Northern Fowl Mite Disgust

[Rels]

This is going to be sort of a long story..I have been dealing with Northern Fowl Mites for who knows how long. I had treated my flock for it last year and believed to have gotten it under control but am suspicious that they never fully went away. The topic keeps me up at night, I want them GONE! I noticed about a month ago that one of my silkie roosters was often seen sitting, I also noticed the majority of my flock with messy bums. Upon further examination of my rooster I realized that he was loaded with mites. The mites were mostly in the vent area, I will attach a close up of them. I have not really found mites within the coop but I do see them on their eggs.
I went straight to work and gave the rooster a dawn bath. I then proceeded to treat the whole flock with Eprinex. I have 15 silkies, 3 of which are roosters (they have it the worse due to never dusting) and I also have 12 mixed breed chickens; anconas, orpington, wyandotte, etc. They are housed in a huge divided coop/run and they free range pretty much every night, something that I wish to continue to do because they love it. The Eprinex has been applied to all chickens 4 times now, 04/01, 04/06, 04/12, & 04/16, .25mL to the silkies and .50mL to my full sized chickens, to the vent and back of neck area, directly on skin. I have read that the NFM have a 5-7 day life cycle so I have varied the ranges of applications to experiment.
I dipped all of my messy silkies in a Permethrin dip and took to trimming the majority of all of the chickens mite-egg-filled vent feathers. I sprayed Adams flea and tick spray on most of the chickens and the silkie's mite-filled-crests. I gutted their coops, doused the coop in Permethrin solution, offered Permethrin dust to every crowded area/dust bath/dusted chickens with it, gave fresh shavings. I have even given them fresh garlic treats. I also wormed my flock with Safeguard during all of this (because why not?), two doses 10 days apart, .25mL/lb of bird, directly into the mouth, and voided eggs for 20 days.
I really want to cut down my flock and sell some of my beloved silkies. I was going to give a broody silkie to a friend that was getting chicks and thought that my treatments would have been more than enough to fight this issue. I gave the hen a detailed bath and came to the disgusting realization that she still had a couple of mites on her and possibly some eggs. I could never give the hen to my friend and have her have to deal with what I have dealt with. I also will not sell any hens until they are 100% mite free. I understand that ectoparasites are an ever present issue in this hobby. But this is ridiculous, what is the most effective method to combat Northern Fowl Mites? I am willing to spend $$ to get rid of this issue for good. Is it worth it to try the Elector PSP? Furthermore, what would be an effective preventative method once the infestation is cured? Any insights are appreciated

 

[Gallega]

I feel for you. I deep clean once a week and spray apple cider vinegar EVERYWHERE!! i even make aure it hits the chickens!! tey dont mind much but I really think it helps.i have also heard that guinea fowls will actually eat this mites..

 

[Alexgil]

