[KathyH]

We were in the same position as you with the Red Mite. We have had our girls just over a year and absolutely no problems. Then Red Mites must have gone from one or two that we missed to zillions almost overnight.
They bite people as well so cover up (including hair - use a shower cap) and check yourself for mites after dealing with either the coop or the chooks.
At one point I put my bare arm in the coop to take out the perch and within minutes I had a clump of red mite attached to my arm covering about three inches diameter They were biting too and they left a light rash  - awful critters.

We scrubbed out the whole coop four times in all with Jeyes Fluid and then soaked it with Poultry Shield. Then we grouted all the cracks and potential hidey holes and then painted the inside of the coop white so we could see what was happening better. Then we used Diatrom. Every day we cleaned out all bedding and re applied Diatrom (remember to use a mask and gloves).
Its been three/four weeks now and we are still getting a few mites each morning - but very few now. Its not fast

Sadly we lost a chook to it too - our big Speckledy Doris just got too anemic to break back - despite all efforts  :cry:
Feed your chooks extra spinach and other greens. Aunt Sally suggested a teaspoon of chopped liver a couple of times a week for a few weeks too. This seems to have helped the other two anyway.

Best of luck with it all. Its a sharp lesson and we will never neglect routine dusting again

[Foxy]

anything you have to kill redmite will kill any type of lice. Lice aren't such a concern like redmite though.
Glad you got hold of aunty and hope you get it all sorted soon -but dont worry we have all been there!

[GrannieAnnie]

Those little grey things crawling on your arm could have been immature red mite too rather than lice.  they don't turn red until they've been feasting off your chooks!

I've got them in my layers house and emptied it all out yesterday, cleaned with Jeyes, let it all dry then sprayed with poultryshield.  Brian painted the worst bits of the outside with some creosote, but today there are still millions of tiny immatures ones coming out of the crevasses in the wood.  so tomorrow more poultryshield, and I'm out of Jeyes, but I've just ordered more Poultryshield, Jeyes and Red Mite powder from rat-bait.co.uk and it should be here Wednesday.

Blooming things!  Luckily, there is no sign of them either in the chicks house or the brooder where the turkey babies are!

What amazed me is that they were even living in between the rivetted metal of the metal nestboxes!!!

[beki]

Hmmmm i think i might do the same then. I'm assuming any general supplies place will sell Jeyes?

My poor chooks! I really do think that that could be the problem with my one poorly ex-batt. She's not been well since she came to us, just looking tired and pale the whole time. I think maybe she had them before she came to us. I should have spotted it before, but can't turn back the clock now can i  :roll:

I'll get her some liver tomorrow and do the cleaning out routine until all are gone!!!

Thanks everyone for your great advice  

[KathyH]

Good luck with it Beki. I think I stank of Jeyes Fluid for a week!

I think you are right that they were immature red mites on my arm Grannie Annie  :o
They bit though and hopped on very fast. It made me realise what the poor chooks were going through every night and every time they went in to lay.

A farmer friend says she "paints" liquid paraffin on her Peking bantams legs on a weekly basis to stop mites or lice from climbing up. It makes them slippery.
Don't know about that one. Anyone?

[Roughlee Handled]

OK I am now officially paranoid about redmite.  I have had the odd 3 or four bites on my arm form "something" and washed out the coop with J's Fluid two weekends ago but still think I may have another do at it this weekend and make sure that I put mite powder in the shavings. Arrrr the worry and the itching.

[poultrygeist]

Having read all the posts about red mite over the past 6 moths or so, I would go for diatom. If I see a place sellign it, I'm going to buy some and if not, might order some.
I suppose they are starting to get a bit chilly outdoors by now so are looking for nice, cosy coops to spend the last few weeks of Summer in.
And a constant supply of blood every night.

I'm still a bit paranoid and with Annie getting them, it brings it closer to home. We've been lucky so far but one advantage of poo picking every day is having a good look inside the coop. Although I doubt I'd spot them unless they were on the perches.

Good luck everyone who has them and keep posting what works and what doesn't so we can all learn how to get rid if/when it happens.

Rob

[beki]

Ok the supplier has no poultry shield, but they do have red mite liquid (the same as red mite powder, but in liquid form).

Is it worth doing the coop out with this instead of poultry shield?

If so, i've got to leave in the next half hour or so to get it back here in time so it dries before bedtime!

[poultrygeist]

Depends if it will kill them. Soem red mite powders are only a deterrant and don't actually kill.

Poultry shield has 2 strengths. 1:20 will kill within 2-3 days.
1:10 kills immediately. But it has no residual effect. ie. Once it dries, it's no use. Diatom (also in some red mite powders) will dessicate them and stop them reaching large numbers.

If you can establish whether it's a contact killer or not, in whcih case, don't see why not. The anti-bacterial properties of Poultry shield can be met with jeyes or virkon-s, etc.

Rob

[beki]

Well, i've sent the OH on his way to buy it lol.

It's this stuff - which says as a deterrent it should be diluted 1/50 and as a killer 1/20. it can also be sprayed directly onto the chooks.

So it's gonna be Jeyes, red mite spray, and then powder everywhere too!

See what happens... thanks again everyone, you've helped SO much!  

[poultrygeist]

Sounds like good stuff. Report back how it works and maybe we can all get hold of it.

I'm going to check out the coop in a minute. Got me worrying  :shock:  

Rob

[Jellyhead]

But what about the Mite-Kill that Bodge was on about?