First time having mites and I have a hen sitting on eggs

[Julie in NH]

Hello All,

This is my third year keeping chickens. I have a broody hen sitting on eggs, I believe the eggs are somewhere around day 15. I went to check on the eggs and afterwards was covered in tiny bugs. I checked on mama, she is a white chicken, and she has these bugs all over her feathers. I am assuming they are mites.

My question is: What do I use to treat her and her nesting area that will not potentially harm the eggs or chicks when they hatch? I plan to completely clean out the entire coop (even though I just did that last weekend before I found the mites ), scrub it down, and treat the new bedding with DE. I am also going to throw some DE into the dust bath and attempt to bathe the rest of the chickens with it. Any suggestions for catching and bathing a gigantic rooster would be helpful as well.

Adding to all this, I am leaving in a week for a week-long vacation so will not be around when the eggs hatch and will not be able to monitor the situation. I have someone coming to feed and let the chickens out and in the coop but I can't expect them to do all the rest of the stuff. Ugh.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Perris]

I would use ivermectin liquid (pour-on) 6 drops onto the skin at the back of the broody's neck. It will kill any bloodsucking parasites on her. I would not disturb the nest nor add DE to it at this point; it would probably suck moisture out of the eggs which might complicate hatching. I would clean it all out thoroughly (and add DE if you think it helps) asap after the hatch. Good luck!
PS and welcome to BYC

 

[Feathyr]

It's a good thing you found them! I've lost birds to bad mite infestations before, and they can be *very* difficult to eradicate. I had the same situation with a setting turkey hen a couple years ago - she was about ten days in and just crawling with bugs.

First, you need to determine what you're dealing with (and whether they are lice or mites.) Here is some information on the different varieties:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/mites-on-chickens-prevention-treatment.76797/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/mites-lice-treatment-and-prevention.64597/

Personally, I would skip the DE altogether and go with permethrin dust. (Prozap is a good brand from personal experience; I've heard Sevin is a known carcinogen but have not researched that so take it with a grain of salt.)

Hens are less likely to abandon their nests if moved when dark. I moved the hen late in the evening and put her / her eggs in a clean crate. I then removed all bedding, lightly dusted the area with powder, applied fresh bedding, and replaced the eggs. Hen was also lightly dusted before returning to the nest, to kill any bugs living on her body.

Nest was immediately cleaned once more after hatching to reduce the risk of a re-infestation. I have also found Ivermectin (topical) to be incredibly effective on both depluming / northern fowl mites, but it will require you weighing your bird to determine the proper dosage:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-treat-depluming-mites.1473162/#post-24578271

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[elaineinspain]

You can use sulphur to kill mites. Make small bags out of gauze, fill them with sulphur, and hang them in strategic places where the hens often go- in the nesting box, near the food and water, anywhere where the hens / chicks might rub against them. The sulphur kills the mites in about a week or two.
I’ve used this successfully myself, also dusting the roosts with sulphur.
Here is a study https://academic.oup.com/jee/article/109/5/2229/2200584
it’s also very effective to sprinkle sulphur in their dust baths!