....I seen a few mites on 1 or 2 other birds but poor Waffle is just covered.

What's going on?? She seems to be the target bird for whatever reason. I separated her to treat her until I figure out what's going on.

I have introduced some new birds BUT they have been checked, quarantined, and treated before they were put into the flock.

We are going to treat the other birds, AGAIN, this afternoon with ivermectin. Any advice? Guys I'm literally about to lose my mind......

What type of mites are you dealing with?

Red mite is the most common. It is in fact grey until it feeds on a chicken. It's the chickens blood that makes it turn red. Red mite are reasoanbly easy to see with the naked eye.
Red mite do not live on the chicken. You may find one or two but by your description there are a lot of mites on your hens and that would make me think that it's not red mite you are dealing with.

Northern Fowl mite do live on the chicken. Northern Fowl mite are more damaging to a chickens health usually than red mite because they live and lay eggs on thhe chicken. Northern Fowl mite are quite difficult to deal with because their eggs hatch on the chicken and treating the chicken with pesticides like Permethrin will only kill the live mites and not the eggs. As soon as the eggs hatch you've got another full scale infestation on your hands.

Less reported but fairly common is feather mite. The feather mite is a smaller relative of the red mite I believe but it lives on the chickens feathers rather than in the coop. Thye can be hard to see.
What you need to look for is a crusty looking coating at the base of the chickens feather quill. If the base is not clean (it's fairly easy to see when you have the chicken in front of you) you have feather mite.
The same problem as above. Insecticides will only kill the live mites.

There are other mites such as straw itch mite and scaly leg mite but dealing with all but red mite is much the same.

The easiest option is to get a large plastic bag large enough to put a chicken in with no holes in it and put a large cup full of permethrin based pultry dust in the bag. Put the chicken in the bag and close the bag around the chickens neck as high up as you can making sure the chickens head is clear of the bag.
I've used masking tape to close the bag around the neck in the past.
Shake the bag with the chiicken in it but try not to shake the chicken; they won't like that much.
Leave the chicken in the bag of dust for as long as it will put up with; a few minutes if possible. Shake the bag from time to time.
Do them all.
If you can see mites around the eyes and ears and at the back of their head, squirt some liquid permethrin into an egg cup, dip a cotton bud in it and gently working against the feathers work the liquid onto the skin. Be very careful around the eyes nose and ears.
Do this every 7 days for a month.
Obviously you need to strip everything out of the coop and make sure every crack, perch end etc gets treated.

I do hope you don't have a large flock.

 

[Hannahnic14]

What type of mites are you dealing with?

Red mite is the most common. It is in fact grey until it feeds on a chicken. It's the chickens blood that makes it turn red. Red mite are reasoanbly easy to see with the naked eye.
Red mite do not live on the chicken. You may find one or two but by your description there are a lot of mites on your hens and that would make me think that it's not red mite you are dealing with.

Northern Fowl mite do live on the chicken. Northern Fowl mite are more damaging to a chickens health usually than red mite because they live and lay eggs on thhe chicken. Northern Fowl mite are quite difficult to deal with because their eggs hatch on the chicken and treating the chicken with pesticides like Permethrin will only kill the live mites and not the eggs. As soon as the eggs hatch you've got another full scale infestation on your hands.

Less reported but fairly common is feather mite. The feather mite is a smaller relative of the red mite I believe but it lives on the chickens feathers rather than in the coop. Thye can be hard to see.
What you need to look for is a crusty looking coating at the base of the chickens feather quill. If the base is not clean (it's fairly easy to see when you have the chicken in front of you) you have feather mite.
The same problem as above. Insecticides will only kill the live mites.

There are other mites such as straw itch mite and scaly leg mite but dealing with all but red mite is much the same.

The easiest option is to get a large plastic bag large enough to put a chicken in with no holes in it and put a large cup full of permethrin based pultry dust in the bag. Put the chicken in the bag and close the bag around the chickens neck as high up as you can making sure the chickens head is clear of the bag.
I've used masking tape to close the bag around the neck in the past.
Shake the bag with the chiicken in it but try not to shake the chicken; they won't like that much.
Leave the chicken in the bag of dust for as long as it will put up with; a few minutes if possible. Shake the bag from time to time.
Do them all.
If you can see mites around the eyes and ears and at the back of their head, squirt some liquid permethrin into an egg cup, dip a cotton bud in it and gently working against the feathers work the liquid onto the skin. Be very careful around the eyes nose and ears.
Do this every 7 days for a month.
Obviously you need to strip everything out of the coop and make sure every crack, perch end etc gets treated.

I do hope you don't have a large flock.

Thanks! I do believe we are dealing with Northern Fowl mites, we are getting it under control slowly but surely. I have a new coop that I am moving clean birds to 1 at a time and there hasn't been a new outbreak in the moved birds. We are getting there!

 

[bea_aurora]

Sorry that this has been such a battle. Mites hatch out every 5-7 days from what I have read, and treatment every 7 days is what most articles say. Permethrin lasts about 30 days in the coop. I haven’t dealt with a mite problem, but apparently they are very hard to completely get rid of. I have heard that some people inadvertently bring mites in on straw they have bought. Good luck with your battle. Here is some reading:
https://poultryhealthinspection.ucd...-files/treatment-of-lice-mites-of-poultry.pdf

https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

 

[bea_aurora]

Hello, all! I know this forum is for chickens, but I'm hoping treatment for pigeons is essentially the same. If my pet bird (a rock pigeon) spends time around a flock of untreated birds every morning and is therefore exposed to new mites daily, would Ivermectin drops onto the skin still help keep mites from surviving on him? How often may I repeat the treatment considering his unusual case of spending time with a wild untreated flock every morning but sleeping indoors with me every night? Would treating once a week be too much or cause overdose? Also, if Ivermectin essentially kills mites by remaining in the bloodstream and paralyzing the mites when they bite the bird, why is it recommended to repeat treatment shortly after the first dose? Does it not stay in the system and continue to kill blood-suckling mites for longer than 1-2 weeks at a time?