GRAIN MITES, HELP PLEASE

[waterfowl rocks]

Hi, I was just wondering what I should do to get rid of grain mites. I have heard people talk about DE, what is it? Thanks!

 

[Neezers Farm]

Hi, I was just wondering what I should do to get rid of grain mites. I have heard people talk about DE, what is it? Thanks!

Food grade diatomaceous earth. Make sure it is Food Grade. You can buy it at feed stores. Mix up to 2% in with their dry feed. It is good for the chickens as it has minerals and helps prevent intestinal parasites. Take precautions to not breath the dust when working with DE. I wear a painters N95 mask when I am working with it to avoid breathing the dust.

 

[aart]

DE won't do a thing for intestinal parasites.....but it will indeed kill grain mites in feed.

When I buy a bag of feed that I suspect might have grain mites, I place the bag in the garage on a large black dog kennel tray with DE sprinkled around the edge of tray. By the next day I can tell if it is infested as there will be mites all over the outside of the bag and on the tray up to the DE barrier around the edge. I then transfer the feed into 5 gal buckets mixing a bit of DE in with every couple scoops of feed, then carry the buckets out to the coop and dump in the feed bins....watching for a couple days to make sure they are not still thriving. If i see more I smear another handful of DE around the top edge of bin liner. Bin and floor around bin also have a good coating of DE. Annoying, and alarming at first, but not the end of the world, they won't hurt your chickens but you sure don't want them in your kitchen.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

DE won't do a thing for intestinal parasites.....but it will indeed kill grain mites in feed.

When I buy a bag of feed that I suspect might have grain mites, I place the bag in the garage on a large black dog kennel tray with DE sprinkled around the edge of tray. By the next day I can tell if it is infested as there will be mites all over the outside of the bag and on the tray up to the DE barrier around the edge. I then transfer the feed into 5 gal buckets mixing a bit of DE in with every couple scoops of feed, then carry the buckets out to the coop and dump in the feed bins....watching for a couple days to make sure they are not still thriving. If i see more I smear another handful of DE around the top edge of bin liner. Bin and floor around bin also have a good coating of DE. Annoying, and alarming at first, but not the end of the world, they won't hurt your chickens but you sure don't want them in your kitchen.

It does both. If birds ingest DE, it kills internal parasites. It's not as good as other dewormers, but it still works.

 

[aart]

Quote: Many believe that, but it's just not true.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I personally do not like DE. If it dehydrates things by making microscopic cuts..... what is it doing to your chickens insides?

That's just my take, I am open to learning otherwise if presented with facts that make sense.

You can heat the grain in the microwave or oven maybe. That is what I do to make sure there are no mites or moth eggs in the grain I use for my meal worms. However, some chicken feeds already have DE in their ingredients. I always read ingredients.

Good luck!

 

[Folly's place]

I check the manufactured by date on every bag of feed; and don't buy anything over three or four weeks old. It's then used up in two or three weeks, stored in metal garbage cans, and I've never had an insect problem. I'm not interested in inhaling DE, so never have it here. It DOES NOT work as an ingested dewormer! Mary

 

[aart]

I check the manufactured by date on every bag of feed; and don't buy anything over three or four weeks old. It's then used up in two or three weeks, stored in metal garbage cans, and I've never had an insect problem. I'm not interested in inhaling DE, so never have it here. It DOES NOT work as an ingested dewormer! Mary

I don't think date of mfg has much to do with grain mites........think it has more to do with the manufacturing facility and their source grain.

 

[Folly's place]

I think that processing kills the mites in the ingredients (faulty memory?) but then the mites can reinfest the feed. Mary

 

[aart]

I think that processing kills the mites in the ingredients (faulty memory?) but then the mites can reinfest the feed. Mary

Not sure what the process is and whether it would kill them..but maybe not eggs?
Last bag of crumble I got was dated less than 2 weeks and was infested.....
......had to go back to Purina because of Prince plant fire.
Never had mites in Prince crumble but feed was always older, much older...another reason I went back to Purina despite the mite issue.