[joyfull]

Well I must now be a "proper Chicken Keeper" according to the world of Hillfooter as I have discovered red mite in a couple of my coups  . It has taken me a few years to become a proper keeper 
Anyway in 2 of the coups I have hens sat on eggs so have got a few questions to ask:-
1) What is going to be the best way to treat the 2 coups with the broodies in? The eggs are not due to be hatched until next Wednesday.
2) Whilst cleaning down the coups what do you all do about the ground as the mites can live without feeding for weeks?
3) I have poultry shield, diatom, vanodine all ready to do the inside and am going to use a wood preserver on the outside ready for the onset of winter - are these all ok for the broody coups?

[nicky d]

arh no joy, hope you can get rid of the blighters            nickyx

[8doubles]

I would definately dust the nest with diatom when the broody is off. The hen and chicks will be real sitting targets for the mite.
Partition the nest boxes off with cardboard when spraying the rest of the coop.

Multiple sprays of poultry shield had little effect on my red mite but a strong solution of Dettol  removed all traces of them.

Best of luck in the war.            

[Knight Family]

I use Smite and Poulty shield and Diacom. all at different times,but the blighters willhide in every nook and cranney! I ended up burning my last coop and built a new one with very little cracks.Touch wood only have a couple which todate have been killed off very quickly.

[joyfull]

my main concern is the 2 coups with the broodies and eggs in as obviously the broodies are in there all of the time - both broodies got frontlined yesterday as a precaution against mites and lice which broodies are prone to anyway. I want to make sure that nothing I use will have a detrimental effect on the broodies and their chicks which are due next week.

[pigeonpie]

Hi Joyfull,
I'm pretty sure that Diatom is perfectly safe for the chickens so I'm sure if you sprinkle all around where the broodies are sitting it will do no harm to them and perhaps slow down the on set of the mite until you are able to do anything more using stronger chemicals.  I've always found Diatom to be good at preventing the problem worsening but wouldn't think it quite man enough to cope with a fresh out break. 
Good luck.