Mite Infestation

[skullgrrrl]

I've scrolled through here for mite info but had a few questions. I have had 7 hens for the last couple of years with no issues. One of my hens, clearly (in retrospect), showed signs of mites (lifted leg scales) last summer. I did vaseline her legs a couple of times but I let the situation slide. I have always used DE in the coop shavings.

About 4 wks ago I noticed some of the other hens had lifted leg scales. I have washed out the coop, changed the shavings weekly, continued to use DE, vaselined their legs (2-3x's/wk) . I think the hot humid weather has precipitated a mass hatching because the mites have gotten worse. I find them on me after handling the birds, opening coop doors, picking up eggs, etc. I can see them walking on the chickens' legs, walking on the shavings etc. The other night I was reading in bed and mites dropped out of my book! I am totally grossed out and am concerned about introducing mites in to my house (I wash my hands & arms right after being in the pen, I've washed clothes/bedding etc).

I just bought some dusting powder and mixed it with ashes and sand and put it out for them to dust bathe. Is there anything else I can do?

Recently one of my hens has lost some feathers from the top of her head/back of her neck. I have never noticed any of the other hens pecking her, but I did put some pine tar on just in case. The situation isn't improving. She hasn't laid in 2 wks. Could either of these things be related to the mites? The others are laying ok.

I have one hen and three 1 wk old chicks in an adjacent pen/coop (which cannot be relocated). The mother has mites, so I have cleaned out all the shavings and vaselined her legs regularly before the chicks hatched. What should I do now for the hen and the chicks to treat the mites?

 

[sumi]

If the infestation is that bad you will have to clean out the entire coop, remove and burn the bedding, then dust or spray the coop inside out with a good quality mite dust or spray, making sure you get into every crack and crevice and dust your chickens as well. Sevin dust is an excellent product for mite and lice control, as is Permethrin. The broody with the chicks will need to be treated a.s.a.p. as the mites can easily kill small or weak chickens. The non-laying hen's condition is most likely down the mites as well. A heavy infestation can take a lot out of a chicken physically, not to mention the irritation caused by these biting, crawling bugs could easily throw a hen of laying. Best of luck!

 

[loverofbirds14]

If you keep having problems with lifted leg scales I would try vegetable oil, not vaseline. We used that and it seemed to work well. Best of luck!

 

[liljunie]

I had a mite issue and powdered each chicken then again 10 days later. Also cleaned out coops and dusted the bedding in the coops. Using a pillowcase with poultry dust works well. Put chicken in and shake (head out of course). I then powder the head and beard.

 

[skullgrrrl]

I bought Carbaryl (which Sevin is called in Canada) and put it down in their dust bath holes. Can I use this is the coop as well? What about the coop where the chicks are? Should I be dusting the hens directly? What about the one with the chicks? What about the chickens breathing the fumes in at night?

The situation seems to be getting better - I vaselined their legs last night and afterwords only found one mite on me. I looked in the coop and couldn't see any crawling so that's an improvement.

The one with the worst lifted leg scales has had a couple fall off. I'm taking that as a good sign as what is underneath is normal. Am I right? When they no longer have lifted scales that should be a sign that things are better.

 

[peepinator]

I've got the same problem right now--normally I don't ever see bugs--only saw lice once and became really good about dusting after that. But...in the last couple weeks, I noticed some of my girls have a messy fluff, missing feathers around their necks and heads and aren't laying as much either--then I noticed one of my pens' pine shaving is infested with bugs-(I thought you couldn't see mites during the day-but this must be what these were-they weren't lice). I put pymethrin dust in their dust bathing holes all around their run and clean their coop once a week and every couple weeks I spray with a bug spray for horses/livestock and then dust all the roosts, nests and the coop floor. Today, I thoroughly cleaned out the coop--sprayed it, dusted everything. I even changed their nests. Using plastic crates now--no wood and hubby is building metal roosts for me--no more wood. I've got a vinyl floor in the coop so the critters can't hide in the floor. One other thing I did was put a little cedar shavings in with the pine shavings as I was told that bugs hate cedar. I've got good ventilation and live in a dry climate so no worries about fumes from the cedar hurting my chickens. Then...instead of dusting all 26 chickens I decided to try ivomec/eprinex after I read about it. I went to my feed store today and got a bottle of it (kind of pricy--but there is enough to last my lifetime!!) and I tried it out tonight. From what I've read about it from others who have used it--it sounds like the ticket! It was amazingly easy to administer to my chickens too. Took me less than 10 minutes. I waited till they were all roosting--went in the coop with my head light/lamp on and used a dropper and put the dose on the back of each one of my chickens necks. I wore rubber gloves but didn't even get a drop on me and each of my chickens sat still as I carefully and quietly squeezed the dropper of liquid on the neck. The only one that stirred a little and made any noise was my big rooster...he just ruffled his feathers as I put the dropper through his neck feathers, but it only took me a second. I don't know about you but wrestling 26 chickens during the day or at night when they're on the roost to dust them is a nightmare...and I'm usually covered in that nasty dust and breath it even with a mask on to boot. This was the easiest thing EVER! I hope it works! I'll let you know. If you're interested--the dose is .5 cc per large chicken (per 11 lb bird) and .25 cc per bantam (5.5 lb bird). I have 9 yound chickens-about 9 weeks old and I just used a little less than .25 cc for them. If this stuff works--I'm going to be in heaven and so are my chickity-chick-chickens! Good luck with your battle with mites! Let's win this thing!

