[Andy J]

Well I disinfected the run yesterday with some Virkon S which was really good stuff.......and it smelt nice.........the shop I bought it from recommended it over Jayes fluid.

Sprayed the run from top to bottom and the bird and used red mite powder to dust in all the nooks and crannies.  I also sanded down the perch to hopefully destroy any eggs etc.

Fingers crossed I will just have to hope that will do the job, I don't think we had a major infestation but I guess one or two will lay eggs and grow in no time at all!!

Thanks for everyone’s help, lets hope the hens are happier now!

[SnooziSuzi]

hope it does the job for you Andy  

as for my two remaining chooks I checked them today for mites and lice and they are happilly free of either but I will keep up my hen house hygiene more rigourously from now on.

[KathyH]

Still finding mites in the coop. Not as many - but still red from their feed on the poor chooks

Chickens looking a bit brighter though - so we must be making some headway.

Cleared out all we could see and re-applied Diatom powder. Thanks for the suggestion about using a paintbrush Dawn

I will get some liver tomorrow Aunt Sally. I guess you  mean it to be well chopped up and raw?
As its a small amount daily I will chop up a lump and freeze it in teaspoon sized bits. Then I can defrost and give it alternate days without it going off.

Doris has been more interested in getting into the food today - she even gave a good show at getting her share of the spinach leaves - so that must be a good sign. She still laid a nice egg too - bless her!

[KathyH]

Feeding raw chopped liver to your chickens is a sure fire way of loosing an arm!
Wow! Did they ever LIKE THAT!!!

Still finding a few mites but it seems to be fewer each day. Doris still droopy but a little bit better. Henna still not laying - but looking perky.

We soldier on!

[Aunt Sally]

I thought they might have your fingers off Kathy.  

I should think daily would be a bit too often, a couple of portions per week should be enough. Stop feeding it when they get their lovely red combs back !

[KathyH]

Thanks Aunt Sally.
Actually their combs aren't too bad in colour - its just the listlessness in Doris, the over eating in Henna and the fact that their laying is all haywire - oh yes and Henna and Doris have lots of bald patches.

They still don't like spending the night inside their coop and try to spend the night on top of its roof. So far Chris has put them in each night by picking them up and putting them in the pop hole!
Tonight he only got to do that to two of them and the third, Jet, went in on her own. maybe they will get back into the habit soon.

Actually Jet is the best of the trio in all this. She is a Black Rock (Jet - get it?) and hasn't lost any feathers or any condition. There is no sign that the mites have bothered her and she was still happy to go in the coop - until the others persuaded her otherwise.
Maybe the Black Rock feathers are denser and protected her a bit.

Anyone any theories about this? Do different breeds react differently to red mite?

[KathyH]

Just a rather sad update on our red mite problem.
We have been dusting and cleaning and still finding a few mites each day. we have also been giving the chooks spinach and occasional chopped liver as well as Battles Poultry drink in their water.
Egg laying still a bit erratic.

But sadly, last night Doris died  :cry:

Poor girl just kept laying huge eggs all the time and I think it must have depleted her reserves. The others  became occasional layers but Doris kept pumping them out daily and it must have all been too much for her.
She was very sleepy and just quietly slipped away
 :cry:

We did try our best but it did feel like a loosing battle.
<sigh>
ah well - we learn. NEVER stop routine Diatrom dusting - even if you can't see the little b*ggers.

Kathy

[mumsy]

Sorry to hear your news Kathy, you couldn't have tried any harder :cry:
xxxxxx Hugs to both of you

[Foxy]

Oh mumsy how sad -I really suggest the milbenex now. I use 2 or 3 times now only a year and NEVER seen them once treated.

[Aunt Sally]

Poor Doris.  I don't think anything would have saved her :cry:

[KathyH]

Thanks everyone. She was a lovely gentle girl and her eggs were  wonderful. She was a " Speckledy" or "Speckled Star" (I have seen both names used - not sure which is right) and a cross Maran and Rhode Island Red. So her eggs were brown with dark brown speckles and she was grey dappled. Very pretty  

She seemed to give up about a week ago and its been a struggle to keep her perky since.

I will get the Milbinex now - if I can find some. The Diatrom is getting a slow clear up rate but we think they are still on the chooks a bit even though they say they come off at night. We have sprayed the other chooks again now Doris is gone. Every day we get some more in the coop at the ends of the perch. They seem to be dead - but they are still appearing. I guess we are getting new hatchings still.
This has been a real nightmare  :cry:

[too many girls]

oh poor Kathy, i don't think you could have done anything more to save her, you tried your best but sometimes it isn't meant to be, good luck with the others.

[too many girls]

i've been thinking, does anyone know why and where from do red mites appear? asuming your free of them, where do they come from?

[KathyH]

I have been told they come in on wild birds.

Personally I think they come from the darkest reaches of Hell  :o They bite people too. We have been extensively bitten and they hide in your clothing. My husbands T shirt had them lurking in the neck seam  
So after every contact with the infected coop we (well I!) had to give all the clothes we had been wearing a hot wash cycle to make sure. They also lurked in our hair as we found they were still nipping long after we had finished. I recommend Tea Tree shampoo after every coop scrubbing session - although we did then use shower caps! How lovely we looked!
My hair resembled a brillo pad after a week of the worst of the scrubbing and cleaning sessions  :o

I can't believe they are still in that coop. We get about a teaspoonful each morning - mostly dead but some have still fed   :evil:

[too many girls]

sounds nasty, for you and the chooks, struth, hope we don't get them, can you dust hens with red mite powder as a matter of prevention?