[Kym503]

Having found the lice and little mites I think they are red ones.  I found one on my arm and it left a red smear when squashed.

I happend to find an old bottle of Jeyes fluid that must have been 20 years old (Honest!)  I've scrubbed the hen house ( a converted shed) with a solution of that, let it dry and then sprayed the whole thing with poultry shield using a pressure spray bottle.  I've scrubbed the with both jeyes and poultry shield. 

I pressure washed the perch and then scrubbed with both jeyes and and poultry shield.

I've burnt all the bedding, pressure washed the greenhouse they go in and dug over teh run.  I've got the mite dust to put down later and will put newspaper down for them tonight.  (Can Iuse straw and wood shavings as normal?)

I've frontlined all the hens and even put a sprinkling of the mite power of 3 of them....couldn't catch the others as they had legged it after teh frontline episode and I didnt 'think to do them with both at first..

Thishas taken me 5 1/2 hours and I'll repeat on Thursday evening.

Is there anything else I can do or should have done?!?!?

[nicky d]

I think you have it about all covered, thats the thing with redmite there not gonna go away first time,    Hillfooter advised as a precaution making up a diatom slurry and painting it on the perches, knooks and crannies, basically anywhere you want,    i followed his advice and realising my coop was just full of dust from all the powders i was using and not good for the girlies, i painted on the mixture yesterday and was well impressed,     I wouldnt worry too much that you didnt get the powder on the girls, the fact that you have used the frontline should do the trick nicely          nickyx

[michou]

I hit on a new strategy with the dreaded red mites: I have wrapped some parcel tape on itself,  inside out, i.e. the (very) sticky side on the outside around the ends of the perches nearer the walls. The amount of stuck red mites on the tape in the morning was STAGGERING! And very red they were too, so they obviously had spent the night feeding on the chickens. Well, no more.... I have changed the tape regularly and still get many mites.

I think it is more efficient than vaseline on the perch as vaseline may act as a barrier, but this actually kills the little blighters.

Still, there are plenty more coming. Does the cold weather stop them?

[Flowerpower136]

Touch wood, have never had them, but use poultry shield and diatom every time the coop is scrubbed out.  Also dust the nest box material with mite powder as a precaution.  They all get it then when they sit.  And have frontline ready, just in case!

The tape idea is a good one.  Might do that, just to keep an extra check on things.  Though if I was actually catching them, I think I'd be out with a blow torch.

Horrid thing.   They will not get my girls.

[Kym503]

My original post was a month ago - glad to say I have beaten the little so and so's but only by resorting to heavy duty pesticides!

[bantam novice]

one more for the anti-redmite brigade! Well done!