Mites - PLEASE help!!!!! Can I use a bug bomb in the coop to get rid of them??

[RobinFarmGirl]

Hello Everyone,

I didn't see an existing post on this...

Two problems - (1) MITES (2) LICE

I have found that there are the tiny mites in my chicken coop. I would like to know if I can use a bug bomb in my chicken coop to kill the mites. For some time now, I have been using DE dust in their nest boxes and on the hay in the coop where they like to lay around and dust. To no avail it appears, the mites are still there and I'm finding now that when I reach in the coop and adjust their ramp, I get mites on me so it is getting BAD.

I also saw lice on one of my chickens today (I have 15 of them); dipping all 15 of them will not be an easy task. Does anyone have an easier remedy to get rid of the lice?

Thank you all for any suggestions and knowledge!
Robin

 

[Pyxis]

I wouldn't use the bug bomb. What you need to do is go to Tractor Supply or another farm/feed/garden store and pick up some Sevin 5% Dust. It's in a red container. Dust the birds with it, either by putting some in old nylons and using the nylons as a powder puff all over their body, or by filling a small bag with Sevin, putting the bird in leaving just its head out, and gently shaking the bag so the dust goes all around the bird. I like the nylon method.

Then, clean out the coop. Clean it well. Use a gentle soap and water. Dust everything with the Sevin (the walls, floor, roosts, literally everything), put bedding in and mix the bedding with Sevin. Wait a week, and do it all over to kill any that might have hatched in the meantime, since Sevin does not kill eggs, just adults.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Don't forget that if you use Sevin that you're supposed to destroy your eggs for a period of time.

If you use Permethrin there is no egg withdrawal period.

Both Sevin and Permethrin kill mites like gang busters. Why not use the dust on the body and the Permethrin spray on the coop then switch products every time you retreat. This will make it much harder for your chicken parasites to develop resistances to these products.

More and more people report DE is useless in preventing and curing chicken mite and chicken lice infestations.

 

[boundtogoboogie]

I actually have a help for this. Nutrena makes a feed called feather fixer. It changes the ph in the manure and prevents the insects from developing. Got this from a nutritionist with a degree in livestock nutrition

 

[RobinFarmGirl]

Thank you all for the suggestions!

When the chickens were molting, I used the Nutrena Feather Fixer so I'm familiar with it. Will it help when the insects are already here and multiplying??

I've heard that Seven is pretty strong for the birds (their health) but it being just 5% shouldn't be that bad, correct?

I like the idea of using both Seven & Permethrin. Will this also kill the lice?

 

[RobinFarmGirl]

Oh, and if I use Seven dust on the chickens, what is the time period for NOT using the eggs?

Does Permethrin come in spray form only? If it comes in dust form too, can I use that to dust the chickens as well?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

.... Got this from a nutritionist with a degree in livestock nutrition

I think that the nutritionist meant that it would prevent flies from breeding in the manure not mites or lice since all but the Red or chicken mite pretty much lives 24/7 on your birds.

Flies on the other hand must have a food source for their young and because flies have a different life cycle from mites and lice, flies use manure and carrion for this purpose.

 

[boundtogoboogie]

No, she specifically told me lice, and i thought she also said mites, but i could be mistaken about that

 

[boundtogoboogie]

Go the nutrena site. It's mites the feather fixer works on. There is a pretty informative article there.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Few people withhold their own eggs, but I would do it if I was offering my eggs for sale. Sevin 5% Dust is no longer licensed for use on poultry in this country but it is still permitted for use on poultry in many other countries. Sevin works so well on chicken mites that no one but big commercial egg producers pays much attention to Uncle Sam's ban on its use. Sevin was permitted on chickens in the USA for decades until 5 or so years ago. I think that the withholding period is 14 days from last use but it may have changed again. On raw tomatoes you can use Sevin I think it is up to 3 days before harvest or use.

On any and all pesticides their big bad scary sounding name doesn't make a hill of beans. The only thing that matters is how big a dose of it the bug gets. If you drink to much bottled water too fast you will die from an electrolyte (salt) imbalance or shortage. The biggest difference between 5%, & 10% Sevin Dust and 50% Sevin Wetable powder is how the farmer distributes or uses it.