07/24/2026
🪳 MITES 🪳
Yes, my flock has them 😭
Before I left for a 2.5-week holiday abroad, I did my summer coop clean-out and felt so accomplished leaving our farm sitter with fresh, clean coops! But when I returned home, I went to say hello to the chickens, and one of my coops was COVERED in teeny-tiny creepy crawlies around the roosts and cracks in the walls. It almost just looked like dust until I stopped to watch them for a few seconds — YUP, that "dust" was moving. 🤮
I checked the other three coops and couldn't see a single mite, but I knew all of them must have them in some capacity.
My first weekend back consisted of complete coop clean-outs, spraying down every nook and cranny, and treating the chickens. It was exhausting, and I couldn't help but feel embarrassed, sad, frustrated, and disappointed that we have an infestation. I've never, ever had mites in our coops before.
But I need to remember that mites are a part of nature, and this very warm, humid weather is the perfect environment for them to thrive. We have so many wild birds living and nesting on our property, so it was bound to happen eventually.
My plan of action was to clean and spray the coops, then treat the chickens topically three times, every 10 days. The first treatment has been very effective, but I can still see the odd one crawling around... *shivers*.
**What I'm using:**
* **Elector PSP** Not available in Canada, but Roslin Poultry in Ontario sells small vials of it. I'm SO thankful I've always kept some on hand just in case. I sprayed down the entire coop, including the fresh shavings, with this.
**Ivermectin Pour-On** A few drops on the back of their necks, given the same day the coops were treated. I treated everyone once they were roosting at night because it was WAY easier to treat them and keep track of who I'd already done.
While I'm definitely frustrated that I now have a battle ahead of me, I'm glad I caught it before I started letting go of some of our grow-outs and laying hens. This means they won't be available until September at the earliest, just to ensure the mites are completely gone.
If you purchased grow-outs from me in June, please check your coops and chickens. You likely won't see them on your chickens during the day, so I recommend thoroughly checking the ends of your roosts. If you quarantined them (as everyone should when adding new chickens to their flock), your risk should be minimal. I never saw them when I cleaned the coops at the end of June, but it only takes one mite for a population to explode.
