Lice/Mites...What to do?

[squirrelgirl]

Two of my chickens had tiny reddish-brown bugs crawling all over their vent area this morning. I dusted the whole flock with Sevin, but is there a better (but still inexpensive) way to do it? If Sevin is the best way, how often should I do it?

[mophead]

Did you clean your coop?
if not best clean coop an nest boxes an before you put your bedding,straw
wood chips dust all crackes edges corners in your coop an nest boxes.
if you can get some Adams Pyrethrin will be sold in feed stores or pet supply.they make a consentrate or a premix spray an spray your purches
boxes edges corners jest give it a double wammey.
this should make a big diffrence

[astevens4]

Sevin is an EXTREMELY effective parasite controller - give it a good dousing right down to the base of the feathers - wear a mask or be careful though - dont want to inhale it! Re Dust in a week if the situation isnt under control (but it always has been for me!)

Pyrethrin & Pymethrin (different types of the same thing), although very easily available is considerably less effective on mites than Sevin (Active ingredient Carbaryl) - because they are such widely used insecticides many mites are now resistant to them.

Tony

[Huntsman]

Nature's remedy is best. See that they have an area where they can have a dust bath. Besides, they love it.

[astevens4]

No offense huntsman, but if you've ever seen a hen with a bad mite infestation you'd soon change your mind - mites can literally suck a chicken dry - they breed like crazy, and can get a hold VERY rapidly.

I almost lost a broody last year to mites - it went from an empty house to so anameic she could barely stand up in 16 days.

I currently use a small spot of frontline, as my sevin ran out last year and you can no longer buy it in the UK, which works, but isnt as effective as the carbaryl.

Tony

[Huntsman]

Accepted if they are infested to start with but I bet the hens in question never had a dust bath available from the start.

Dust chokes the airways of both lice and mites.

[JamesC]

squirrelgirl:
Sevin is the best powder to use. It has to be repeated in exactly 10 days to break the cycle. When you treat the birds and the coop for the second time on day 10, you kill all parasites that have hatched since the first dusting, before they can lay more eggs. It has to be 10 days. 7 days and there could still be eggs that will hatch and reproduce, longer than 10 days and there are more eggs laid by the new generation, that will hatch, and the cycle will never be broken.
Once you get it under control with Sevin, you can use D.E. to sprinkle in the coop, nests and run, especially the dusting holes and that will help to keep bugs under control. I always give the area around the chicken door a good amount of D.E. to keep flies down as well.

Huntsman:
A dust bath is nature's way of keeping mites and lice under control, but these days we want to rid our birds of them. As Tony said they can suck a bird dry, and I've seen it happen.
I'm not sure about the "Dust chokes the airways of both lice and mites." statement. What happens is the bird gets dirt up under its feathers, down to the skin, the parasites are then on and throughout the dirt, which the bird then vigorously shakes off. That removes a large number, however there are still some left because that doesn't eliminate all of the bugs.
The other issue with dust baths, is that those bugs that have been shaken off can then be picked up by the next bird to use that hole. In nature a bird would not be sharing a dusting hole with a large flock, so it can be an effective survival tool against parasite. It's best to sprinkle D.E. of Sevin into the dusting hole to kill any bugs that end up in the dirt.

James

[astevens4]

Originally Posted by Huntsman

Accepted if they are infested to start with but I bet the hens in question never had a dust bath available from the start.

Dust chokes the airways of both lice and mites.

Actually all my birds have permanent access to a purpose built dustbath filled with sharpsand and DE, and a spot where i dump all my wood ash - with the broodies they have a kitty litter tray of sharpsand and food grade DE - however broodies rarely dustbathe.

Lice and mites dont actually have airways - the oxygen is absorbed and CO2 excreted via the skin.

Dust bathing removes them as James mentioned above, whereas DE kills them by scratching the outer surface leading to dessication.

Tony

[Huntsman]

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

[squirrelgirl]

Thanks folks! I'll stick with the Sevin every ten ten days, as well as make the dust bathing facilities better. Huntsman; the birds in question have had dust bathing available at all times, with the exception of rainy days-of which, granted, we have had quite a few recently- although they have been in their pen away from their favorite dust bath, the flower beds, for all but a few hours of the day for the last couple weeks. Even then, though, they have plenty of space in their pen, so while dust bathing is probably a great help, in this case it's not enough.
Next question; should I change the bedding immediately to help get rid of the mites now, or wait until after the second dusting to keep them out of the new bedding?

Thanks!