Coopex 25g

The half of the job most people skip

If you have treated your birds for mites or lice and they came back, this is usually why. Treat the birds and leave the coop, and what is living in the timber, the perch ends and the nest box joints simply walks back on that night.

Coopex is the coop half. It is a residual insecticide, which is the important word: instead of only killing what it lands on, it stays active on the surface it dried onto and keeps working for up to four months. That matters because eggs already in the cracks will keep hatching after you have finished spraying.

Is it safe around my chickens?

Yes, used the way it is meant to be used. Two rules do most of the work, and both are on the label.

Once it has dried onto the surface it is doing its job exactly where you want it — in the timber and the joints, not on your flock.

How we do the coop

One 25g sachet into a 5 litre pump sprayer. Mix the whole sachet and use the whole 5 litres; there is no sense keeping half, because diluted spray does not store.

1. Birds out, and leave them out. Four hours or so does it.
2. Strip the bedding out, then spray the inside properly — walls, perches, perch ends, nest boxes, and every crack and joint. That is where they shelter during the day.
3. Got mix left over? Do the surrounds as well — the shed, the feed bin area, the paths you and the birds use. Pests travel on boots and feed bins.
4. Let it dry completely before anyone goes back in, which is why the birds are already out.
5. Fresh bedding in, birds back, done. Because it is residual, it is still working in four months.

Spray to the point of run-off. As a guide, 1 litre of prepared spray covers roughly 20 to 30 square metres, depending on how porous the surface is.

Mixing rates

Always add the powder to the water, not the other way round, and apply with a knapsack sprayer, pump sprayer or bucket pump that gives a coarse spray. Prepare it fresh — do not store diluted insecticide.

What it is used for

Coopex is a broad-spectrum residual insecticide. Around a coop and its surrounds, keepers use it on the surfaces where insect pests shelter. The registered label covers ants, cockroaches, fleas, spiders, silverfish, bedbugs, carpet beetles, clothes moths, houseflies, mosquitoes, biting flies and paralysis ticks.

Read the label before use and follow the directions on it.

Why a residual spray, not a fly spray

Most household bug sprays are contact-only. They kill what the mist touches and then they are gone, so they are useful when you see something and useless against anything breeding out of sight.

A residual insecticide stays on the surface after it dries and keeps working on whatever crosses it. In a coop, where the problem is almost always what is hiding in the joints rather than what you can see, that is the difference between a treatment that holds and one that has to be repeated every week.

How long it actually lasts depends on the surface, the rate you mixed and how exposed it is. Four months is the label figure for undisturbed surfaces.

Handling and safety

• Wear elbow-length PVC gloves and goggles or a face shield when mixing. It will irritate the eyes, and the dust should not be inhaled.
• Do not apply to poultry, or to deep litter.
• Permethrin is dangerous to cats. Keep cats away from the area while it is wet.
• Dangerous to fish and other aquatic life, and to bees and reptiles. Keep it away from ponds and drains, and do not contaminate waterways.
• Cover or remove food, food utensils and fish tanks before spraying, and ventilate afterwards.
• Do not spray electric motors, switchgear or the moving parts of machinery.
• Store in the closed original container, cool and well ventilated, out of direct sunlight.
• If poisoning occurs, contact a doctor or the Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26.

Specifications

Always read the label and follow the directions for use. If poisoning occurs, contact a doctor or the Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26.