Chicken people! Mites? DE in the chicken coop?

[SugarCubes]

For the first time in two years I believe I have mites in my coop I noticed several teeny-tiny almost invisible to the naked eye spots crawling on my arms after cleaning it out today.

I was about to do a spring clean out anyway, so plan on stripping the coop and run and burning the bedding. After that, can I just sprinkle DE everywhere and mix it with the new bedding? I keep seeing to “dust” it on all of the surfaces…suggestions on the best way to do that?

My chickens love to dust bathe in their run so I’m hoping if I mix DE in with the bedding it’ll take care of the mites on them?

[SugarCubes]

Anyone?!

[endlessclimb]

For dusts, I use this:

Amazon.com: HARRIS Diatomaceous Earth Powder Duster with 6 Inch Extension Nozzle...

[SugarCubes]

Thank you!!! I was picturing myself with a feather duster trying to dust every inch of the coop

[Simkie]

I won’t use DE because it’s such a terrible respiratory irritant.

To keep mites out of the coop, I add permethrin to my wash water when I clean. For the birds, 0.2 cc pour on ivermectin is a cheap, easy, and fast solution. Elector PSP is another option for both.

Fwiw, my biggest mite contributor is the barn swallows.

[OnAMission]

I use the permectrin powder (Garden Dust; works on plants also so often found on the garden side of things instead of chickens) on flat surfaces and the chickens. If they have a dust bath place I also put it in there, then spray the premises with permectrin II. Bonus is that the spray kills flies as well.

[TheJenners]

Yeah DE is actually not that amazing around chickens, or anything really. Just avoid it.

[Texarkana]

@Simkie

Fwiw, my biggest mite contributor is the barn swallows.

Oh my gosh yes. The last two summers it was a living nightmare in my barn because I could not get the upper hand on the mites from the barn swallows. It was like a horror film.

I tried a combo of DE, permethrin, and cedar spray last summer. It sort of helped.

Barn swallows promptly get their nests removed at my new farm.

[enjoytheride]

DE is just a old wive’s tale, it doesn’t help with mites.

[SugarCubes]

Thanks, all! I will stay away from DE and go with the Garden Dust or Elector (which I’ve read works amazingly well?!)

I do end up with wild birds and often times mice in the chickens run, so I’m sure that’s how they got there. However, I never noticed them until a couple of days ago when they were all over my hands after cleaning the coop. Oddly enough, I can’t ever seem to find them at night with a flashlight.

[SugarCubes]

@Simkie

For the birds, 0.2 cc pour on ivermectin is a cheap, easy, and fast solution. Elector PSP is another option for both.

Is there a particular spot you apply it on them? Do you reapply after a certain amount of time to kill eggs that have hatched?

Do you need to throw away eggs for a certain amount of time after treating them with Ivermectin? Or after using any of the products mentioned?

[Simkie]

On the back, between the wings, under the feathers, is fine. Ivermectin is not an approved poultry medication in the US, but is approved for use in other countries. Egg withdrawal is kind of a swag, but I go two weeks based on this:

Plasma dispositions and concentrations of ivermectin in eggs following...

I’ve never had to dose again, likely because of the persistence noted in this paper.

There is no egg withdrawal time for Elector PSP or any permethrin/pyrethrin product. I find ivermectin far easier to use and more effective.

I definitely recommend stripping & scrubbing the coop along with treating the birds, though. You can add permethrin concentrate to your wash water, so it gets into the little cracks & crannies mites are hiding in. Just be mindful with where you dispose of it…permethrin is toxic to cats and aquatic life (like frogs & fish.)

[eightpondfarm]

i use Sevin. i put it in their dust areas and let them put it on themselves. For the ones that are pets, i will dust them personally with Sevin dust. I also use Sevin on my old bull who can’t naturally seem to fight off the late winter mites. I have an elderly arab mare who rubs her tail and when she starts doing that, i start cleaning her udder with a warm water wash cloth AND i put Sevin on her tail. G

[moonlitoaksranch]

I removed all bedding and dishes, locked the chickens in the bare coop, and sprayed them and their coop with a garden sprayer filled with insecticidal soap. Once they were dry, I added the bedding back in. They were MAD, but it worked.

[Mosey_2003]

Agree with the others, DE is useless at best, and a respiratory irritant at worst.

Permethrin, both dust and liquid, are good. Elector PSP is gold standard, yes, but expensive.

I battled lice last year, basically same thing as far as the protocol. Completely strip the coop. I like to mix up the liquid permethrin and spray the whole coop down really well, into the cracks, the entire roost (underside too), etc. Then I re-bed the floor and nests once it’s dry and sprinkle the powder on the bedding a bit.

You can either spray or dust the chickens themselves, you want to focus on the butt fluff and under the wings. Some folks put a good amount of the dust in a small garbage bag and then stand the hen in it, hold it closed gently around their neck, and swish the bag all around. That way you get good coverage without you or the chicken breathing any in, although I don’t find it to be much of an issue.

I also like to heavily sprinkle their favorite dusting spots with the powder, I do that frequently when it’s dry enough.

Remember that permethrin is toxic to cats.

Try to exclude wild birds, especially with HPAI running rampant. It’s a pain, I know.

You’ll want to completely repeat the whole procedure every 10 days until they’re all dead and gone.

If you go the ivermectin route, lots of folks say to put a drop here and a drop there, under the wings, etc. That’s not necessary, the idea is that it’s working like Frontline, so just go ahead and put it all on the skin on the back of their necks. I draw up like 0.25cc for a large chicken. You want the pour-on ivermectin for cattle for this application. Repeat in 10 days, then a two week egg withdrawal.

[eightpondfarm]

Speaking of DE…
I collected up two horses for lessons yesterday and brought them into a breezeway and fed them several flakes of alfalfa and left them there to eat while i went up and had breakfast. When i came back, the young one had found my bag of DE in the corner and had a party. A whole corner of the breezeway was dusted white. As were both his front legs, his chest and his chin. Nothing’s going to be crawling on his front side for a while LOL. Silly me to have trusted him for even a minute! Now, to source another 50# bag…