Help! Tick infestation in coop!

[kyleGChiker]

A little backstory: I live in Phoenix, Arizona--hot and dry. I got the coop second hand off craigslist from someone who had a large ranch and was moving--they were selling 3-4 chicken coops, tractors, other equipment, and all the animals, including poultry, goats, and horses. My assumption was that this was a pretty safe bet for a second hand purchase.
Got the coop home and gave it a good cleaning. What I found was a bunch of ticks under the roof and in a few crevices--maybe 50 in all. I killed every one I saw, and also was using my hose on high power to spray them out from the cracks and kill them. When I was satisfied there were none left (boy was I wrong!), I let the coop thoroughly dry in the sun for a few days. It ended up sitting out in sun and dry heat and cold for another few weeks while the chicks were little (we kept them in the garage in a plastic bin). About six weeks ago, we moved the chicks to the coop placed in the garage. Food, water, pine flakes, 150W white light heat lamp, etc. were all provided. Never once did I see a tick. Well today, the chicks are ~9 weeks old so we moved the coop to the backyard to get them out of the garage. Everything stayed the same--including food, water, pine flakes, lamp. But when I went out to the coop an hour ago, there were literally hundreds of ticks swarming all over the coop--walls, underside of roof, etc.
What have I gotten myself into???
I'm trying not to stress out about it, and most of all, I'm trying to figure out what changed that the ticks have come out in full force. Even the temperatures are about the same--about 50 degrees tonight, and the garage was usually in the 55-60 range. I did a small amount of drilling on the coop today to install some latches--shouldn't affect anything unless the vibration from the drill "woke up" the ticks. Would direct sunshine "activate" the ticks and bring them out once it gets dark?
Lastly, I want to make sure to protect my chickens' health. Do chickens eat ticks, or are the ticks going to infect/kill my birds?
What are my best treatment options? I'm thinking diatomaceous earth might work--I've used that for scorpions and crickets in the past.
Please write back with your suggestions, help, and tips!
Regards,
Kyle

 

[Smileybans]

DE, or diatomaceous earth, will not help. You need something with permethrin in it. There’s sprays and powders. Tractor supply, TSC, sells a dust you can use on the shavings and a horse spray you can use on the walls. I would remove the birds and everything out of the coop and spray the heck out of it. If you don’t want to remove everything the dust works on the shavings. But you have to re-treat again in a week. Permethrin treats the live bugs not their eggs.

 

[kyleGChiker]

DE, or diatomaceous earth, will not help. You need something with permethrin in it. There’s sprays and powders. Tractor supply, TSC, sells a dust you can use on the shavings and a horse spray you can use on the walls. I would remove the birds and everything out of the coop and spray the heck out of it. If you don’t want to remove everything the dust works on the shavings. But you have to re-treat again in a week. Permethrin treats the live bugs not their eggs.

Thanks. Very helpful info. I'll definitely need to get permethrin to treat this. Any ideas on why the ticks were hiding until I took the coop outside?

 

[Smileybans]

Thanks. Very helpful info. I'll definitely need to get permethrin to treat this. Any ideas on why the ticks were hiding until I took the coop outside?

I don’t know a ton about ticks except that moisture brings them out and they hibernate/ die off in winter. Maybe your theory about direct sun holds some weight? Maybe the warmth of the sun brought them out.

 

[Aunt Angus]

All I gotta say is EEEEEWWWWWW.

I hate ticks. Permethrin = good. It won't hurt the chickens, either.

Fun fact: Winter is tick season here because of the moisture/sun cycles. That makes sense in your situation - wet coop, then sunny coop.

 

[sourland]

How did this resolve?

 

[Katynova]

I live in Phoenix and have been dealing with a horrible tick infestation. We disassembled our entire coop and went with a metal run and tarp. And metal laying boxes. Thousands of ticks….

That thrive in this climate.

 

[Katynova]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/poultry-ticks.48763/

 

[Butchers Wife]

A little backstory: I live in Phoenix, Arizona--hot and dry. I got the coop second hand off craigslist from someone who had a large ranch and was moving--they were selling 3-4 chicken coops, tractors, other equipment, and all the animals, including poultry, goats, and horses. My assumption was that this was a pretty safe bet for a second hand purchase.
Got the coop home and gave it a good cleaning. What I found was a bunch of ticks under the roof and in a few crevices--maybe 50 in all. I killed every one I saw, and also was using my hose on high power to spray them out from the cracks and kill them. When I was satisfied there were none left (boy was I wrong!), I let the coop thoroughly dry in the sun for a few days. It ended up sitting out in sun and dry heat and cold for another few weeks while the chicks were little (we kept them in the garage in a plastic bin). About six weeks ago, we moved the chicks to the coop placed in the garage. Food, water, pine flakes, 150W white light heat lamp, etc. were all provided. Never once did I see a tick. Well today, the chicks are ~9 weeks old so we moved the coop to the backyard to get them out of the garage. Everything stayed the same--including food, water, pine flakes, lamp. But when I went out to the coop an hour ago, there were literally hundreds of ticks swarming all over the coop--walls, underside of roof, etc.
What have I gotten myself into???
I'm trying not to stress out about it, and most of all, I'm trying to figure out what changed that the ticks have come out in full force. Even the temperatures are about the same--about 50 degrees tonight, and the garage was usually in the 55-60 range. I did a small amount of drilling on the coop today to install some latches--shouldn't affect anything unless the vibration from the drill "woke up" the ticks. Would direct sunshine "activate" the ticks and bring them out once it gets dark?
Lastly, I want to make sure to protect my chickens' health. Do chickens eat ticks, or are the ticks going to infect/kill my birds?
What are my best treatment options? I'm thinking diatomaceous earth might work--I've used that for scorpions and crickets in the past.
Please write back with your suggestions, help, and tips!
Regards,
Kyle

The good news is chickens eat ticks. The bad news is ticks have already invaded your yard and your garage. Permethrin is the cure.