[newChickenMummy]

Hi all

Found some red mites in the girls coop last thursday, hoovered & cleaned out with jeyes, sprayed poultry shield and powdered with the barrier mite powder (all we had, I'm waiting on some diatom which I've ordered but still hasn't turned up). Also filled in cracks with decorators caulk but every day I check and there are still some in there - not many mind but around 10 or so each time I check (that I can see anyway). I've been cleaning & spraying the coop out every day since then and even 'painted' inside the coop with barrier mite powder which i mixed into a liquid.

Do they take a while to die with the poultry shield? Just concerned as we both work full time so by the time we get home we only have about an hour before its dark and so can't give the coop a complete wash out each night but just spray poultry shield, powder and change all the bedding.

Am hoping the diatom comes before the weekend so on saturday i can thoroughly scrub the coop again with jeyes, poultry shield & paint the diatom into any cracks which are left also fill in any remaining gaps with caulk. Is there anything else I need to do other than powder the girls of course?

The first night we put the girls in the shed as the coop was still wet by bedtime, should I do this until the weekend or will this just stress them out more? Although there doesn't seem to be loads of mites in the coop they are obviously still getting bitten by some and I'm worried it will make them ill.

Also is there anything I can give them in the meantime, I've heard people talking on here about poultry spice, should I get some of that for them?

Sorry to go on, seems like I'm always posting on here about something or another!

[grumpydad]

poultry spice can be added to their food, or life guard to the water both are good tonics.
acv and garlic in the water. there are some posts that suggest the garlic deters mites from sucking blood, because it taints the chucks blood, much as it does with humans and mosquitos.

there is another product on the market called smite the mite, never used it yet, just a thought it the infestaion is bad.

martyn

[Roughlee Handled]

poultry spice can be added to their food, or life guard to the water both are good tonics.
acv and garlic in the water. there are some posts that suggest the garlic deters mites from sucking blood, because it taints the chucks blood, much as it does with humans and mosquitos.

there is another product on the market called smite the mite, never used it yet, just a thought it the infestaion is bad.

martyn

Sorry martyn but what you have stated is not scientificly proven and an old wives tale. 
If it where true then there would not be anyneed for antimalarial drugs and everyone would just have to eat garlic. 

newChickenMummy

Have you removed your perches?
While you are waiting you could try painting the inside of the coop with paraffin. richyrich7 uses this method and swears by it.  I use Milbenex but it is very strong stuff.

diatom is a powder and is a product that can be use on the birds.

They will come back as some may be left on the bird or the birds are picking them up outside. 
You will not stop your chickens from getting red mite as they naturally occur.
What you can do is not let the red mites use your coop as a home to suck the blood of your chickens.

[grumpydad]

thanks, at least we live and learn, as long as i do not have to turn into and old wife...lol

martyn

[Roughlee Handled]

............ as long as i do not have to turn into and old wife...

Just watch out for  Aunty,  she may turn you into one.  She turned me into a frog.

[newChickenMummy]

I have removed the perches to clean them and powdered them and underneath them but put them back again, should I remove them from the coop altogether?

I have ordered some diatom but am still waiting for it to come, i'll try the paraffin inside the coop though thanks. Is this not harmful to the girls though?

So do I need to treat the floor of their run etc for red mite or basically just keep spraying the coop and powdering the girls until there are no more left in the coop? I was thinking of lining the coop with plastic (my father-in-law has some of that stuff they use on the inside of airoplanes) or would this just cause condensation inside?

 

[poultrygeist]

I think you can smear the ends of the perches with vaseline which should stop the mites from hiding there. Whatever you line the house with, the mites will often use to hide and breed behind. If you can stick it down with something gooey like roofing felt adhesive (bitumen), they can't get past it. But there's always the risk of harm to the birds if they eat it or get it on them.

Wish you all the best of luck and hope you can clear them out.

ROb

[ehs284]

A bit confused, sorry!.. but are you using the red barrier powder on the hens or only the coop? If you're concentrating on the coop on the basis that they will live there (correct), then whenever they go out and pick up new mites the new mites will eventually die, but only after they have left the hen. Diatomatious earth is a bit like dust bathing; the mites protective outer layer is scoured away and the insect dies from fluid loss. Works, but is slow.
Paraffin or any VOC is bad for the lungs of any animal - including you - so in a confined space such as a coop it is not a good idea if something else will work. 'Liquid paraffin' as used in medicine is a different substance.

[newChickenMummy]

Lol I'm also confused  :happy:  I've cleaned the coop with jeyes, then sprayed out with poultry shield then powdered the girls and the coop with barrier red mite powder but have ordered some diatom which I understand I can mix into a paste and paint the inside of the coop with and powder the girls with.

I haven't been dusting the girls every day though as I wasn't sure if it was ok to do so but I will make sure I do it every night.

Also should I spray the floor of their run with poultry shield or powder it or something, its just mud though?

I won't use the paraffin then as it sounds a bit dodgy, I don't want to use the wrong one and kill us all!

I'll try vaseline though, brilliant idea, thanks guys 

[Shazzer]

I had such a lot of trouble with the red mites, I was doing every
thing but they always came back if I got too relaxed about them
being gone. In the end I painted the house with creosote Inside
and out (someone suggested it onapost) I haven't had any since

[Roughlee Handled]

.........................
Also should I spray the floor of their run with poultry shield or powder it or something, its just mud though?    NO it wont help.

I won't use the paraffin then as it sounds a bit dodgy, I don't want to use the wrong one and kill us all!  Paraffin is perfectly ok just do not drink it. You can get it from B & Q


I'll try vaseline though, brilliant idea, thanks guys 

In the end I painted the house with creosote Inside
and out (someone suggested it onapost) I haven't had any since

Shazzer  creosote is carcinogenic and has been banned by the EU for use by the general public. It can only be applied to old buildings by a registered company.
There is a period of time I think it is 72hrs when nothing is aloud to be in the structures that have been treated and they must be well ventilated for that period as well.

The new alternative is no good against redmite.

[GrannieAnnie]

If I remember rightly, Richyrich7 paints the ends of his perches with paraffin, not the whole inside of the coop.  He also sometimes goes over the perches with a blow torch, but hopefully not as soon as he's paraffined them!!! :blink:

I was talking to Sean yesterday, our customer up in Horncastle.  He has had terrible mite problems in his sheds, but he said he bought something called NETEX, which he thinks is like Milbenex in that it has a residual effect on the mites, so stays active on the wood and gets teh little blighters if they come back!

He said it cost him £30 for 2 litres and the dilution is 1:10, but the 2 litres did all 3 of his houses which are quite big.

[Roughlee Handled]

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=23506.msg278095#msg278095

I use paraffin    but I'd imagine creosote sub's would do just as well as the old stuff, just remember to make sure it's dry and well ventilated before  the hens go back in, thats why I use paraffin no bad stink and seems to kill mite no problems just brush liberally into the cracks and nooks

OK so it not the whole thing.

[GrannieAnnie]

oh right, its his cracks and nooks then, not his perches!!!!   

[pink-chicken]

Just a little tip to add to all the great advice posted here. If the perches have any screwed 'joints' whatsoever, undo them and treat inside. Our perches are 'H' shaped, having a mortice like joint at the crossbar. I thought I'd got all the mites until I unscrewed this and found loads hiding in the tiniest of gaps.

Jan.