 

[HappyHenFarm78]

I am having mite issues and NOTHING is working :/ at least not fast enough?? I clean out my entire coop once to twice/month and dust floor and bedding with permethrin powder no matter what. My birds free range and there are a certain few that are getting infested with mites as they hang down by the tree line. They wound up with vent gleet which I think was triggered by the mites chewing them raw. (I cured that with probiotics and some antifunglal horse spray) I put ivermectin pour on on everyone...and I have sprayed the entire coop with Martin's permethrin spray and after spraying the heck out of every surface last night, today I noticed mites crawling on the nestbox that I had saturated the night before??? whats up...how fast is this stuff supposed to work? I can't touch the coop without the mites hitching a ride on my hand and up my arm.

I have broody hens hatching eggs and I pick up an egg that's pipping and there are mites crawling in and out of the crack in the egg shell!!! The chick has mites and its not even hatched yet!!! I am going crazy. I have actually cried over this. I feel like I can't win. Last night we bought NEEM oil yard spray to spray the yard with (waiting for the rain to stop- its been raining for 3 weeks straight here) it says to reapply every 7-14 days...seriously??? What are others doing to battle the mites??? I can't keep treating the birds and then tossing eggs otherwise whats the point of even having chickens??

Can I use ivermectin and or permethrin on tiny chicks? how young??? I need to sell these chicks but can't if they are contaminated with mites.

Help!

Thanks

 

[skullgrrrl]

I bought some Sevin (called Carbaryl in Canada) and sprinkled a bit with ashes and sand where the chickens dust bathed. They avoided it, so I googled what it actually is. It is illegal in several countries and is considered toxic and a carcinogen to people! I decided not to use it as it will kill not only mites but any insect it touches. It will also contaminate the ground the hens are feeding from.

I have had a bad infestation and am trying to get rid of the mites through other means. Here's what I've done:

* Cleaned the entire coop, hosed it out and added pine shavings (not many, as I want to remove them weekly). I've stopped using any straw as the mites were hiding inside.
* Added dried lavender flowers, garlic tops and chopped mint leaves to the shavings and the nest boxes (the essential oils should act as an insecticide)
* Sprayed the coop roost bars, door, floor and shavings with a combination of water, dish soap, neem oil and sliced garlic
* Dusted the shavings with DE
* Bathed the chickens (holding them in a bucket of warm water and dog shampoo for 1 min.)
* Washed their legs and scrubbed with a soft brush weekly
* Vaselined their legs 3-4x/wk

At first it seemed that things were getting worse, but I think that's because we had a spell of hot, humid weather and that must have been the ideal conditions for a massive hatch. I have to say that things are improving. I can look in the coop and collect the eggs without seeing mites everywhere. I can handle the chickens without being covered in mites. They are still there and I'll have to continue what I'm doing until they are eradicated (I've had chickens before and never had mites), but I see an improvement without having to resort to using poison.

I do have a broody hen with three 10-day old chicks. I have cleaned out their coop, sprayed it with the stuff mentioned above and put in the lavender/mint/garlic. I've vaselined the mother's legs but I don't want to use anything toxic around the chicks.

Good luck - if you are consistent you'll kill the existing adult mites and then kill successive eggs as they hatch.

 

[Taffysmom]

My husband uses motor oil on the legs of his chickens. Just get yourself a bucket or coffee can, fill it with oil and grab the chicken and dunk their legs into the oil. It's amazing
how quickly the mites die off. He saves the oil for the next time he needs it. Vaseline would take too long to rub onto their legs and the oil covers all the nooks and crannies of
their legs very quickly.

We only have 3 hens left. And one of them is eating her eggs. Today we caught the egg before it was eaten and it was only half the size of a "small" egg. The chickens are
a few years old now so I guess they won't lay each day. Mostly pets now. Since they are older chickens, we plan to let them pass away naturally and then not have any for
a year. This winter the coop will be empty and disinfected and he won't need to go out there twice a day checking for eggs, feeding and turning on the heat.
Then next year we will start new with a well-scrubbed chicken house and new babies.

 

[peepinator]

Happyhenfarm...If you can, get rid of anything wood. The mites take refuge in the wood roosts, nest boxes etc. I put down some cedar chips mixed in with the pine chips...bugs don't like cedar. I made plastic nests out of crates...and hubby is putting in metal roosts for me in the coop this week. We have a vinyl floor in the coop so this helps. Anyhow...I am battling this too. What kind of ivermectin pour on did you use? I read alot about using specifically "ivomec/eprinex" and it sounds like it is very effective for internal and external parasites. I tried it a couple nights ago with a dropper--.5 cc for large fowl and .25 cc for bantam. Just use the dropper and do it at night when they're on their roosts. It was the easiest thing ever! Squirt the dropper of liquid on the back of the neck--make sure you touch the skin through the feathers. I am going to wait 7 days and do it again, in addition...I dust and spray the coop and run too. Anyhow...good luck, don't give up. I'm not sure what environment is worse for bugs--humid or dry climate...but we live in Idaho and it is very dry and hot here. I'll let you know how things are working for me here with my mite problem