Backyard Poultry Forum

Hi,

We live in Brisbane and have chicken mites all through our house. It's driving me crazy as they are everywhere. They are in our hair, our beds and even in the cars.

I think the kids brought them in from the chook pen after playing with the newly hatched chicks. They were spending a lot of time in there, my sixteen yr old daughter even sat in the chook shed for a while until she could feel things crawling on her.

We've had our lovely chookies for over two years (they were day-olds when we got them) and have never had a problem with mites before. We do have a lot of pigeons hanging around and getting up close and personal with the chooks on the ground. We also bought fertilized eggs so don't know if they come from there or not.

Chooks and pen and coop have all been treated, as have the dogs, cat and parrot. We will be treating them again in a couple of days.

What is the best way to get rid of them out of the house? I am very reluctant to use anything toxic as our youngest is only 5 months old. I have been spraying a bit of neem oil solution around but not sure if it is doing anything.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

If it was me I would first try one of those mortein bombs in each room and see if that helps.Once the bombs are released no hint of them after 4 hours.
Follow up with washing everything down and vacumming carpets etc.
They say a cooler house is better to stop infestation than a warm house so run the airconditioner if you have one.
And basically stop the children going near the chooks till you have the problem there under control.
As for the car run it through the car wash and use there vacum I would put a bomb in that the night before.

Hopefully others may be able to help you

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Sebright Club of Australia
sebrights-au.webs.com

i know with having had babies myself, that low or non toxic stuff is prefered. but those crawlies will get all over bubs and it cannot scratch or have a shower when they are on it.

i totally agree with macl27 & have previously bombed our place up the wazzu to get rid of mites.

with chooks mites happen and chicks are adorable.

maybe you could do the car then clean n vac. then next morning set the house ones and you and family go out for the day.

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whomever lives longest wins

Definitely bomb the house, we have had them inside this year too.

From what I have read, it seems to be a particularly bad year for mites, so don't feel too bad, it's not just you.

You will need to treat every bird for a few weeks until they are all gone, also you will have to spray all your pen & coop area, lime the ground etc.

Good luck it's a battle, rats will also add to the problem as they will spread them around along with native birds.

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Lacy
A passionate breeder of the beautiful Wyandotte
Huntervalley Wyandotte Club

Yep, go the bombs. The mortein ones are permethrin (check the label). Bomb and then vacuum the wazzoo out of everything. Can you send the kids away for the day to grandma and pa? That will allow you the time to do it all and keep them safe.

Strip all the beds, soft furnishings, hot wash, sun dry.

When you treat the birds and pens remove your clothes afterwards and hot wash.

Good luck! Nasty little pests.

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Erika

I was going to say exactly the same - bomb the house. It's happened to us as well.

Once you've done the house, fleabomb the chookpen.

It's been good during the hot dry weather. One little hint of cool and dampness and the little *(%&*&^ come crawling out of the woodwork (literally). It's getting awful out there. Time to hit the chemicals. Pestene ain't doing the trick here ...

Well that's a wake-up call, thanks people. Never experienced them that badly, but I guess it is more a case of not if but when.

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PC

Also check your roof space. Sparrows pigeons and swifts can be absolutely riddled with mites. If they have a nest somewhere that might be your source of mites, or another source.

I had enormous problems with one coop - just couldn't seem to get the blasted things under control. Worse because the pen is actually fully enclosed - it's a nursery greenhouse frame that we covered in heavy-duty chickenwire. My favourite pen because I know nothing bigger than a wren can get inside and eat the food (yes, ok, and rats and mice), and it's as fox-proof as such a pen is going to get.

I could NOT work out the source ... until I looked at a sapling she-oak next to the coop, which had a few branches poking through the wire. It was literally crawling - moving - with red mite. My skin still shudders when I think of it, because we touched it daily as we went into the shed to collect eggs.

I had that thing down in 10seconds (love my pruning saws) and thrown as far away as I could. I would have burnt it instantly if I could justify it.

Mite problem back under control ...

Thank you for your replies. Looks like bombing the house is the way to go to rid of the little buggers. I'll let you know how we get on.

Make sure you use a bomb that says it's effective against mites. Mites are not insects so will not respond to all products that kill insects. It needs to be acaricidal as well.
You'll need to repeat bomb fortnightly for 6 weeks to get them as they hatch in the cracks and crevices in the walls. This is the same in the coop. You will need to soak the enclosure top to bottom , including the tree.

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http://www.geckodan.com
The CHOOKSHOP http://www.geckodan.com/the-chookshop/
email geckodan@bigpond.com

Breeder of Exotic waterfowl, wild type Muscovy, Dutch bantams, Phoenix and Yokohama Fowls.

Also moxydectin/cydectin your birds. When the mites bite them it will poison the mites and hopefully help keep them down.

I recommend spraying the pens with Avian Insect Liquidator, and you can even dunk the birds in it. It does what it says on the bottle. Mites, lice, everything.

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Shairlyn's Genetics Lessons

As you can tell, organic can go hang when it comes to mites. NO MERCY.

'orrible little crawly things ...

Could someone please tell me the best way to treat my chooks for mites (or lice). Not sure which but they are everywhere.

Hi Tracy,

There are a number of things you can do, depending on what your birds have and how severe. Generally it's a good idea to treat both the birds and their housing. I would start with Pestene (external powder), moxidectin (water soluble medication), cleaning and spraying house and perches and changing their litter.

There are many forum threads under Housing and Husbandry or Good Samaritan about parasites. Here is one:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4266&p=22819&hilit=+Ivomec+pour#p22819