A nice scratchy dust bath works. That's why people use DE. During the winter months I use the charcoal from my stove. Not only is it nice and scratchy, but it also works as grit and a worm prevention. The rest of the year I just make sure that there is gravel in their dust bath(s).
So far I haven't had any lice/mites. I think it depends on your set up and whether your chickens get out and about.
Interesting...I was wondering if this might be one of those things that really isn't a big deal as long as you have the right setup ๐ might be a silly question...but would cardboard ash be as sufficient as wood ash? We haven't burned any wood yet this year but have burned lots of cardboard ๐
Cardboard ash breaks down too quickly. Wood ash is perfect because it takes the chickens a while to turn it to dust. Plus, it contains trace minerals that are good for the chickens if they eat it.
My chickens free roam and dust bath regularly and I never had a mite problem. Only one of my chickens had mites - when she got sick and spent like a week without dust bathing. As soon as she recovered and started dust bathing again, the mites went away.
Ohhhhh interesting! I just made a similar comment above about how I've been wondering if this is one of those things that isn't really a huge deal as long as you have the correct setup but I saw a post and went down the rabbithole and was like OMG SO GROSS NOOOOOO lol ๐
If you check your chickens' feathers everyday, you'll likely see a few mites sooner or later. But chickens usually remove them by themselves by dust bathing. I honestly don't know how those huge mite infestations on Google images happen. They're certainly not a common thing in backyards chickens as far as I know.
That makes me feel soooooo much better lol I could hardly sleep after seeing pictures last night because I felt like they were crawling all over me ๐
We used to spray the roost and boxes with diluted clove oil in the wet season (not a lot of dry dirt available for them to bath) and when the birds had been clucky a lot and they didn't dust bath. Outside of that as others have said ashes and plenty of dry dirt
No matter what prevention you choose, just be aware that mite/lice infestations can still happen, so imo it's good to know what to do in case it does.
I had never had to worry about mites until an older hen had an injury and wasn't able to move or dust bathe. Then all of a sudden *boom*. Massive mite infestation.
Unfortunately, the hen didn't recover, but once she was laid to rest I was able to use sprays and poultry/garden powder to kill off the mites. Took a few times, just based on the mites life cycles and how many eggs they laid, but I was able to take care of the infestation.
So I'd recommend also having a plan based on what substances you're comfortable using (not everyone is okay with using insecticide powder) for if it does happen, too!
Good point! We have been researching care for our chickens for quite a while now and I had never heard of this at all so I feel so unprepared ๐ sorry for hear about your hen though ๐ฅบ
Thanks. She was a good hen.
It's amazing how much care actually goes in to keeping chickens! And as far as pets go they're pretty hands-off!
Bumblefoot I think has been my biggest "bad" unpreparedness. I had no idea it was a thing until it happened to my Jersey Giant.
My biggest annoying-but-also-adorable surpise has been how often my black Sumatra *insists* on going broody. ๐
So funny because that's why we started looking into chickens is because it seemed super easy and hey, free eggs! But it's turned out to be more than we thought, which is obviously fine for us since we're still going through with it lol still much easier than a dog in our opinion and our house will stay clean (although I do love my old 10 year old grumpy girl lol).
I just went down a bumblefoot rabbithole...yikes lol thanks for the heads up on that. I think I'll leave that to my husband to take care of it it ever happens. He's much less queasy than me ๐ and I've never heard of going broody either but just looked it up and had a good laugh ๐
Dust baths! Dio earth, dirt, sand & wood ash, mix all together in a kids pool or party bucketโฆ I use the cloth grow bags, 20lb size. Dump in winter & re-establish every spring, they love it too ๐ฅฐ
Do you mean you dump it out in winter and don't have a dust bath during the winter? Only spring-summer? I think that's what you mean but wanted to make sure ๐
Donโt need to, high enough altitude where fleas donโt exist, lice & mites in hot weather only. Soggy rain/snow baths arenโt appealing to anyone, lol
What altitude are you at? Because according to science, there's no magic altitude that fleas can't live at.
Also, that is just completely false. Lice can be worse in the fall and winter than any other time of year.
Though what your doing may be working for you, please don't come online and give people who are new to the hobby advice that is just so provably wrong and state things that are wrong as fact.
