Mites in Chicken Coop..

[scesnick]

I seem to have an infestation of mites in my chicken coop. I went into the coop last night after dark to see what's wrong with the light timer and noticed a ton of little bugs crawling on the light timer. No doubt mites.

I have noticed in the last few days that my birds have almost quit laying eggs all together.
They also seem to be eating less. I guess now I know why.

I have done a bit of research and see that Sevin Dust is a good treatment but I would really like some kind of liquid i can put in my sprayer and spray the whole coop and the birds with. Any suggestions? I only have 10 birds.

 

[BeezFun]

Confirm what kind they are before treatment. Common chicken mites are best treated by treating the coop, not the chickens. There are other mites better treated on the bird. We've had scaly leg mites, they are treated by keeping camphor oil on the legs to suffocate the mites. Regular cleaning of the coop and allowing the birds to create dust baths outside for themselves is best prevention. Birds are pretty good at keeping themselves healthy in the right environment. Other things to try to control are rodents, they can carry all kinds of things into the coup. Also wild birds, but there's not much you can do about that.

 

[scesnick]

I am 95% sure they are common chicken mites. I have the birds in a coop with a run attached. there is no way I can free range my birds. I live way back in the sticks and between the coyotes, hawks, fox and my farm dogs the birds woudln't last a day.
I do clean the coop on a regular basis. I just cleaned it last week actually. Not sure how they got in there.

What do I treat the coop with? I know Sevin Dust works but I don't think it would be very easy to get the dust in the super small area of the coop. A liquid in a sprayer woul dprobably work better.

 

[brin]

Google - Liquid Seven - It comes in liquid form and aerosol

 

[BKBrown]

As noted; Sevin does come in liquid, but I used to use the blower function on an old Kirby Vacuum cleaner to fog the dust into the coup. You could leave the machine outside and just put the hose into the coup. I'm sure that there are other blowers that could do the same. I just don't like the liquid Sevin because it tends to clog up my sprayer.

 

[Soundguy]

time to dust them...

they make plenty of dusts for poultry mites.

 

[scesnick]

I just called our local Southern States and they suggested a product called "Talstar One"
ever heard of it?

 

[BeezFun]

No but Sevin is good because you can use it on the coop and the birds. I'd get the powder and dust the birds, use liquid on the coop. That way you don't mix chemicals and get some reaction. Eggs will hatch, so you need to do the whole treatment again, probably a few times to clean everything up. Since the birds need to be confined I'd try cleaning coop with soap and water to prevent longer term recurrence.

Is there any way you can create a little dust bath for them in part of the area?

 

[Soundguy]

you can make permethrin rubs too.. kinda like cattle rubs.. just take a tube sock, stuff with an old tshirt and tie end off.. spary down with an agg emulsion permethrin mix % ok for chickens, and then hang by hay string in an area the chickens must pass to get food or water or to enter/exit the coop.

soundguy

 

[scesnick]

you can make permethrin rubs too.. kinda like cattle rubs.. just take a tube sock, stuff with an old tshirt and tie end off.. spary down with an agg emulsion permethrin mix % ok for chickens, and then hang by hay string in an area the chickens must pass to get food or water or to enter/exit the coop.

soundguy

Excellent idea Soundguy, I guess that is why they pay you the big bucks!! lol...