This is going to be sort of a long story..I have been dealing with Northern Fowl Mites for who knows how long. I had treated my flock for it last year and believed to have gotten it under control but am suspicious that they never fully went away. The topic keeps me up at night, I want them GONE! I noticed about a month ago that one of my silkie roosters was often seen sitting, I also noticed the majority of my flock with messy bums. Upon further examination of my rooster I realized that he was loaded with mites. The mites were mostly in the vent area, I will attach a close up of them. I have not really found mites within the coop but I do see them on their eggs.
I went straight to work and gave the rooster a dawn bath. I then proceeded to treat the whole flock with Eprinex. I have 15 silkies, 3 of which are roosters (they have it the worse due to never dusting) and I also have 12 mixed breed chickens; anconas, orpington, wyandotte, etc. They are housed in a huge divided coop/run and they free range pretty much every night, something that I wish to continue to do because they love it. The Eprinex has been applied to all chickens 4 times now, 04/01, 04/06, 04/12, & 04/16, .25mL to the silkies and .50mL to my full sized chickens, to the vent and back of neck area, directly on skin. I have read that the NFM have a 5-7 day life cycle so I have varied the ranges of applications to experiment.
I dipped all of my messy silkies in a Permethrin dip and took to trimming the majority of all of the chickens mite-egg-filled vent feathers. I sprayed Adams flea and tick spray on most of the chickens and the silkie's mite-filled-crests. I gutted their coops, doused the coop in Permethrin solution, offered Permethrin dust to every crowded area/dust bath/dusted chickens with it, gave fresh shavings. I have even given them fresh garlic treats. I also wormed my flock with Safeguard during all of this (because why not?), two doses 10 days apart, .25mL/lb of bird, directly into the mouth, and voided eggs for 20 days.
I really want to cut down my flock and sell some of my beloved silkies. I was going to give a broody silkie to a friend that was getting chicks and thought that my treatments would have been more than enough to fight this issue. I gave the hen a detailed bath and came to the disgusting realization that she still had a couple of mites on her and possibly some eggs. I could never give the hen to my friend and have her have to deal with what I have dealt with. I also will not sell any hens until they are 100% mite free. I understand that ectoparasites are an ever present issue in this hobby. But this is ridiculous, what is the most effective method to combat Northern Fowl Mites? I am willing to spend $$ to get rid of this issue for good. Is it worth it to try the Elector PSP? Furthermore, what would be an effective preventative method once the infestation is cured? Any insights are appreciated

Thank you for posting this. I am eagerly awaiting any replies you might have as I have just discovered Northern Fowl Mite on my Pekin Bantams. 2 of them looked a little sorry for themselves and after close inspection I saw them. I have 10 pekins and I am looking for the best way to manage this i.e prevention and treatment. I have been reading about how difficult it is to be rid of them and that Elector PSP seems to be the biz. I am in the UK though and can’t buy it here - plus it is so expensive. I look forward to the replies to this post.

 

[Rels]

Thank you for posting this. I am eagerly awaiting any replies you might have as I have just discovered Northern Fowl Mite on my Pekin Bantams. 2 of them looked a little sorry for themselves and after close inspection I saw them. I have 10 pekins and I am looking for the best way to manage this i.e prevention and treatment. I have been reading about how difficult it is to be rid of them and that Elector PSP seems to be the biz. I am in the UK though and can’t buy it here - plus it is so expensive. I look forward to the replies to this post.

I hope we can tackle this! Your poor Pekins. These mites are the worse. It’s basically like the chickens have fleas and fleas are also very difficult to get rid of. I find it hard to believe that since this is such a common issue-that there is not a proven product. But I think that the pests build resistance which is what makes it challenging.

 

[cluckadoodledoo13]

I clean everything every day, my flock also have cider vinegar in their water as this kills parasites though that’s mostly for worming. In hot weather i would make a dig or let your chickens make a dig and fill it with dirmatacious earth. I’ve used it before and it’s great at killing mites, it suffocates them!

 

[cluckadoodledoo13]

I clean everything every day, my flock also have cider vinegar in their water as this kills parasites though that’s mostly for worming. In hot weather i would make a dig or let your chickens make a dig and fill it with dirmatacious earth. I’ve used it before and it’s great at killing mites, it suffocates them!

Mite powder on the actual birds would be good and you can get spray to clean out the hen hut. I have taken dermataciois earth on a make up brush before and dusted areas in the hen hut. They didn’t seem to come back.

 

[Shadrach]

Eprinex and Ivermectin are not going to deal with Northern Fowl mite.
Properly applied Permethrin will.
Despite the fact that Northern Fowl mite live on the chicken and not in the coop like red mite you will need to strip out everything in the coop and treat every inch and every knook and cranny with Permethrin spray. If there is bedding in the coop, burn it.
You will need to treat every chicken whether you see mites on them or not.
You may find that buying a powder and pouring a good quantity of the powder into a double thickness plastic bag and then putting the chicken in the double bag leaving it's head out and shaking the bag with the chicken in it the most effective method. You can very carefully do their heads with Permethrin spray afterwards.

