Mite Treatment (Direct onto Chickens) - UK?

[HollyWoozle]

What do those of you in the UK use actually on your chickens to treat for mites please? I see many things recommended on the forums but it seems that a lot of the options are unavailable in the UK or are not licensed for use on poultry here. There was one option I found but was only available for professionals to purchase.

Currently I use Dergall on the coop, nest boxes etc. but only have DE powder in the dust bath and in a puffer for direct application to the chickens themselves.

I haven't seen any on the chickens at the moment but I know they are there, they keep reappearing in the coop despite my best efforts. I had a poorly hen who died earlier in the year who was absolutely crawling in mites - I read several articles about making garlic spray and it being 100% efficient but when I tried that it made no difference whatsoever, neither did the powder.

Thank you!

 

[JaeG]

Vetafarm do an 'Avian Insect Liquidator' spray that's safe to use on newly hatched finch chicks. The only time you wouldn't use it on chickens was if you were intending to eat them. If I have an outbreak I especially concentrate on the chickens legs as that's what the mites crawl up to get to their meal. It has up to 6 weeks residual protection but I'd do it once a week until you know your coop is clear.

I've had success painting the inside of the coop with neem oil diluted to 50% with warm water. I've only ever had to do it once when there's an outbreak as it stops them at all stages.

Make sure rats aren't getting into your run or coop as rats and rodents can carry red mites, as can wild birds. Rats are where my problem lies as they are a major pest here in NZ as there's nothing here to keep the numbers in check, though we have found a bait block they go crazy for so we are trying to keep them under control on our little patch of land.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

What do those of you in the UK use actually on your chickens to treat for mites please? I see many things recommended on the forums but it seems that a lot of the options are unavailable in the UK or are not licensed for use on poultry here. There was one option I found but was only available for professionals to purchase.

Currently I use Dergall on the coop, nest boxes etc. but only have DE powder in the dust bath and in a puffer for direct application to the chickens themselves.

I haven't seen any on the chickens at the moment but I know they are there, they keep reappearing in the coop despite my best efforts. I had a poorly hen who died earlier in the year who was absolutely crawling in mites - I read several articles about making garlic spray and it being 100% efficient but when I tried that it made no difference whatsoever, neither did the powder.

Thank you!

there are a lot of URBAN MYTHS out there mostly propagated by people who have zero connection to the soil, that's why they're called URBAN. Therefor you can imagine that many if not most of these urban myths are shall we say lacking in veracity. For instance I have yet to understand what garlic is supposed to do to reduce pest populations unless the pest in question breath smells so strongly of garlic that the mites in your chicken coop can't get a date for Saturday Night. Inquiring minds would like to know.

 

[HollyWoozle]

Vetafarm do an 'Avian Insect Liquidator' spray that's safe to use on newly hatched finch chicks. The only time you wouldn't use it on chickens was if you were intending to eat them. If I have an outbreak I especially concentrate on the chickens legs as that's what the mites crawl up to get to their meal. It has up to 6 weeks residual protection but I'd do it once a week until you know your coop is clear.

I've had success painting the inside of the coop with neem oil diluted to 50% with warm water. I've only ever had to do it once when there's an outbreak as it stops them at all stages.

Make sure rats aren't getting into your run or coop as rats and rodents can carry red mites, as can wild birds. Rats are where my problem lies as they are a major pest here in NZ as there's nothing here to keep the numbers in check, though we have found a bait block they go crazy for so we are trying to keep them under control on our little patch of land.

Thanks so much! I can buy that spray here easily it seems.

 

[HollyWoozle]

there are a lot of URBAN MYTHS out there mostly propagated by people who have zero connection to the soil, that's why they're called URBAN. Therefor you can imagine that many if not most of these urban myths are shall we say lacking in veracity. For instance I have yet to understand what garlic is supposed to do to reduce pest populations unless the pest in question breath smells so strongly of garlic that the mites in your chicken coop can't get a date for Saturday Night. Inquiring minds would like to know.

I have no idea why garlic would work but I was willing to try anything to help the chicken at that stage and figured it couldn't harm!

 

[Kiki]

Someone has mentioned this product before.
It doesn't seem to be DE, which is good.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Battles-Po...F8&qid=1530710391&sr=8-7&keywords=mite+powder

 

[HollyWoozle]

Someone has mentioned this product before.
It doesn't seem to be DE, which is good.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Battles-Po...F8&qid=1530710391&sr=8-7&keywords=mite+powder

View attachment 1455230 View attachment 1455230

Thank you - I somehow missed this in my initial search!

 

[Kiki]

Thank you - I somehow missed this in my initial search!

There are a lot of powders on your Amazon.
I notice a lot of them are just DE, I would advise to avoid all of the DE ones.
I am not sure what this active ingredient it but I know it isn't DE.

 

[HollyWoozle]

I have looked at so many powders and they do all seem to be DE until this one as you have spotted!

 

[HollyWoozle]

There are a lot of powders on your Amazon.
I notice a lot of them are just DE, I would advise to avoid all of the DE ones.
I am not sure what this active ingredient it but I know it isn't DE.

Aha, the ingredient is 'p-menthane-38-dio' which after some studying I think is just lemon eucalyptus!