Fighting Chicken Mites
Edie with her beard
I’ve been so ashamed to admit that my pampered, pet chickens have mites that until recently I haven’t told a sole. I’ve spent many, many late night hours searching through the archives of backyardchicken.com educating myself on how to spot them and how to get rid of them. There are many different schools of thought, which, although helpful, has added to my confusion on how to deal with the problem.
My battle started a few months ago when I noticed Edie’s luxurious beard getting a little mangy looking. I bought a bag of diatomaceous earth and sprinkled it liberally inside their coop. Diatomaceous earth or DE for short, is fossilized diatoms or a hard-shelled algae. It’s tiny edges abrade soft-bodied animals that come into contact with it causing them to die of dehydration. You use food-grade DE with chickens (non-food-grade is lethal) to kill mites, lice and to deter flies. Some gardeners also sprinkle the stuff around their plants to protect them from slugs. When using DE, you must wear a dust mask and eye protection.
I also read that you need to dust your chickens. What the heck does a city girl know about how to dust a chicken?! I immediately turned to the internet, which has never let me down until this point. I was told to hold them upside down by their legs and sprinkle the DE all over them. Under wings, by their vent (chicken speak for poop shoot) and around their neck. You can put the DE in the foot of a stocking and use it like a powder puff. I thought for sure that YouTube would have a video showing me how to do that, but they didn’t. They have lots of videos of chickens rolling around in the dirt taking a voluntary dust bath in case you are interested in that? No? Okay. I also read that you can put DE in a plastic bag, put the chicken into the bag up to its neck and then just shake the bag. One person on the chicken forum made the connection to Shake N’ Bake and I can’t get that image out of my mind now. Plus I can’t figure out how to do that without strangling your chicken.
We then proceeded to have the rainiest June I can remember. Every time I dusted the chickens (which consisted of me sprinkling DE on them and then trying to massage it under their feathers) and their run it would rain. DE doesn’t work when it gets wet. Gah. Edie started to look mangier and her egg production fell off. When she layed eggs, they were strange – bumps on the shells, soft-shells, no shells. She didn’t act sick, but I knew that there was a problem. I bought some Poultry Protector and sprayed it in their coop and on them. Poultry Protector is a natural enzyme that kills mites, but isn’t harmful to the birds or the environment.
But the rain continued and I didn’t get rid of the mites. Or at least Edie’s neck and eggs still were in bad shape. Getting rid of mites is a bit like fighting an invisible boogey man. I could never see them, but I knew they were there. I decided to use different products. I stepped up a rung on the toxic spray ladder and bought some permethrin. I draw the line at Sevin, which a lot of people use to great success. What killed the Sevin for me was the part on the warning label that says it kills bees. I couldn’t be a part of the collapse of the honey bee population. Permethrin is derived from plants, which makes it sound less toxic, although it too has a pretty long list of warnings on the bottle. I sprayed the coop after I cleaned it thoroughly and I also sprayed the wood chips in the run. I also sprayed a little on the girl’s tushes. I washed Edie’s tush because it was getting a little dirty looking. I was horrified to see lots of missing and broken feathers. See thoroughly gross photo…
broken and missing vent feathers
feathers missing on the back of Edie's neck
I also bought flea and tick shampoo and powder. My toxic arsenal was getting larger!! They both contain permethrin in their ingredient lists. A lot of chicken keepers have success bathing their chickens in flea shampoo, so I thought I would give that a try. You see, you have to continue battling the chicken mites for a while to break their egg cycle. These products kill the mites, but not the eggs, so you have to do a second or third (or in my case 45th) round to make sure you catch all the hatching mites. The discouraging part is that even though you might kill all the mites in your immediate coop area, some mites can live for 6 weeks off their host and can come back to re-infest your flock.
So here are some photos of Edie after her flea bath. I put her in my daughter’s Lego tub and then lathered her up on the patio. I rinsed her several times with warm water to get the shampoo off of her. You have to make sure when doing this that your bird doesn’t get chilled. Even though it was a very warm and sunny day, I could feel her shivering a bit. I toweled her off and held her in the sunshine until she was dry. As you can see, she was not happy at all about being shampooed.
chicken washing station
an angry wet hen
I also just ordered plastic roosting posts from Omlet as I read that mites can hide in the tiny cracks in wooden posts. When those arrive I will do another entire breakdown, scrubbing and dusting of their coop and run. Edie’s neck still looks very mangy, but I think I see some feathers growing in. I’ve been feeding all the girls yogurt (probiotics) and cat food (protein to help re-grow feathers), which they devour with gusto.
