Permethrin-based Sevin use

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mbowman
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Mar 20, 2024 4:37 pm
Location: Marengo, Iowa

Are most users satisfied with results when treating nest cavities with the new (permethrin-based) Sevin formulation?
Bird Brain
Posts: 327
Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2016 9:22 am
Location: Highland Village, TX
Martin Colony History: 2022-visitors, 2023-visitors, 2024-1 pair, fledged 4, 2025-10 pair, fledged 42

yes. The new Sevin worked great for me.
mbowman
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Mar 20, 2024 4:37 pm
Location: Marengo, Iowa

Thank you.
killerv
Posts: 44
Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2020 9:40 am
Location: Central Ga

Curious the responses on this thread, the new formula gets hammered on the FB pages, but really doubt any of those folks have every actually used it. Heck, the old formulas was frowned upon by a lot of folks.
Unk Bond
Posts: 206
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2023 1:11 pm
Location: Ohio

Hello
Wouldn't a few cedar Shavings' Serve the same purpose [ Later
randyM
Posts: 254
Joined: Thu Jun 18, 2015 2:30 pm
Location: Long Lake SD
Martin Colony History: * 2016 - 1 pair (ASYM + SYF) 2/3 eggs hatched 2 young fledged.
* 2017 - 4 pairs, 16/17 eggs hatched, 16 fledged, 16 banded - 2 banded SY returned in 2018 (12.5%)
* 2018 - 10 pairs, 46/52 eggs hatched, 45 fledged, 29 young banded - 3 banded SY returned in 2019 (10.3%)
*2019 - 32 pairs, 145/160 eggs hatched, 139 fledged - 87 young banded - 12 banded SY returned in 2020 (13.8%).
* 2020 - 35 pairs, 180/199 eggs hatched, 178 fledged - 150 young banded & 42 SY returned (28.0%)
* 2021 - 89 pairs, 363/446 eggs hatched, 355 fledged - 150 young banded & 19 SY returned (12.7%)
*2022 - 116 pairs, 495/579 eggs hatched, 471 fledged - 150 young banded & 27 SY returned (18.0%)
*2023 - 160 pairs, 708/828 eggs hatched, 572 fledged - 150 young banded & 38 SY returned (25.3%)
*2024 - 235 pairs, 950/1153 eggs hatched, 865 fledged - 100 young banded & 18 SY returned (18.0%)
*2025 - 200 pairs, 795/953 eggs hatched, 739 fledged - 200 young banded

I used the new Sevin formulation last season at my colony and had the worst mite infestation I've experienced at my site in a decade. Not sure if it was due to the year's weather or the new formulation. It was an extremely dry season at my site last year and would suspect a wet season would have more of a negative impact on effectiveness of the Sevin than would a dry season. Nonetheless, I will try it again this season and see if I experience better results. My colony has too many nests for me to conduct nest changes.

In addition to sprinkling Sevin dust under my pre-nesting material, in past year's I've used a permethrin-based "chicken safe" mite spray on the outside of my martin housing, sprayed directly onto the crawling mites if the infestations got to be problematic later in the nesting and brood rearing season. I've never sprayed directly on birds or inside nest cavities. It seemed to help reduce the pest numbers, but did not have a residual effect on mites so I would need to reapply weekly. I didn't like that chemical option, so last year I tried a Dawn dish soap spray solution (3 Tablespoons per gallon of water) and had similar results as with the "chicken safe" spray. I use a hand misting bottle to apply the Dawn solution to the outside of the housing and gourds and the mites would die on contact. Again, there is no residual effect on mites with the Dawn soap solution, so I would need to reapply bi-weekly or weekly to get ahead of the infestation during the later part of the nesting season. I would also remove gourd lids and spray the inside of the lid if mites were present there, which they usually were. I will use the Dawn soap spray solution procedure again if another mite infestation occurs.

After the nesting season last fall when I cleaned out my nest cavities, I soaked each of my plastic gourds in a 5-gallon bucket of the Dawn soap solution for 5 minutes to kill any remaining mites. I prefer using this solution compared to a bleach or alcohol-based cleaning solution.

