Topic of the Week - Lice and Mites - Prevention and Treatments

[Folly's place]

The issue with DE is that it's bad for anyone to inhale, and that includes our birds. Mary

 

[ivan3]

The issue with DE is that it's bad for anyone to inhale, and that includes our birds.  Mary

Well, considering the plumes of dust our turks and chooks kick up in the fire pit out back (nothing but vegetation burnt - so, wood ash and soil) to no observable difference noted other than their being "clean" afterwards?

ADE is GRAS (generally regarded as safe) and is sold as an indoor pesticide that can be used under counters for bugs, and a dusting in pet beds for ectoparasitic vermin, etc. ADE shouldn't be used around folks with respiratory conditions but isn't considered enough of an irritant to prevent indoor use around those not so challenged. Food Grade Amorphous Diatomaceous Earth will contain less than 1% Crystalline Silica, "pool grade can run 20% and higher and is to be avoided - read the label.

Calcined DE, on the other hand, is ADE that has been heated to melting, cooled and crushed into tiny shards of glass. Great for pool filtering, or as an outdoor insecticide where no honeybees roam or hens dirt bathe. Calcined DE IS associated with Silicosis (cuts up one's lungs, leaves scars and a reliance on bottled O2), Calcined DE (20% crystalline silica) kills by directly cutting/abrading the insect allowing the fluids to depart - RIP. Whereas ADE can be used indoors, used to prevent clumping/speed drying of stored grain, food additive, etc.

ADE kills bugs by the mechanism of aDsorption - erodes the waxy outer layer of the chitinous exoskeleton of the bug, at a molecular level - no abrading/cutting involved as the aDsorptive disruption of the lipid layer continues after death of insect, i.e., no friction-movement no "abrading/cutting". Some bugs are more susceptible than others but the erosion continues until breach occurs, allowing the fluids to depart - RIP. A relatively benign, relatively effective insecticide and desiccant most useful in areas where humidity levels vary widely on a fairly regular basis (stuff absorbs four times its wt. in water - can then dry out when high pressure arrives, and so on).

We add a handful (wear gloves - will dry those poor paws right out if one doesn't) mixed into straw/wood chips in both chicken coop, turkey shed. It's a preventative only and has served us well over the past dozen years. However, we are able to buy 50 lb. bags for $22 dollars. What I found amazing was that the very same ADE was available as an indoor insecticide in two pound bags - for $8.95 Only difference is in the required labeling and how much the manufacturer could mark it up and get away with it. My $22, 50 lb. bag was actually worth $223.75! Who knew! I briefly considered a career as a bug powder pusher (buy the 50lb rebag and place on shelf) and all would flock to the source of the "really expensive stuff - must be good"! Will leave the bug powder pusher job to William Burroughs and soldier on for the girls instead.

 

[bobhoke]

Wood ashes, play ground sand and consumable DE mixed in a box - whoop whoop. Now just get the mixture right.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Good topic thread. Lice and mites are always an issue for poultry. If you don't have a problem now, at some point you will.

My mite problem began last summer when we had an overly long summer, and I got really behind good coop cleaning with an intensive family crisis (FIL died, MIL had a heartattack, moved her into assisted living, dealing with the estate, etc). All to say by the time I figured out what was going on, sadly I had lost a bird or two as well as developed an infestation with Northern Fowl Mites on several birds.

It does take extreme vigilance to rid an existing problem, and sometimes time and physical factors enter in so that you can't do the physical dusting of every bird and immaculate cleaning. I wish I had tried the Gordon's poultry spray as that might have been a good easy solution at the time.

For my situation, I did a good cleaning of the coop and put up "No Mite" strips which have permethrin embedded and are stated to last 2 years. (One strip for every 5 birds. I got mine at Murray McMurray). It seemed to help, and was infinitely easy to use (especially for someone in time crisis mode),

It did seem to work best for the birds in the one coop that had better access. I recommend dangling the strips on the doorway entrance rather than hanging from the roosts so that each bird has to brush against the strips with their full body as they enter and exit the coop each time.

I also suspicion that mites/lice in my area are getting resistant to permethrin, so I've been researching alternative methods since I sell eggs and try to stay away from off label use products. (At the worst of it, I did resort to applying Ivermectin, which really eradicated the current infestation, but it alas is off label for poultry layers, so I can't consistently use it without really long pull times and loss of egg sales). So for a long term solution, I needed to look at something else as the mites/lice will come back again if you have any wild birds or rodents in the area (and who doesn't?)

