Backyard Poultry Forum

Hi everyone,

I noticed that a couple of my hens had feathers which look like they have been chewed ...
I didn't think they had mites or lice because I could never see them, but I was told that they did.

So I treated them with Ausmectin (Ivermectin) sheep drench and also sprinkled Neem Poultry Dust on them and the nesting areas.
One of the hens affected is losing feathers and I'm not sure if it's due to the mites or if she's started to moult, but when I look at the feathers which have been dropped, there are mites on them but they are still alive !

How do I kill the mites ?
Also, is it a good sign that the mites are on the feathers which have fallen ? Does that mean the Ausmectin is working ?
How much Neem should I sprinkle on them and how often can I use it without hurting my hens ?

Our hens are always dust bathing too, but this must not be enough.

Here are some photos.

Thanks !

Ditch the neem dust and buy some Pestene powder. Dust that all over the birds (wear a dust mask while you do this). Then clean out your whole coop and thoroughly spray every nook and cranny with a permethrin based spray, like Coopex.

The mites look like red mites, which mainly live in the coop. So treating the birds is not enough - you need to spray the whole coop as well.

_________________
Cheerio, Rach
Blue Swedish Ducks

Thanks for your response ! I will go get some pestene.

About the Coopex, my coop / run has a dirt floor and has aviary wire on all 4 sides and on the roof. I guess I would just need to spray the wooden frame, not all the wire ?
Also, what about the spray that falls onto the dirt floor, is that okay for them to eat off of or would I have to scrape a layer of the dirt floor up ?

My chickens are only in the coop to eat layer feed, otherwise they are out and about in the yard or laying / sleeping in the roost.

Don’t worry about scraping up a layer of dirt - the chooks will be fine.

Spray the timber in the coop, especially where any surfaces come together where mites might hide. Clean out and spray the nest area and the area where they roost/perch. Basically, spray any structure the chooks use to eat, sleep or lay in. Spray well, so the surfaces are wet.

Let us know how you get on with it

_________________
Cheerio, Rach
Blue Swedish Ducks

Okay, my husband sprayed the coop / roost with Coopex and we thought we might try a more natural spray on the chickens to start with.
So I sprayed them on the vent and under the wings with a garlic, water, essential oil mix.

I opened the roost and there were hardly any feathers dropped. All of the other mornings there were heaps of feathers, so I'm guessing they were pulling feathers out because of the irritation ?
There were also no mosquitoes in there !
I inspected the feathers which were in the roost and I counted 5 mites in total. 4 mites on 1 feather and 1 mite on another feather. 1 of the mites were moving, but the other 4 weren't.
All the other mornings, almost every single feather had so many active mites you could hardly count them !
So I think all of this has done something !

The strange thing is, I've tried to see the mites on the chickens themselves, but I can never see any ...

I will re-spray the chickens on Thursday with the garlic, water, essential oil mix, then give a second dose of Ivermectin on Friday and then re-spray them again on Sunday.
On Friday we will be mixing in some wood ash to their dust bowels too !

Hopefully this is enough to stop the mites damaging my chickens feathers !

Thank-you so much for your help too !

From me and my chickens, Alice, Sally, Gloria, Sooty and Dotti.

No problems. Really glad you seem to be winning the battle now That’s great news

To be honest I would not worry about the garlic/oil spray. It won’t affect the mites. Just respray the coop with the Coopex and give another dose of ivermectin. That should do the job

_________________
Cheerio, Rach
Blue Swedish Ducks

Okay thanks ! We'll spray the roost / coop again on Sunday with Coopex as that will be the seventh day

If you didn't find clumps of red mite in the house there is the chance these mites are northern fowl mite or tropical fowl mite. These live on the chicken and not in the surroundings. So the chickens would best be dusted, too. Dust is more effective than spray.

Many essential oils are very toxic, not just for chickens.
As for garlic see https://www.petcha.com/onions-garlic-birds/

I would go with Pestene as recommended by 70%cocoa in the first answer. It has been proved to be fairly safe for birds (and people). Rotenone is natural too, after all.
Another good option is Moxidectin in the drinking water. It kills worms and all blood-sucking insects.

_________________
Small free-range flock of Croad Langshans
http://croadlangshan.org/

Hmmm, the strange things is, I have searched my chickens and I can't find any mites on them ...
Well I pulled the roost apart, I did see a few crawling on the poop tray though ?

I have read so much conflicting information on the internet about essential oils and garlic that I don't know what to believe !

I also read that rotenone has been linked to Parkinson's ... but I believe there is only 5g in a 500g bottle so ... not a huge exposure I guess ?

I think I will end up using Pestene though if they seem to be coming back. I want them gone !

Thanks for your advice globi !