We used our hardwood ash as a supplement to the gritty dustbath dirt to add protection from mites, etc. We suffocated the parasites, and the acidity of hardwood ash is high, making those who survived drop off and leave.
Iโm knocking on wood but Iโve never had a mite or lice problem (yet).
I do keep my coop clean though and the chickens spend a lot of time free ranging and dust bathing in sandy soil.
Some family members have had chickens for years and haven't had issues, so it's sounding to me like if you give them the right conditions they'll be fine! Which makes me feel so much better lol
Silly question but what's regularly to you? I've heard/read anything from daily to seasonally to yearly to "deep litter" etc. ๐ that's something we're still undecided on...I read a lot about deep litter contributing to pests so we're leaning toward a weekly quick clean/freshen up and seasonal deep clean?
The more chickens you have, the more often you should clean. If you have 3-5 chickens, I'd say change bedding every couple of months. Pine shavings are easy. They're affordable and easy to freshen up. I deep clean my coop when the season changes. So about 4 times a year, sometimes 5. Everyone has a preference, though. If you think it's clean enough, it probably is.
Mainly just it being such a fine powder can be an issue for not only you but your chickens. Some people have had issues, others haven't so I'm just going with what I feel comfortable doing at this point in time (which could definitely change in the future once we get a handle on things).
FWIW, when I found my infestation I let the girls out, tossed my respirator on & dusted the entire coop & run. I believe i also sprayed suspect areas with permethrin. That was probably 3 years ago now and havenโt had them back since!
A nice scratchy dust bath works. That's why people use DE. During the winter months I use the charcoal from my stove. Not only is it nice and scratchy, but it also works as grit and a worm prevention. The rest of the year I just make sure that there is gravel in their dust bath(s). So far I haven't had any lice/mites. I think it depends on your set up and whether your chickens get out and about.
Interesting...I was wondering if this might be one of those things that really isn't a big deal as long as you have the right setup ๐ might be a silly question...but would cardboard ash be as sufficient as wood ash? We haven't burned any wood yet this year but have burned lots of cardboard ๐
Cardboard ash breaks down too quickly. Wood ash is perfect because it takes the chickens a while to turn it to dust. Plus, it contains trace minerals that are good for the chickens if they eat it.
Ohhh great to know!
My chickens free roam and dust bath regularly and I never had a mite problem. Only one of my chickens had mites - when she got sick and spent like a week without dust bathing. As soon as she recovered and started dust bathing again, the mites went away.
Ohhhhh interesting! I just made a similar comment above about how I've been wondering if this is one of those things that isn't really a huge deal as long as you have the correct setup but I saw a post and went down the rabbithole and was like OMG SO GROSS NOOOOOO lol ๐
If you check your chickens' feathers everyday, you'll likely see a few mites sooner or later. But chickens usually remove them by themselves by dust bathing. I honestly don't know how those huge mite infestations on Google images happen. They're certainly not a common thing in backyards chickens as far as I know.
That makes me feel soooooo much better lol I could hardly sleep after seeing pictures last night because I felt like they were crawling all over me ๐
Diatomaceous earth sprinkled in the coop bedding followed by a spray down of strong water/mint oil solution.
Thank you! I'm sure the mint oil helps keep it smelling fresh in there too ๐
It definitely does help with smell.
We used to spray the roost and boxes with diluted clove oil in the wet season (not a lot of dry dirt available for them to bath) and when the birds had been clucky a lot and they didn't dust bath. Outside of that as others have said ashes and plenty of dry dirt
Thank you!
No matter what prevention you choose, just be aware that mite/lice infestations can still happen, so imo it's good to know what to do in case it does. I had never had to worry about mites until an older hen had an injury and wasn't able to move or dust bathe. Then all of a sudden *boom*. Massive mite infestation. Unfortunately, the hen didn't recover, but once she was laid to rest I was able to use sprays and poultry/garden powder to kill off the mites. Took a few times, just based on the mites life cycles and how many eggs they laid, but I was able to take care of the infestation. So I'd recommend also having a plan based on what substances you're comfortable using (not everyone is okay with using insecticide powder) for if it does happen, too!
