Successfully Rid Your Chickens of Mites Naturally HD

[itsearlable]

all this scrubbing and dusting and spraying works to some extent i am sure, but............you could just go to the woods some place and cut some sasafrass saplings to use for the roost poles. Mites hate something in the sasafrass wood. I have helped many people put these in chicken houses and they never had problems with the mite after that. You might want to put new ones in every 3 or 4 years but just make sure they are sasafrass. Even if the mites are already there this will make them leave.

[skateboy159]

my chickens had some lice when they got mites the lice left or mites killed them and i used food grade diatomaceous earth no mites after 5days

[katsandroses]

For Australian viewers, *Pestene* is excellent, safe for critters, especially designed for mites, not expensive and lasts a long time. I have a friend in the US who successfully ordered it online from Australia.

[Kayenne54]

@katsandroses Diatomaceous earth (Food Grade) is the go. No chance of poisoning your chooks, or their eggs...great for cats and dogs too.

[Kayenne54]

@katsandroses Look up "rotenone poison". Its in "Pestene" - the product you suggested; totally unsuitable for "greenies" anyway. Diatomaceous Earth Food Grade is the best; avoid just regular Diatomaceous earth (that is used in swimming pool filters) as that will harm your chickens, dogs, cats etc - not suitable. Has to be food grade.

[katsandroses]

@Kayenne54 DE is incredibly useful. i use it a lot. looked up rotenone, that's the end of that. cheers.

[ClimateAndCommunity]

@katsandroses Thanks, but I read it is not safe to use on young chicks. I like to go down the chemical free road myself, it worked for us!

[katsandroses]

We've had to deal with mites, and yes, the issue is lack of dust bathing. DE is a very useful thing for dusting feathers, coops etc.

but, if the infestation is extensive you have to go hammer and tong with the whole coop, soil, nearby vegetation etc, otherwise it's a vicious cycle.

Ultra violet light works wonders, and sorry to say, so does dried tobacco !

All mites hate strong mint, and pine/cedar. Good luck, keep at it, you have to be persistent and methodical.

[88applepie88]

Thanks for showing the mites. I have had chickens now for just 3 months and I wasn't sure if I had mites or not. This video helped a lot.

[MrKgren]

the feed stores around here used to sell tobacco stems that really helped my pigeons maybe it will work for chickens too?

[forgreenies]

Another bedding alternative is beach sand/gravel if you live close to the beach. The salt will also help repel mites.

[Nyghtshade409]

Along with doing all that, I've been told using cedar shavings as their bedding rather than hay or anything else will also help, as the smell of the cedar will repel mites, fleas, ticks and other nasties.

We're trying to get our hens and chicks free of mites right now-an absurdly warm winter and some odd weather seems to have brought them about. My poor babies were INFESTED. If you have the time and ability to handle them, you can also do what our vet told us-put petroleum jelly on them.

[forgreenies]

@Nyghtshade409 that's a good idea using cedar shavings, as for the petroleum jelly ewww, the poor sticky chooks ;)

[Nyghtshade409]

@forgreenies Poor sticky chooks? Poor sticky ME! Particularly after mama hen decided that I was evidently hurting her babies and went Rambo on me. X_X

Although we found this spray on stuff (chemical-free, comes in a white spray bottle) and the day after we sprayed it on them there wasn't a mite to be seen, and we haven't had problems with them since using the spray and cedar shavings. I only spray them about once a month or so and they're good! And the chicks are no longer chicks. :D

[reneelentz]

@Nyghtshade409 We used the PJ on their heads and it worked great. One of our girls has them again, but near her other end. : (

[NationalExpositor]

This is a ridiculous amount of work to get rid of mites. Just put food grade diatomaceous earth in the coop and nest and where the chickens take dust baths and you are all set. No toxic chemicals.. You can even put it in their food to get rid of intestinal parasites. freshwaterorganics has it.

[forgreenies]

@NationalExpositor The reason why they got mites in the first place was because the weather had been very wet for a long time and there was no dry dusty patches for dust bathing... We live on a small island with no shops so it is easier to use wood ash instead of going to the store and buying diatomaceous earth

[Andystuk]

@forgreenies I too have suffered from mites and lice. The use of ash does i'm sorry to say, encourage scaly leg mites, as it's drying up of the scales allow the mites to get in. A few things to note about red mites/blood sucking mites. Without a host they can live upto 8 months and are very hard to see if not gorged with blood. also they are nocturnal, so will hide in cracks and crevices, even underneath hinge plate s!.

[Andystuk]

@Andystuk continued... So my 100% coop ridding solution is simple to achieve. firstly remove all loose material and don't bother replenishing bedding till this is completed. It's organic too no chemicals. Ok you need a blow-torch aka a butane or propane hand held gas gun. Ensure when you light it you have a flame big and light, balloon-like not fierce and direct.

[Andystuk]

@Andystuk continued... Now armed you need to get into every crack and crevice and even better dismantle coop and draw the flame across every surface. slow enough to blitz the critters and fast enough not to catch and burn the timbers. When you cremate the mites you hear them crackle. Delightful really!

