Where did these mites come from?

[ChickNanny13]

Permethrin 10 mix is 10ml/half gallon of water. I hear you all about DE but I do use it as a preventative, rotating with Poultry Dust and recently added Sevin to the mix. Neem Oil painted I've also read works good, anyone ever try Insecticidal Soap?

Not wanting to hijack this thread but I've been fighting my own battle with "mites" that aren't bird mites, Dept of Ag & Dept of Health have not identified this for me yet. It's not on the girls, it's not in the nest box, not on the roost, found only when walking on the shavings in their run & they don't bite. Permethrin does not kill it (did it a gallon mix 3x in a week), been at this since Aug 9th, recently did my own research. I'm thinking it's a Spider Mite which there's such a variety of. Alcohol kills them, Raid kills them, Insecticidal Soap kills them. They multiple worst than rabbits but think I'm finally winning.

So my question for you all would Insecticidal Soap work on bird mites? Or even thinking Dawn soap diluted with water? I know for sure vinegar don't work....I've attached a picture of what looks like I've been fighting with, anyone see this before?

 

[Birdwatcher804]

The mites live in the coop (if it is indeed Red Roost Mites, aka Chicken Mites), so treating the coop is essential. Unfortunately RRM can live for months without feeding which is why they are so hard to get rid of once you've got them.

Norther Fowl Mites live predominately on the bird and will die off in the coop after a few weeks once the birds are gone.

Since permethrin takes care of both types of mites, I'd spray with permethrin, both coop and birds, and put them back in the coop if that is all you've got. Then respray in another 7 to 10 days. A third time if you see any signs.

My birds take a lot of rain, but they have a dry roost at night to dry out. You don't want their immune systems also getting run down due to being overly wet.

It can be nice to have different coops to swap out of...back to rotating fields and coops allowing mites to die off after treatment before re-introducing birds. However, that is not feasible for a lot of people. Plus, the coops have to be substantially far enough away so that they don't cross contaminate...so we're back to chemicals.

I agree with stick with permethrin before going to spinosad. While rotating can help in some ways, it can also simply build resistance to BOTH treatments faster.

LofMc

They do have dry roosts/areas in their run. I guess they'll always be chicks to me . I will get some permethrin Is there a particular brand/type you recommend? Should I wait 7-10 days before applying it (since I've used the sevin dust)?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Permethrin 10 mix is 10ml/half gallon of water. I hear you all about DE but I do use it as a preventative, rotating with Poultry Dust and recently added Sevin to the mix. Neem Oil painted I've also read works good, anyone ever try Insecticidal Soap?

Not wanting to hijack this thread but I've been fighting my own battle with "mites" that aren't bird mites, Dept of Ag & Dept of Health have not identified this for me yet. It's not on the girls, it's not in the nest box, not on the roost, found only when walking on the shavings in their run & they don't bite. Permethrin does not kill it (did it a gallon mix 3x in a week), been at this since Aug 9th, recently did my own research. I'm thinking it's a Spider Mite which there's such a variety of. Alcohol kills them, Raid kills them, Insecticidal Soap kills them. They multiple worst than rabbits but think I'm finally winning.

So my question for you all would Insecticidal Soap work on bird mites? Or even thinking Dawn soap diluted with water? I know for sure vinegar don't work....I've attached a picture of what looks like I've been fighting with, anyone see this before?

Lice and mites are all killed dead as 4 O'clock by Permethrin. I have even used a large rubber garbage can with a mix of 4 ounces of 40% Permethrin and 25 gallons of water and quick dipped my birds in that. Chose a warm sunny day and jump right in.

 

[JaeG]

Permethrin 10 mix is 10ml/half gallon of water. I hear you all about DE but I do use it as a preventative, rotating with Poultry Dust and recently added Sevin to the mix. Neem Oil painted I've also read works good, anyone ever try Insecticidal Soap?

Not wanting to hijack this thread but I've been fighting my own battle with "mites" that aren't bird mites, Dept of Ag & Dept of Health have not identified this for me yet. It's not on the girls, it's not in the nest box, not on the roost, found only when walking on the shavings in their run & they don't bite. Permethrin does not kill it (did it a gallon mix 3x in a week), been at this since Aug 9th, recently did my own research. I'm thinking it's a Spider Mite which there's such a variety of. Alcohol kills them, Raid kills them, Insecticidal Soap kills them. They multiple worst than rabbits but think I'm finally winning.

So my question for you all would Insecticidal Soap work on bird mites? Or even thinking Dawn soap diluted with water? I know for sure vinegar don't work....I've attached a picture of what looks like I've been fighting with, anyone see this before?

