Well I let my guard down just once!

17 chickens

Crazy Chicken Math
Jul 11, 2016
388
603
161
Chattaroy Washington
It has been a very wet winter here in Spokane Washington area this year and I clean my coops every month like clock work but this last winter it has been very wet and I have not been able to do full clean outs like I do. Well it came around and bit me, Yep that's right it bit me good!
I have been working hard cleaning out the runs, coops, did chicken checks and we have mite's! I hate all poultry bugs so much and it is a big task to get rid of them all. went to the feed store got more poultry dust and bought 13 containers of it and asked if they had anymore? The new guy looks at me and is taken by the amount I have in a cart and yes I am wanting more... I told him I have over 300 chickens who all need to be dusted, the runs dusted, the houses dusted and after all of that I probably need to be dusted!
With all this technology out there you would think someone could come up with a pill, shot or something that you can give your poultry once and not ever have to worry about it again. Nope more dusting!
Never again will I let my guard down!
 
I can't even imagine dusting that many chickens. Don't you wish you could just mix up a dipping solution in a deep wash tub and dip your 300 chickens instead of subjecting you and them to all that annoying dust? Don't you wish there was such a thing?

Oh wait! There is! It's called spinosad, a biological pest control, and it's sold under the label Elector PSP. You can buy it off Amazon. One treatment for the chickens, one spraying of facilities, and the mites are gone. No need to repeat as you have to do with dusting. I've used this stuff. I love it. I will never dust again.
 
Spinosad is only toxic to bees and fish if you dip your chickens and then let the bees and fish lick them dry. I wouldn't recommend spraying the flowers or dumping the stuff into any ponds.

I dispose of my used spinosad by spraying it around the foundation of my run and coops (where bees and fish are unlikely to hang out), and that keeps darkling beetles away. They are poisonous to chickens. You will also be able to use the dipping solution to spray the inside of the coop.

This stuff comes with a hefty price tag, but is so economical to use, an eight ounce bottle can last you years. For example, 1/4 teaspoon of the concentrate will make a quart of the solution for a hand spray bottle. Five teaspoons mixed into five gallons of water will treat 300 chickens, the coop and then you can spray what's left around the foundations for darkling beetles.
 
The elector sounds really good. I just wish they sold it in smaller amounts! I don’t have 300 chickens and one of those bottles is about 100 times more than I need. How long does it keep for?
I am using pyrethrin spray now, but I have found that sprays and dips aren’t so great in the winter. I don’t want to get my chickens all wet at night (and would have a heck of a time catching them during the day for this).
 
As far as I know, Elector keeps indefinitely in its original container as long as it's not in direct sunlight. Mixed solutions need to be used right away. You don't need to dip a chicken in cold weather. I mix up a quart spray bottle and spray vent area, neck, and under the wings with excellent results.
 
Permethrin spray concentrate works very well, is easy to use, and dirt cheap. We get the Gordon's at TSC, about $8 for a lifetime supply! Spinosad is good, but not necessary and much more expensive. Look at the permethrin spray thread here, before you go crazy dusting everyone, or spend $$$ for the spinosad.
Mary
 

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