This has been a huge pain in the neck for both me and the hens and I hope I will get rid of the mites soon. Don’t worry about coming over, chicken mites don’t like humans. It’s just the thought of them that makes you itchy. And if someone wants to produce it with me, I think YouTube needs a video of how to dust a chicken.
July 14th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Oh, you poor thing! I hope you’ve gotten rid of them, after all that, I think you must have! The permethrin was what worked for me, although I had lice, not mites. Poor Edie, too! She probably feels naked and ugly. I get the sense that chickens know they are beautiful
I was wondering whether my chickens’ broken and missing feathers will grow back or if I will have to wait until they molt. Its been awhile and they are still looking ragged. I know the lice are gone though, because they were very visible. I am impressed with the “skin” photos you captured. It is difficult to take a picture of a chicken, much less a close-up of its skin. Thank you for your antidotal story!
July 14th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Poor Edie. And my condolences on having to deal with the mites. Reminds me of my battle with the neighborhood head lice.
When my snake had mites (they hide under the scales and it’s very difficult to hold a slithering snake in water for any length of time to drown the damn mites) I placed the highly toxic (and now banned) pest strip on top of her tank. A week and mites & eggs were all dead & gone. These poisons work really fast and well.
July 15th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
I’m so sorry you have to deal with this. Unfortunately, I am in the same boat. We have 11 chickens and 1 turkey all in the same coop and they have mites too. It is going to be a long battle to fight them off, but your information has helped me out alot. Best of luck to you and Edie!
July 15th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
that chicken looks madder than a wet hen. ok, sorry. i couldn’t resist.
July 21st, 2009 at 6:08 pm
We have the same problem! We have 3 hens just down the street from you (Boerum Hill) they have been losing feathers. We assumed it was mites, but don’t know for sure. http://benjaminste.in/post/140448597/our-chickens-are-sick-2-of-them-are-losing
August 2nd, 2009 at 5:22 pm
What is wrong with my chickens they lost alot of there feathers plz answer me i need help for my chickens thank you
August 6th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
the chicken losing all its feathers is probably molting, mine tend to stop laying and “shed”, some all at once, others not,this happens twice a year. its a natural phenomenon
August 6th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
The moulting suggestion is good. It’s hard to say without seeing or hearing about the feather loss. My girl had mites and her egg production went way down. I suggested moulting, but I haven’t heard back from Leigh just yet. Hopefully it’s moulting.
August 19th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
We used Ivomectin on our chickens (bought a big bottle used for cattle and reduced the dosage according to their weight.. about 1 drop for every 2 pounds, placed on the chickens skin) The chickens didn’t get sick and it killed the bugs. Now getting the coop cleaned out.. that is a whole different problem. These bugs seem to come back every other summer. Gah!
September 14th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Your mites were around the head, I think mine are all on the top near the tail. I was given my hens and initially thought their featherlessness was due to too many hens in a small coop. Mine have plenty of room and free range all day, but still are not growing feathers. So I’m going to try dusting my hens as they come out the henny (doggie) door of my coop. Then I’ll dust everything inside. You didn’t say what the life cycle time is that I need to watch to redust everything. We’re getting ready for cold weather here in CO and I really need to get this taken care of right away. Thanks for the very graphic description of your fight against the mites.
September 15th, 2009 at 8:26 am
Bev, Do you have any roosters? Sometimes the roosters tear off feathers as they get randy with the hens. If it is mites, their life cycle is about 10-14 days, so keep re-applying every few days to break the cycle. You may not see new feathers until your girls go through a molt. My hen Edie is molting now and looks like a porcupine with all the new quills coming in.
I finally decided to use Ivermectin on my girls. That was a couple of days ago, so let’s hope these critters are gone for a while.
September 28th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
thanks for the info. I have 8 chickens and the are starting to scrath and losing patches of feathers. some of them come in the house through the dog door and im concerned about getting them in the house too. I.ve been sprayeng with orange oil and it only seems to help a little.
September 29th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
You could make a dusting box for your chickens with dry earth and DE for them to roll in. My chickens love that and I have had no problems with mites.
September 30th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Thanks Cindy,
I did make a dusting box with a mixture of DE, sand and fireplace ash. They didn’t get the idea, so I put them in it and sprinkled the mixture through their feathers. They thought they were being killed, so they never went near that box again!! I’m sure if I was patient, they would have lived in it!