Do not bother with DE or cider vinegar or any of the other alternatives suggested.
Elector PSP has a solid reputation but I've never used it and it is expensive.

 

[Rels]

Eprinex and Ivermectin are not going to deal with Northern Fowl mite.
Properly applied Permethrin will.
Despite the fact that Northern Fowl mite live on the chicken and not in the coop like red mite you will need to strip out everything in the coop and treat every inch and every knook and cranny with Permethrin spray. If there is bedding in the coop, burn it.
You will need to treat every chicken whether you see mites on them or not.
You may find that buying a powder and pouring a good quantity of the powder into a double thickness plastic bag and then putting the chicken in the double bag leaving it's head out and shaking the bag with the chicken in it the most effective method. You can very carefully do their heads with Permethrin spray afterwards.

Do not bother with DE or cider vinegar or any of the other alternatives suggested.
Elector PSP has a solid reputation but I've never used it and it is expensive.

Thank you for the advise. I have doused the entire coop in Permethrin and stripped all of the shavings. I have also used the Permethrin powder in several ways: dusting the chickens, put it in their dust bath, put it inside their coops. I have made a Permethrin dip for the chickens as well.

 

[Alexgil]

I hope we can tackle this! Your poor Pekins. These mites are the worse. It’s basically like the chickens have fleas and fleas are also very difficult to get rid of. I find it hard to believe that since this is such a common issue-that there is not a proven product. But I think that the pests build resistance which is what makes it challenging.

So far I have used what I have and what I was advised to do from the person who sold me them. First of all I cut off all of the bum feathers as much as I could over a piece of white paper so that I could see how bad they were. A couple of them worse than others. A few had dirty bums to washed that off. I then dusted them with DE above and below the vent and under the wings and then drops of invermectin. I sent for some lice and mite shampoo which should arrive tomorrow and I will wash their bums, dry and reapply the powder and repeat the invermectin in one week to hopefully get the eggs. Checking over the white paper is a great way of finding them if you can’t see them with the naked eye. If this doesn’t work I will try some permethrin spray which I have also sent for. Fingers crossed, although after reading these posts invermectin doesn’t seem to be a great choice. Will keep you posted. After this initial treatment they do look a lot happier. Also I should say that their coop is thoroughly cleaned and sprayed once a week and I haven’t seen anything at all in there.

 

[Rels]

So far I have used what I have and what I was advised to do from the person who sold me them. First of all I cut off all of the bum feathers as much as I could over a piece of white paper so that I could see how bad they were. A couple of them worse than others. A few had dirty bums to washed that off. I then dusted them with DE above and below the vent and under the wings and then drops of invermectin. I sent for some lice and mite shampoo which should arrive tomorrow and I will wash their bums, dry and reapply the powder and repeat the invermectin in one week to hopefully get the eggs. Checking over the white paper is a great way of finding them if you can’t see them with the naked eye. If this doesn’t work I will try some permethrin spray which I have also sent for. Fingers crossed, although after reading these posts invermectin doesn’t seem to be a great choice. Will keep you posted. After this initial treatment they do look a lot happier. Also I should say that their coop is thoroughly cleaned and sprayed once a week and I haven’t seen anything at all in there.

It sounds like you've done a good job so far. I also trimmed pretty much all of my chickens vent feathers, I could tell that was where the majority of the eggs are. I think giving them a bath does help, I fill up a bucket and let the chickens sort of float in there for several minutes-they like it! I often use the permethrin spray, it is very toxic to cats-use caution if that is a concern of yours. But I am not sure what "properly applied permethrin" means. I would agree with you-after I started really treating my chickens I could tell their better with less bugs but I know they are not fully gone. My whole point in starting this post was because I feel that there should be a topical solution that you can apply to the chickens that will make the bugs 100% go away. Of course you can use permethrin powders and sprays and dust your chickens and clean their living areas and bathe them but even that does not seem like a method that would totally eliminate them. But maybe that's just me....Regardless keep me posted!
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