[mohs.ayaz]

Hi everyone, i went to clean the chicken coops today and saw some red mite in the main coop. But 1 small coop which i only had 1 cockerel in there had thousands or millions on a perch. I had piece of wood in there to use it as a perch. I sprayed it with poultry shield and threw it away. Sprayed the coop from inside out and dusted it with DE powder. I cant believe they survived last summers sprays of poultry shield and it's not very warm for them to be feeding as they were all red.

[ANHBUC]

Some wood gets a red blotchy mould on it, are you sure it was redmites?

www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/fungi-forums/43665-tiny-red-clusters-fungus-branch.html

If you google "nectria fungus" there are loads more photos.   

[mohs.ayaz]

Im positive it was redmite.. It was moving arounf when i picked the wood up and when i sprayed into corners PS was turning green.. I've seen them last summer so i knew it was them

[ANHBUC]

  

Good luck with your extermination programme. 

[mohs.ayaz]

Im wondering does the oil keep the mites away? Does it kill them? As somee people put vasaline on the perches. What would u suggest?

[ANHBUC]

I have only ever used diatomaceous earth powder in my coops with plenty at the ends of the perches.  I have changed to eglu now but I never had any problems with my wooden coops using it.

[joyfull]

you have to remember that those coops get warm overnight even with just 1 bird in them. The idea of vaseline is that the mites will get stuck to it. keep using your poultry shield and make up a DE slurry and you will win but it may take a few weeks. Also check the ground because when you clean your coop some may fall on the ground and simply climb back up.

[mohs.ayaz]

Thanks joyfull i'll make sure the floor is wet with PS before cleaning the coop. :-)

[Geo]

spray every 3 days with the poultry shield as this will help kill any that got away first treatment. As already mentioned this can take weeks. good hunting

[bravemurphy]

you have to remember that those coops get warm overnight even with just 1 bird in them. The idea of vaseline is that the mites will get stuck to it. keep using your poultry shield and make up a DE slurry and you will win but it may take a few weeks. Also check the ground because when you clean your coop some may fall on the ground and simply climb back up.

I am sure i read somewhere that DE is no good at all when it gets wet but when it drys again it is ok.

[Geo]

Checked in the coop after reading this post  and found some mite. will start with the poultry shield today. We have 50mm of snow here this morning as well. Just show no matter what the weather is like, they are not far away

[mohs.ayaz]

Yup they are always around, when i checked they were all red which means they have been feeding on my beautiful gorgeous cockerel.. I bought some wood filler will block all the cracks n corners and polish or some sort of gloss paint that doesn't flake off.

[Lastcast]

Have a look for the thread "Hillfooters Diatom Slurry" did the trick for me and many others. Before I applied it, I gave the coop a thorough clean & used a blowtorch on all cracks & likely hiding places. Paint all said cracks with the slurry. Paint all the perches. I usually add some of the diatom powder to any fresh bedding.
I reapply it annually & they have not returned.

Honestly it works, good luck.

[mohs.ayaz]

Thanks for the reply lastcast. I did use that last year but didn't work well mayb because i used detol as a disinfectant instead of vanodine v18, added detol and fair n diatom powder..

In that thread it doesn't say how much to use.. How much vanodine did u add?

U can get 500ml bottles from ebay.

I have started filling all the gaps n cracks n hidding places with woodfiller then will paint it again with new slurry using v18. Hope it'll work. :-)

[Lastcast]

Hi mohs.
       Didn't use the vanodine myself, I let the blow torch sort them out (being careful that nothing was left to smolder !) did you make the diatom into a slurry? Work it into all the cracks & crevases. Is there anything the mite can hide under ? as they'll retreat there in the day, not a good idea to cover the coup with felt etc. I clean my coup monthly (12 hens), take the perches out & give them (especially the ends) a quick blast with the blow torch.
      When I first had a bad redmite infestation I also treated the hens to a dusting with redmite/diatom powder. I found it easiest to put the powder in an old pillowcase, put your hen in the case (keeping the head outside) hold her and give the case a gentle shake, that way you cover most of the hen.