October 8th, 2009 at 9:45 am
If you have mites, you don’t have to worry about getting them. They are species specific and will not chomp on you like fleas do. I really recommend the eprinex/ivermectin pour on, which goes on the back of their necks like frontline for dogs and cats. You just put about 3-4 drops on them and the mites go away.
October 12th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
I have 37 chickens and cant figure out how to get rid of the mites. I have lots of lots of stuff written down that I want to try and your thing^ really helped me so thanks.
October 26th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
The folks at Cedarcide are using a modified cedar oil that will kill mites in about 30 seconds but won’t hurt you are the bird. Works for ticks , bedbugs, roaches and is a natural mosquito repellent.
To check it out email charlie@cedarcide.com
December 9th, 2009 at 7:19 am
Thanks for this – it’s good to know that it is not just me dealing with this problem. I was recommended “Pestene” but am now worried that this is just the Australian name for “Sevin”. What are the active constituents? (This tube says :Sulfur” and “Rotenone” – am I killing my chooks?
December 9th, 2009 at 10:42 am
I would definitely avoid Sevin in any form. I don’t know what the active ingredients are, but the warning labels will clue you in. Sevin has a warning about killing bees. I think the poor honey bees are having enough trouble without us tipping the scales. The Eprinex/Ivermectin pour on drops worked like a charm. 2-3 drops on a bantam and 3-4 drops on a regular sized chook. I have no affiliation with any of these products, I just try and find the least toxic. I also use Poultry Protector, but think that’s better as a preventative.
December 10th, 2009 at 1:48 am
Thanks for that. I have managed to track down a seller of “Ivomec Eprinex Pour on” which is sold here in Australia for Cattle only and not recommended for chickens – would this be the right one?
December 10th, 2009 at 11:12 am
That’s the stuff. Since it hasn’t been tested on chickens, there is no real info on how long (or if) you should wait before eating the eggs from the treated hens. I decided on 2 weeks, but then my girls went into a molt, so I didn’t have eggs anyway.
December 26th, 2009 at 12:17 am
Help! I lost a hen about a month ago. I had no idea why,she was my first hen and I didn’t know a lot… She was spoiled rotten and we loved her dearly.. We have bought another hen from the fair and we have notice she stopped laying and is losing a lot of feathers. She seems to be off her food and lays around a lot. I did see tiny bugs around her vent area. Mite I’m guessing. I found some powder at one of the feed stores here and had no choice but to use it as It is the only thing I could find. She also has scaly feet too, I did the vaseline, but she hated it and started walking funny so I washed it off.. It the not eating and laying around that has me most bothered. We have no aviary vets here so I’m one mt own. Also none of our feed stores carry anything for poultry other than feed…I need to find help for her before it’s to late… I read that a lot of people use poultry spice when their chickens are under the weather.I could find it on line but only in the UK. Does anyone know about this stuff or anything close to it that I could find here? HELP! Debbie
December 26th, 2009 at 10:55 am
It sounds as though you have a few problems. You should quarantine that hen ASAP so the others don’t get her problems. I’ve heard a lot of discussion of people finding sick hens at fairs. She has scaly leg mites and probably lice. Are the bugs around her vent yellowish or dark? Yellowish are lice and dark are mites. If she’s laying around she’s in distress. I would suggest going to backyardpoultry.com as they have loads of experienced chicken keepers who are very generous with advice. There is a forum and you go to the diseases and pests section to search for answers or post a question. I recommend a few drops of Eprinex pour on as a way to get rid of the lice/mites. I haven’t had experience with scaly leg mites, but I know it can get out of hand and be very bad for the hen. Why don’t you also google it and see what you can do. I think the vaseline is a good start. Probably the mites were getting smothered and starting to bite her, which was making her walk funny. I think you should put it back on her legs.
Good luck and keep me posted!
March 7th, 2010 at 6:57 am
The mites on our chickens though tiny grey, white or black pinpricks are easily seen moving up your hand and around the nesting container which is a plastic tub and also swarming over the nesting materials. These do bite humans and are very itchy leaving big red welts on skin just like mossie bites but itchier. We used Malaban mixed in water and sprayed liberally on all surfraces and a weaker solution sprayed on birds. We have Cockateils as well so we had to protect them too and their environment. For them we had to use bird lice and mites spray from the pet shop.
This segment has been very helpful and I am going to keep it for future reference. Thankyou.
One question we are puzzled about. Where do they originate from?
