Evacuating coop due to red mite

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SusieB

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Evacuating coop due to red mite
« on: June 23, 2012, 08:19 »
I haven't had red mite yet, but I am planning ahead.   If I had another temporary coop (that's a bit of a squash for them). 

Can somebody give me an idea of how long I would need to have them in the temporary coop to get rid of the red mite? 

Would this get rid of them completely, at least for a while, or just under control?

Would this be helped by very powerful chemicals, that I would normally try to avoid?

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GrannieAnnie

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Re: Evacuating coop due to red mite
« Reply #1 on: June 23, 2012, 09:17 »
If you are thinking of keeping the chooks in the temporary coop until the red mite die, well I hate to tell you this, but red mite can easily live without feeding for 38 weeks!

The method I use is to clean out every bit of shavings, straw or whatever you use plus as much poo as you can.  Then I wash down with Jeyes fluid (that's a personal thing though)  Once that has dried a bit, I then spray with Poultryshield, concentrating on areas under perches, every inch of nest boxes and every crevasse in the wood you can find.

Some people make a slurry with diatom (I use hemexsan, same stuff) and paint it all over the place, but I spread the hemexsan all over while the poultryshield is still wet.  Leave it for an hour or so to dry, then let the chooks back in.

Some people use paraffin on the perch ends, I did at one time get one of the cheap, like Vaseline, and spread that all around perch ends and cracks.

I don't put stuff like lino on the floor, as red mite love places to hide.  I've even had them living under plastic feeders that were on the floor of the henhouse, they get right up into the little areas where things are screwed together!

Never underestimate them!

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SusieB

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Re: Evacuating coop due to red mite
« Reply #2 on: June 23, 2012, 09:41 »
Thanks for the reply.  No, evacuation isn't to wait for the red mite to die.  It is to get the chickens away from the red mites straight away, make it easier to do all the treatments and to keep them away from any chemicals used.

I have been reading up, it looks to me as if you need to treat the nasties twice, the second time after 3-5 days.

So I would only need to evacuate if I couldn't do the first treatment straight away?

Or possible evacuate for 5-6 days, till both treatments have been done.  It sound like this would mean I could whizz in with the second treatment without having to clean out again.

I think I've probably lost any readers through boredom by now.  Sorry.  I am wanting to buy a second coop from Omlet, and they are so b*****y expensive, I want to make sure I buy the right sized one.  The little coop would do for quarantine/hospital, or should I get the Cube to evacuate 4-6 chickens in the event of red mite

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jhub

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Re: Evacuating coop due to red mite
« Reply #3 on: June 23, 2012, 12:41 »
Hello SusieB,
I bought a second hand Eglu Classic and run from eBay for less than half the price of a new one. I am currently using it to house my pullets until they're big enough to join the two hens and then I'll use it as a quarantine coop.
Occasionally there's a few Eglus available at any one time and you might find you can bag one for a really good price.
Good luck.

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GrannieAnnie

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Re: Evacuating coop due to red mite
« Reply #4 on: June 23, 2012, 12:48 »
Paying all that money for an eglu seems a bit much if its only for occasional use.    But that is up to you and your purse!  ;)  I know someone who has a plastic playhouse for their hens.  The playhouse is double skinned, so would probably be warm enough for them.

It would be a good idea if you could take the girls out of the infected coop (if it ever happens) for the whole week, as yes then you can do a further treatment without having to clean them out again.  If the infestation isnt too bad, you may find one treatment is enough, but thee will always be a few eggs or tiny mites hiding somewhere you couldn't reach with the treatment.  

They really are tiny tiny little things!  just keep looking under those perches and in and around the nest boxes.  Are your perches removable?  They are the best kind.  I make sure my perches are well covered in hemexsan (diatom), then any stray mites walk over it and get dessicated!

Oh someone else I know goes through his wooden henhouse with a blowtorch!  And I have used my little steam cleaner to go over the portable perches my OH made, but I didn't manage to take the steam cleaner down the garden to the henhouse!

The reason they say do a 2nd treament about 5-6 days afterwards is the lifecycle of the red mite is a week, but in that time they can produce millions of offspring before they themselves die.  Yucky things!

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SusieB

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Re: Evacuating coop due to red mite
« Reply #5 on: June 23, 2012, 15:38 »
Thanak you everybody, I think it's a second hand eglu classic if I can find one.  The many reason I keep going back to Omlet is they're the only people that make portable foxproof runs.

GrannieAnnie, you've been so helpful, just one more question if I may.  If I get red mite in my wooden coop, can I put my plastic house in the same walk in run, whilst I treat the infected coop, or is it better to have 2nd coop a distance away.  I can't move the wooden one.

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GrannieAnnie

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Re: Evacuating coop due to red mite
« Reply #6 on: June 23, 2012, 23:38 »
It is possible for the red mite to piggy back on your girls, although they seldom stay on the hens once they've fed, but at least IF you were to get any mites in the eglu, they are so easy to dismantle and wash out, then you can take them to a fresh bit of ground.

It would take the mites a long time to walk to another place.  They usually drop out of trees, or get deposited onto coops by passing wild birds, so they must piggy back at some point as they can't fly.

You may have guessed, I've had a few run ins with the dreaded red mites!  The worst one was last year they got into our biggest henhouse.  OH was supposed to be looking after the chickens in there after I finally convinced him I was going to 'retire'! 

The house is 32ft x 6ft and he said something about the birds in there, so I went and looked and oh my, the mites were falling off the henhouse roof onto my head, they were in all the grooves of the wood, all under the perches, which OH had helpfully screwed to the wall!    There were millions of them.   :ohmy:

Anyway, after doing everything that I told you about, apart from the hemexsan, I bought some foggers.  (smoke bombs).  I covered up all the vents and one of the doors to help keep the smoke in, placed 4 foggers through the henhouse, lit them, ran out the other door and quickly taped it up.

After a couple of hours, I went round the back of the HH and the mites were falling out of the cracks in the wood in their millions. 

I hope never to have to do that again!   >:(
« Last Edit: June 23, 2012, 23:45 by GrannieAnnie »

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ANHBUC

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Re: Evacuating coop due to red mite
« Reply #7 on: June 24, 2012, 11:11 »
Go GrannieAnnie "Mite Terminator".   8)
Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens!
Bagpuss RIP 1992 - June 2012, 1 huge grass carp (RIP "Jaws" July 2001 - December 2011), 4 golden orfe, 1 goldfish and 1 fantail fish (also huge)! plus 4 Italian quail, 1 Japanese quail, 1 Rosetta quail.

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griff

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Re: Evacuating coop due to red mite
« Reply #8 on: June 24, 2012, 11:20 »
I use hemexsan works great tried other products with no effect . But this product works just fine



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