How to Control Mites in a Chicken Pen

Mites can make chickens extremely sick and even kill them. A mite is a tiny insect that sucks blood. Mites multiply quickly and so treatment should be immediate and thorough before a plague of mites affects the productive health of your chickens. Mites hide in the nooks and crannies of chicken coops and pens, and so these areas must be cleaned, scoured and treated with a mite-killing substance. There are a number of mite-killing products on the market, so more than one can be used depending on the level of infestation.

Things You'll Need

  • Shovel
  • Wheelbarrow
  • Broom
  • Dust pan
  • Garbage bags
  • Trash receptacle
  • Hammer
  • Electric screw gun (if applicable)
  • Pressure washer
  • Rubber gloves
  • Eye goggles
  • Respirator
  • Mite-killing spray
  • Mite-killing powder
  • Kitty litter tub
  • Diatomaceous earth
  • Fresh bedding litter (wood shavings)
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Instructions

    • 1

      Put on a dust mask and shovel all of the litter bedding out of the pen, coop and nesting boxes into a wheelbarrow. Sweep the remaining litter up with a broom into a dustpan and then into the wheelbarrow. Pour the litter from the wheelbarrow into garbage bags and then throw it in the trash.

    • 2

      Hammer loose all of the perches in the coop and pen or use an electric screw gun if they're screwed down.

    • 3

      Hook the pressure washer up to a garden hose. Hook up the spray hose and gun by hooking the male and female ends together. Pull back the latch on the female side and insert the male side and then let go of the latch to lock them together. The locking is the same for hooking the hose to the sprayer and the gun to the hose.

    • 4

      Spray the coop and pen from top to bottom. Spray the roosting area, the walls, the ceiling, the nesting boxes and the floor until the water has dispersed and the coop and pen looks clean. You may have to mop up the water, depending on the design of your pen and coop.

    • 5

      Put on a pair of rubber gloves, eye goggles and a respirator. Mix a solution of mite-killing liquid into a spray bottle. Mix the solution according to the manufacturer's recommendations, and then spray the entire coop and pen area. Some sprays can be diluted so you can also spray the chickens. Allow the coop to dry for a day.

    • 6

      Replace the perches and generously apply a mite-control dust over every inch of the coop. Cover the floor, the perches, the perch edges, the walls, the nesting boxes and the door frame. Concentrate the powder in the corners and cracks. These are the areas where mites love to live.

    • 7

      Fill a kitty litter tub full of diatomaceous earth and place it in the run. This will allow the chickens to take dust baths in case there are any mites actually on the birds.

    • 8

      Refill the floor and nesting boxes with fresh litter.