March 13th, 2010 at 9:52 pm
I’ve heard that the mites can come from wild birds, squirrels and rodents. Yuk.
May 14th, 2010 at 3:29 pm
Are you sure that the chicken mites are only going to bite chickens? I have young children and have just read that poultry mites will bite horses, humans cats dogs etc etc… which terrifies me – also there are plenty of photographs on the internet showing humans bitten by chicken mites to prove this fact. I have also read that jeyes fluid works well so i’m going to clean with that and i might try spraying with surgical sprit – anything but powder chemicals.
May 14th, 2010 at 3:30 pm
ALSO GET RID OF YOUR STRAW- APARENTLY MITES COME FROM THAT. MINE IS GOING OUT TONIGHT!
May 28th, 2010 at 6:47 pm
My husband and I have those red welts. I have been on an endless cleaning spree. Under the house where they free range at night my poor girls are so uncomfortable. I don’t want to cage them which is the containment that was suggested to me. I took five baths yesterday and my husband is off to the doctor. Any suggestions on how to get the mites and lice off of me? Advantage?
June 16th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Hi,
Just a comment,
Yes, those mites …DO…LIKE HUMANS.or at least the ones that wild birds have..
they have mutated here in the states, and it has become a plague from all across America,North and South America, rich or poor, country or city, every where they are biting people. People have had to tear out carpets, cloth couches, curtains, etc. where they can hide…
they can last 9 months in clothes unworn.
They can last months in cars…and thrive on heat, and really come alive when you sweat…
Fumigate the house with a tent…on and on may get rid of them. Maybe…they become resistant to all the different sprays.
These microscopic Mites bite and bore into the skin.
My sister has fought them for almost 3 years, with the horrible lesions and the skin twisting in a scared flash burn look.
Doctors will not admit that Bird mites bite humans.
Even Etemologist say they do not bite humans, yet there are people suffering with these things, with the crawling feelings the bites, the scars, the sores the red whelps, the bumps, even on their backs where they cannot reach to scratch, the crawling in the sinuses, and nose, and ears, biting around the edges of the mouth and nose, eyelids and eyebrows, at night while you sleep.
etc.
Doctors here refuse to TAKE A LOOK…and just prescribe psychiatric drugs…and say it is in your head.
Entemologist here say you need a psychiatrist…and dismiss you.
IF THESE MITES …DO NOT…BITE HUMANS,…THEN WHAT IS …ACTUALLY…BITING THEM???
Too many across the WORLD are complaining of this problem, to say it is an allergy…
ANYWAY….TRY NIACINE…..50 increments at a time…
50 for 3 days…and you WANT the flush…it is waking up the dead damaged cells again and detoxing the body…
and eliminating the inflamation in the cells and joints…(for any illness.)
then the way to continue taking it is
100 for 3 days
then 150 for 3 days
then 200 from then on…
do not go over 200…
if you miss it for several days, start back at the 50 for 3 days and work up again
Also the MMS product from Project GreenLife.com
also helps fight them in the body….and gives great relief from the pain and itching and helps some people sleep better.
Just mix with Apple Cider Vinegar or fresh lemon juice and drink in FRESH PINEAPPLE JUICE.
DO NOT BUY CANNED JUICES THEY HAVE AN ADDITIVE THAT CANCELS OUT THE PRODUCTS ACTIVE ABILITY.
We need to come together as a group and stand up and say…we DO HAVE A PROBLEM…it is NOT IN OUR HEADS….and we are TIRED of being dismissed and suffering any longer!!!
July 6th, 2010 at 9:50 am
My understanding is that chicken mites are species-specific and will not bite humans. Maybe someone else wants to weigh in on that. I was never bitten while my girls had mites.
July 6th, 2010 at 9:50 am
Mites can also come in via wild birds and there’s not much you can do about that.
July 6th, 2010 at 9:56 am
So sorry my responses have been so delayed. I was having some technical difficulties (more with my brain than with the computer) and couldn’t get on to approve and reply to some comments. Anyhow…I recommend ivomectin, which is a pour-on parasite killer. You put 2-4 drops (2 for bantams) on the back of your chicken’s necks and it kills the mites right away. Wait a week to eat the eggs after a treatment. That should do it. Clean their area as best you can. Adam’s flea and tick shampoo is recommended as well. Maybe give yourself a flea dip and don’t mention it to any of your friends because that’s the sort of thing that will cause gales of laughter for years!
July 6th, 2010 at 9:59 am
Wow, this sounds very unpleasant.