Homemade/organic treament for poultry mites?

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Homemade/organic treament for poultry mites?

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Stacey

Joined: 18 Jul 2005
Posts: 8380
Location: Kernow

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 05 6:58 pm Post subject: Homemade/organic treament for poultry mites?

OH thinks the chooks might have poultry mites. The soil association approve permethrin for treatment but if I go within a 100 yards of permethrin my M.E symptoms go through the roof and it means a couple of weeks in bed. I had a nasty time earlier in the year with a permethrin nits treatment that I didn't think about before I used it on the kids.
Is there anything non chemical that gets rid of mites? Tea tree or rosemary or anythng like that?

sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 05 8:05 pm Post subject:

The majority of essential oils are bad news on livestock- their skins can't take it like ours can. I'm no authority on chickens, but would scrubbing their houseing out with something like Jeyes fluid or Lye solution help by killing anything thats 'lurking'? Wouldnt solve the ones on them, but repeated cleaning may help keep things under control especially if you do find a way to delouse them first. Will be interested to hear what others say, its a necessary difficulty of organic approaches that you have fewer immediate and quick solutions to things like this than 'chemical' farmers do.

Gertie

Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Posts: 1638
Location: Yorkshire

Posted: Sun Aug 07, 05 6:42 am Post subject:
Stacey - I don't know if you have seen this one before, but the following link relates to organic treatments. Hope its of some use to you. https://www.kingbirdfarm.com/Layerhealthcompendium.pdf

Stacey

Joined: 18 Jul 2005
Posts: 8380
Location: Kernow

Posted: Sun Aug 07, 05 9:21 am Post subject:

Thanks both

We have Jeyes fluid so I think maybe OH could try washing the henhouse out with that. I've also seen suggestions to gently blowtorch the shed as well.

That site is really good Gertie - thanks for that

BTW - OH had some mite type things crawling up his hairly legs this morning

I've told him he's only allowed back in the house if he gets straight in a tea tree bath. He's insisting he's caught something from my workroom where the fleeces are stored

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 05 9:18 am Post subject:

Stacey, I mentioned in another thread that we had a dreadful mite infestation last year (it got to the stage that I would dismantle the coop and clean it out with an industrial vac every couple of days, and I still couldn't get it under control).
Having a spare coop I could put the birds in helped. We then jet-washed the infested one, washed it thoroughly with Jeyes. Then we painted the inside with gloss paint, and caulked up all the possible cracks (tongue and groove looks great, but it creates loads of places for the mites to hide) with silicone sealant. OH also made up a couple of spare perches, so I can rotate them (lots of mites gather on the cross-grain bit at the end of the perch).

This year there is just nowhere for the buggers to hide, so if any do get in there, they a) show up against the white paint and b) can be squashed as soon as I spot them.

The treatments help a bit with the adult mites, but if they have laid their eggs in the wood, it is really difficult to break the cycle.

Gertie

Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Posts: 1638
Location: Yorkshire

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 05 4:14 pm Post subject:
Good idea, Judith - about painting the inside of the hen house and caulking the t&g. Will have to get round to doing ours.

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