In researching I came upon this intriguing article about using sulfur in gauze bags for self administration. Sulfur was treatment of choice in the past, but it is making a come back as Northern Fowl Mites in some areas are developing a resistance to Permethrins.

Anyone tried anything like this?

https://entomologytoday.org/2016/07/18/battling-chicken-mites-with-bags-of-brimstone/

LofMc

 

[MarySue]

Can someone comment on the efficacy of applying Vaseline to legs for scaly leg mites?
Thank you

I used the Vaseline for Scaly Leg Mites on my girls. It takes repeated applications. I know that many people here swear by it but I finally gave up and gave them Ivermectin. I thought they may have had Depluming mites as well and with 27 birds Ivermectin was an easier quicker fix for me.

 

[poodlechicks]

I used the Vaseline for Scaly Leg Mites on my girls. It takes repeated applications. I know that many people here swear by it but I finally gave up and gave them Ivermectin. I thought they may have had Depluming mites as well and with 27 birds Ivermectin was an easier quicker fix for me.

Thank you for replying. I am dealing w a hen w a severe case of scaly leg mite. The others however are not affected. Though I have experience w the usual drugs, I wanted to know if a more natural approach would work. Guess it doesn't. Back to the old methods

 

[MarySue]

Thank you for replying. I am dealing w a hen w a severe case of scaly leg mite. The others however are not affected. Though I have experience w the usual drugs, I wanted to know if a more natural approach would work. Guess it doesn't. Back to the old methods

I don't want to discourage you, if you only have one hen then by all means start with the Vaseline! But it takes time. You are smothering the mites with it so it needs to stay on for awhile. You need to reapply pretty often and it was just too much for a flock my size, especially battling other parasites. Make sure you clean out the gunk under the scales as well as you can and then work it down in there really well. Top it off with a good coating so the legs are really coated. And then once you've done it you're not going to see results for a while. My girls are just now really showing sings of the old damaged scales sloughing off and I was treating them in June and July.

 

[Teila]

Thank you for replying. I am dealing w a hen w a severe case of scaly leg mite. The others however are not affected. Though I have experience w the usual drugs, I wanted to know if a more natural approach would work. Guess it doesn't. Back to the old methods

I have not had experience with scaly leg mite but I do know that others also recommend Vicks VapoRub or Campho-Phenique.

 

[poodlechicks]

I don't want to discourage you, if you only have one hen then by all means start with the Vaseline! But it takes time. You are smothering the mites with it so it needs to stay on for awhile. You need to reapply pretty often and it was just too much for a flock my size, especially battling other parasites. Make sure you clean out the gunk under the scales as well as you can and then work it down in there really well. Top it off with a good coating so the legs are really coated. And then once you've done it you're not going to see results for a while. My girls are just now really showing sings of the old damaged scales sloughing off and I was treating them in June and July.

I have not had experience with scaly leg mite but I do know that others also recommend Vicks VapoRub or Campho-Phenique.

Thank you both. I appreciate your input. I could put the work into applying the Vaseline, but I don't want to see her bothered by those mites for too long. I had heard of camphor to help treat this condition and tried some vet rx to see how it would work. She acted as if she was in pain after application. The camphor might have acted as a skin irritant in this case as it became reddened after application.

 

[TalkALittle]

Thank you both. I appreciate your input. I could put the work into applying the Vaseline, but I don't want to see her bothered by those mites for too long. I had heard of camphor to help treat this condition and tried some vet rx to see how it would work. She acted as if she was in pain after application. The camphor might have acted as a skin irritant in this case as it became reddened after application.

I saw huge improvement in my bantam with a bad case of leg mites when I did the following. I filled a 5 gallon bucket with about 4 inches of warm water. To that I added some over the counter antifungal/antibacterial shampoo I had for my dogs. I set the hen in the water and put a towel over the bucket. She stood in there for about 10 minutes. I removed her and held her on my lap while I scrubbed her legs gently with a soft bristle brush. Then I swished her legs and underside that had gotten soapy in another bucket of clean rinse water. I toweled off her legs and then dipped each leg in plain old cooking oil. She seemed much more comfortable and her behavior and mobility improved immediately. Every other night I'd pull her off the roost and dip each leg a couple of times in a jar of the oil that I kept in the coop. It didn't take long at all for there to be marked improvement in her scales and now her legs look really good.