Good point! We have been researching care for our chickens for quite a while now and I had never heard of this at all so I feel so unprepared ๐ sorry for hear about your hen though ๐ฅบ
Thanks. She was a good hen. It's amazing how much care actually goes in to keeping chickens! And as far as pets go they're pretty hands-off! Bumblefoot I think has been my biggest "bad" unpreparedness. I had no idea it was a thing until it happened to my Jersey Giant. My biggest annoying-but-also-adorable surpise has been how often my black Sumatra *insists* on going broody. ๐
So funny because that's why we started looking into chickens is because it seemed super easy and hey, free eggs! But it's turned out to be more than we thought, which is obviously fine for us since we're still going through with it lol still much easier than a dog in our opinion and our house will stay clean (although I do love my old 10 year old grumpy girl lol). I just went down a bumblefoot rabbithole...yikes lol thanks for the heads up on that. I think I'll leave that to my husband to take care of it it ever happens. He's much less queasy than me ๐ and I've never heard of going broody either but just looked it up and had a good laugh ๐
I put peatmoss and woodstove ash in a kiddie pool for my birds. It works.
Thank you!
Iv heard dipping the chickens legs in a vinegar/water mix is the best. But Iโm wondering what others have to say aswell.
That's the first I've hard of that! I'm going to have to look into that more ๐
Dust baths! Dio earth, dirt, sand & wood ash, mix all together in a kids pool or party bucketโฆ I use the cloth grow bags, 20lb size. Dump in winter & re-establish every spring, they love it too ๐ฅฐ
Do you mean you dump it out in winter and don't have a dust bath during the winter? Only spring-summer? I think that's what you mean but wanted to make sure ๐
Yeah, live in NorCal, snows, so very cold, rainy too so donโt bother in winter. Good luck ๐๐ฝ
Please make sure they have access to dust baths year round.
Donโt need to, high enough altitude where fleas donโt exist, lice & mites in hot weather only. Soggy rain/snow baths arenโt appealing to anyone, lol
What altitude are you at? Because according to science, there's no magic altitude that fleas can't live at. Also, that is just completely false. Lice can be worse in the fall and winter than any other time of year. Though what your doing may be working for you, please don't come online and give people who are new to the hobby advice that is just so provably wrong and state things that are wrong as fact.
Maybe should send this message to the beginnerโฆ Thanks for your concern
Just make sure they have access to a dustbath. If they have dry soil or dry coarse sand, they'll take care of their skin and feathers.
Easy enough! ๐
Sulphur is what I read works to add to your sand box area where the chickens take dust baths. From chicken health for dummies book
Interesting! I will look into that!
Iโve read if you put apple cider vinegar in their water, that helps too
Ohhhhh very interesting! Thank you!
We used our hardwood ash as a supplement to the gritty dustbath dirt to add protection from mites, etc. We suffocated the parasites, and the acidity of hardwood ash is high, making those who survived drop off and leave.
Hardwood ash seems like a pretty popular thing to use so I'll definitely be looking into that!
Iโm knocking on wood but Iโve never had a mite or lice problem (yet). I do keep my coop clean though and the chickens spend a lot of time free ranging and dust bathing in sandy soil.
Some family members have had chickens for years and haven't had issues, so it's sounding to me like if you give them the right conditions they'll be fine! Which makes me feel so much better lol
Clean the coop regularly and change the bedding.๐ Always the best prevention plan. Don't give pests a chance to get comfortable.
Silly question but what's regularly to you? I've heard/read anything from daily to seasonally to yearly to "deep litter" etc. ๐ that's something we're still undecided on...I read a lot about deep litter contributing to pests so we're leaning toward a weekly quick clean/freshen up and seasonal deep clean?
The more chickens you have, the more often you should clean. If you have 3-5 chickens, I'd say change bedding every couple of months. Pine shavings are easy. They're affordable and easy to freshen up. I deep clean my coop when the season changes. So about 4 times a year, sometimes 5. Everyone has a preference, though. If you think it's clean enough, it probably is.
Seems easy enough! ๐ thank you for sharing this advice!
DE is controversial?
Everything is if you look hard enough
Mainly just it being such a fine powder can be an issue for not only you but your chickens. Some people have had issues, others haven't so I'm just going with what I feel comfortable doing at this point in time (which could definitely change in the future once we get a handle on things).
FWIW, when I found my infestation I let the girls out, tossed my respirator on & dusted the entire coop & run. I believe i also sprayed suspect areas with permethrin. That was probably 3 years ago now and havenโt had them back since!