Now for the poultry. No not a flame but something just as simple, vacuum you chickens! the mites are extracted instantly. do this to break the egg cycle for say a week.

[Andystuk]

@Andystuk continued ... Oh and move the coop at least 10 feet away. Don't move the dried leaf mould, just pile it up and burn it on location. Better still get a good fire going and when white hot, spread the cinders wide to scorch the earth. THIS WORKS and no chemicals. AndystUK

[forgreenies]

@Andystuk After we used ash to lightly dust the birds, we had no problem with scaly leg mites. To those that don't want to create your own ash, I'd recommend food grade diatomaceous earth.

[steffa1985]

Thanks for the vid! I think we have mites - just went to hang out the washing and came back covered! I have a few questions -

What do you do if you live in the suburbs and cant burn the leaves and litter in the yard?

What is wood ash exactly and where do you get it from?

We've had our chickens for 10 months now and have never had this, but we've had a good few months of rain (and floods), so there hasnt been dirt for them to dustbath in. Could this have caused it?

Thanks!

[forgreenies]

@steffa1985 Yes I would say the wet conditions and lack of dustbathing have caused the mites to explode. Wood ash is just the ash produced from burning vegetation. You can also use diatomaceous earth, or any fine, dry soil, perhaps you have some under your house if it wasn't affected by flooding? Dispose of their bedding (if you can't burn put in a rubbish bag). Try using beach sand as bedding, don't think mites would like to breed in salty sand...

[steffa1985]

@forgreenies thank you so much for your reply, you have explained everything beautifully :)

[tmomof6]

@steffa1985 Everyone in town can have a grill but no one can burn leaves? I'd say you've been had. Burn small piles of leaves in your CLOSED charcoal grill ($35 at walmart) & while it might take longer to remove piles of litter you will have a completely safe yard waste removal that provides you with healthy ash for your birds. Just don't open the lid until it quits smoking. Do not peak & let loose burning leaves. Hope this helps!

[steffa1985]

@tmomof6 I'm in Australia - where I am they dont permit backyard fires. I have a BBQ but there is no way I'm burning that stuff in there! Technically burning things in a smaller closed bbq like what you're saying is still illegal. There is a high fire risk where I live and I'm not setting stuff on fire especially in the middle of summer! Thanks for the tip! (plus we dont have Walmart here :P)

I actually dont have my chickens anymore, but we did use the Pestine stuff on them and that worked well

[lifearoundhome]

great tips, very useful

[iamearthbornami]

nice video ~peace

[Imraahm]

thanks for the help will try it :)

[Imraahm]

where do you find the products

i have 2 chickens

1.Picky is a young hen who needs lice removal really badly and she cannot fly thanks to her loss of energy 2.Pocky is older and she is fine

pls help

[forgreenies]

I'm not a vet but I am a big advocate of natural remedies and dealing with the root of the problem. We used wood ash that we made by burning a pile of leaves, branches etc to dust our birds, and it is very important that you remove all bedding and leaf litter where the mites and lice can survive and breed for up to a week in. And keep doing it for a while after the infestation. Burn all bedding and litter!

[forgreenies]

Using natural insecticides like eucalyptus/tea tree oil in the cleaning may prevent the mites coming back. Always keep an area where your birds can dust bath - very important. If it looks like your birds are in pain or seriously sick, see a vet.

[Imraahm]

thanks

great video

[jihadacadien]

Oh I want chicken really bad but I never even though about the bugs and disese they can get...thanks a lot for that vid!

[forgreenies]

@jihadacadien I love my girls, they make really great animals to have, they have personalities and they are always giving (eggs and manure fertiliser!) Because I have had them from chicks they are really tame (as you can see from the vids) and I love it how they come running to me (even if it is for food!) I definitely recommend you getting chickens. Do you have a fenced yard?

[jihadacadien]

@forgreenies sadly I don't have a fenced yard, so I have to figure something out. Probably a large pen that I could move around.Also I need to see how to make sure they survive the harsh Canadian winters.

[forgreenies]

@jihadacadien you could use a temporary chicken wire fence? hmm yeah about the winters, you would have to enclose them into a toasty warm barn or something?

[forgreenies]

@jihadacadien oh and keep them away from your veggie garden or they'll demolish it!

[jihadacadien]

@forgreenies well people here used to have chicken all winter long....so I guess a little heater , a few light bulbs and I should be able to keep them in the shed. Do they eat grass and such? The poeple I've seen give store bought chicken food or grain.

[forgreenies]

yeah it is important that they get a variety of food and they will want to eat grass and insects, they like veggie scraps like silverbeet, spinach, grated carrot etc as well as the pellets/grain/mash. Provide them with grit aswell it helps to grind up the food in their gizzard.

[jihadacadien]

@forgreenies I see, well thanks for all the info....I'm still a few years from having chickens but I'll keep all the info I find, so I hope you do post lots more chicken videos ;)

[theproducegarden]

great video!

[forgreenies]

thanks mate for your comment! we will be producing more chook videos as the opportunities arise...