Spider mites tend to infest plants which they feed on and their populations tend to explode in drought type conditions. There are good types of mites that feed on those we consider to be pests but there's usually less of them than their target species. I think some kind of smothering oil would be more effective than dish soap, but you could experiment and see what works. I'd be interested to know if they can come up with an identification for you. Something must be out of balance in their world for their population to go crazy. Be thankful they don't bite - I had an awfully itchy reaction to red coop mites. It was horrible! I hope you win the battle soon.

 

[Birdwatcher804]

View attachment 1125070

Here is the kind of places that red mites live. They do not live or reproduce on your birds. Used motor oil is an effective remedy if painted onto the roost poles. It sticks around and renders the cracks and crevices of the roost unsuitable for a roost mite rookery.

Would polyurethaning or painting a wood roost keep them off of it?

 

[Folly's place]

I see no reason to 'wage war' on harmless outdoor insects! DE plus permethrin plus carbaryl outside will either kill every beneficial insect, and frog, and salamander, and maybe promote insecticide resistance to the bugs you are trying to eliminate. If it's not biting, I'd ignore it! Mary

 

[Birdwatcher804]

I've been doing a little research and discovered that mites can live in pine straw, or needles. I started using pine straw in their run a while back. I don't know what kind of mites the needles harbor, but I wonder if that is where these mites came from. Does anyone have knowledge of mites in pine straw?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

@Birdwatcher804

Several answers to several questions....

Since you've treated with Sevin (carbaryl), and it worked, I'd treat another time with that on the birds.

I would spray the coop with permethrin (Gordon's spray is cheap and effective) since you can't get the Sevin dust into the cracks well.

As to the pine...there are thousands of mite types >_<

Some infest chickens, others do not. Some are even helpful (see spider mite subthread on this thread).

Having said that, I personally am not a fan of pine needles as I too have noticed they seem to attract little buggies....probably not the kind that bother chickens...but still.

I prefer pine shavings as that composts much, much, better than pine needles. And since pine shavings have been processed and dried, any bugs are long gone. It is hard to find any clean pine needles. No one in my area processes them that I know of. We just rake them out from under our trees, which means they come with a load of bugs...beneficial and not.

So if you used pine needles au natural, untreated from the ground, then yes, you might have brought the roost mites in that way. The little critters running everywhere, especially rodents, and of course wild birds, like to make nests with pine needles and would definitely leave "traces" behind.

Clean, caulk, spray with permethrin, do a final dust with Sevin on your birds, and yes, get rid of any natural pine needles....hopefully that will set you right again.

LofMc

 

[Birdwatcher804]

@Birdwatcher804

Several answers to several questions....

Since you've treated with Sevin (carbaryl), and it worked, I'd treat another time with that on the birds.

I would spray the coop with permethrin (Gordon's spray is cheap and effective) since you can't get the Sevin dust into the cracks well.

As to the pine...there are thousands of mite types >_<

Some infest chickens, others do not. Some are even helpful (see spider mite subthread on this thread).

Having said that, I personally am not a fan of pine needles as I too have noticed they seem to attract little buggies....probably not the kind that bother chickens...but still.

I prefer pine shavings as that composts much, much, better than pine needles. And since pine shavings have been processed and dried, any bugs are long gone. It is hard to find any clean pine needles. No one in my area processes them that I know of. We just rake them out from under our trees, which means they come with a load of bugs...beneficial and not.

So if you used pine needles au natural, untreated from the ground, then yes, you might have brought the roost mites in that way. The little critters running everywhere, especially rodents, and of course wild birds, like to make nests with pine needles and would definitely leave "traces" behind.

Clean, caulk, spray with permethrin, do a final dust with Sevin on your birds, and yes, get rid of any natural pine needles....hopefully that will set you right again.

LofMc

Thank you so very much for your time, information and guidance! It is appreciated more than you know.

 

[Tilly56]

Hi everyone, this is a very interesting thread as I just logged in to ask a question for a friend here in France - last week, he noticed hundreds of thousands of what he describes as minuscule red fleas on his hens (he has about 35 laying hens) and covering the wood inside the coops. He picked up some of the hens and saw the "fleas" running around between the feathers. No-one here (we are in Brittany, West France), not even the vets, seems to know what to do, but he eventually found a treatment in a local farm shop. His hens are in a large enclosure near to a wood with various trees, including pines, oaks... He recently bought two goats which are near to the chickens - could they be the cause? But they do not seem to have any fleas on them. He keeps his coops very clean. When we spoke today he couldn't remember the name of the product, (Rodeo something he thinks, but loads of ingredients!!). He "powdered" the hens one by one, very thoroughly. They seem to have gone, but his question is - will they come back and what caused it? Many thanks for any help. Tilly xx