Randy
Mstan
Posts: 159
Joined: Tue Apr 16, 2024 7:52 pm
Location: Missouri
Martin Colony History: 2023- 2 racks. 24 gourds
2024- 2 racks.28 gourds. 100 fledged
2025- 3 racks. 24 gourds,6 chirpy nest.105 fledged.

Your numbers are huge! I would love to see pics of your site. Thank you for caring for and fledging so many Martins.
Unk Bond
Posts: 206
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2023 1:11 pm
Location: Ohio

Hello Randy
Very good informational post
And thanks [ Unk
mbowman
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Mar 20, 2024 4:37 pm
Location: Marengo, Iowa

killerv wrote:
Tue Mar 25, 2025 9:30 am
Curious the responses on this thread, the new formula gets hammered on the FB pages, but really doubt any of those folks have every actually used it. Heck, the old formulas was frowned upon by a lot of folks.
Thank you for responding.
mbowman
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Mar 20, 2024 4:37 pm
Location: Marengo, Iowa

Unk Bond wrote:
Tue Mar 25, 2025 3:43 pm
Hello
Wouldn't a few cedar Shavings' Serve the same purpose [ Later
Thank for your response. I do not know how helpful cedar shavings would be in resisting mite infestations.
mbowman
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Mar 20, 2024 4:37 pm
Location: Marengo, Iowa

randyM wrote:
Tue Mar 25, 2025 7:12 pm
I used the new Sevin formulation last season at my colony and had the worst mite infestation I've experienced at my site in a decade. Not sure if it was due to the year's weather or the new formulation. It was an extremely dry season at my site last year and would suspect a wet season would have more of a negative impact on effectiveness of the Sevin than would a dry season. Nonetheless, I will try it again this season and see if I experience better results. My colony has too many nests for me to conduct nest changes.

In addition to sprinkling Sevin dust under my pre-nesting material, in past year's I've used a permethrin-based "chicken safe" mite spray on the outside of my martin housing, sprayed directly onto the crawling mites if the infestations got to be problematic later in the nesting and brood rearing season. I've never sprayed directly on birds or inside nest cavities. It seemed to help reduce the pest numbers, but did not have a residual effect on mites so I would need to reapply weekly. I didn't like that chemical option, so last year I tried a Dawn dish soap spray solution (3 Tablespoons per gallon of water) and had similar results as with the "chicken safe" spray. I use a hand misting bottle to apply the Dawn solution to the outside of the housing and gourds and the mites would die on contact. Again, there is no residual effect on mites with the Dawn soap solution, so I would need to reapply bi-weekly or weekly to get ahead of the infestation during the later part of the nesting season. I would also remove gourd lids and spray the inside of the lid if mites were present there, which they usually were. I will use the Dawn soap spray solution procedure again if another mite infestation occurs.

After the nesting season last fall when I cleaned out my nest cavities, I soaked each of my plastic gourds in a 5-gallon bucket of the Dawn soap solution for 5 minutes to kill any remaining mites. I prefer using this solution compared to a bleach or alcohol-based cleaning solution.

Randy
Thank you very much for this information.
Phil01
Posts: 346
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2020 6:42 pm
Location: Fernandina Beach FL
Martin Colony History: 52 Cavities offered.
24 unit gourd rack with Troyer Horizontal and Vertical Gourds. K-18 gourd rack all Troyer Horizontal Gourds. Sunset Inn aluminum house with 4 Troyer Horizontal Gourds.

2020- 1 pair, 4 eggs, fledged 3
2021- 3 pair, 15 eggs, fledged 8
2022- 5 pair, 26 eggs, fledged 21
2023- 10 pair, 53 eggs, fledged 27
2024- 26 pair, 125 eggs, fledged 83
2025- 32 pair, 182 eggs, fledged 134
2026- Added a Troyer K-18 all Troyer Horizontal.
PMCA Member

I still have some of the old Sevin with carbaryl left. Bought a bunch before they changed over, works great. When I run out I’m going to try this “southern ag”. Seems close to the same best I can tell….
IMG_5985.png
(3.85 MiB) Not downloaded yet
PMCA member
Fernandina Beach, FL
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