[Shazzer]

I have 2 hens - no cockrel ,who are broody, they sit in for days and only come out when i force them to, one has been like it for about 3 weeks now.  I've tried dunking their bums in cold water and making them  sit on raised wire areas but they are obsessed!!  I have red mite in the house as well which I cant seem to eradicate.  I have done the vaseline thing on the perch but because they wont go on there the mites can get to them.  PLEASE HELP!!

[GrannieAnnie]

Hi Shazzer, when Scary Mary went broody, Brian kept chucking her out of the layers shed, then she started to sleep with little Rosie in the small ark.  It took nearly 2 months before she laid again!

They need to be made really uncomfortable,obviously you're uncomfortable, wasn't uncomfortablee enough!!!  Munty made an anti broody hutch once, it was made up of bars I think so they can't get out, but they can get cold and they can see the outside world but not get to it.  Without getting them out of the house, its not going to be easy getting rid of the red mite is it?

Is there nowhere else you can put them until you get rid of the mites?  Maybe borrow something?

Shame you're not nearer to us, we've got a spare coop at the moment

[Shazzer]

Thanks for reply, I do have a rabbit hutch I can use but I think that the birds probably have mites on them, even though I treated them last week, so wont the mites then go into that house?  I have been told by a fellow chicken keeper to paint the house entirely with creosote.

[GrannieAnnie]

MKHenry told me to do that and said I'd never see mites again!  so after I painted it all inside and out, Munty then says don't paint the inside, the fumes will kill the chickens, but he said to leave the coop open for at least a week, we left ours for 2 weeks, and brian lined the bottom half in hardboard so the chickens wouldn't peck at the creosoted walls, but Henry was right!  THAT shed has never had mites again, but the little one next to it did!!!

[Shazzer]

who is mkHenry?  So should i not paint inside then?