[stickywicket]

Hi it's me again with my questions :oops:

I have read about a purple spray but there seem to be lots of different ones (and I've read that gentian violet is carcinogenic). Which is the best? Is it just the iodine one I need ?

Also does anyone recommend poutry shield. It sounds a great all purpose product to stop red mite and generally clean the hen house with.

Thanks

[Aunt Sally]

Get the stuff called "Purple Spray" from the hosey stuff supplier.  I don't think you can get gentian violet nowadays.  


Lots of people with wooden chicken houses use and swear by Poultry Shield, so it must be good  

[poultrygeist]

Am I right in sayign that purple spray is aloe vera based ?

...or are there different products covering the same general role ?

We're looking to get some too.

have poultry shield. Have only used it for general spring clean as we haven't yet been visited by any critters, so can't vouch for its effectiveness but it does get a lot of reccomendations.

rob  

[chicken soup]

What a coincidence I have just bought some gentian violet today. A company called Battle, Hayward & Bower Ltd from Lincoln manufactored it if that is of any assistance to you.

[stickywicket]

Thanks for the info. My horsey place does 2 purple sprays, one is called NAF I think and has aloe vera in it and the other is called Gold something and says it doesn't contain gentian violet. They look like they do a similar job.

There just seem to be a lot of products out there and I don't want to buy somehting I'll never use or that is full of chemicals.

[Foxy]

I have the Gold purple spray, and have used poultry shield in the past to good effect. Purple Spray is just a good antiseptic spray containing good old fashioned chlorhexidine which is effective against a broad range of bacteria, tastes horrible and disguises wounds to prevent birds pecking at them!
 

[Foxy]

No Rob before you post I haven't tasted it myself!!!

Wise to your humour!  

[stickywicket]

Thanks. Now I know that I can always pick some purple spray up from my local horsey place if I need it.

Looking at the various other products around it seems to me that diatom powder is a good all round treatment for mites, lice and worms and is worth having in stock. Thought I would get some poultry shield  as well as it sounds as though it is has a bit more clout and could be used a few times a year to really be sure the dreaded red mite don't move in. :evil:  

Do you think there is any other product I should have on my shelf?

[poultrygeist]

No Rob before you post I haven't tasted it myself!!!

Wise to your humour!  

 :roll:  moi ?

[dawnsmith]

I use poultry shield and diatom together.
My local chook place use them both and challenged us to find a mite anywhere!
We had mites very recently, I did as they said - cleaned with poultry shield, left to dry, then dusted with diatom. I can safely say we haven't seen a mite since.
I'd say - get them both  

[poultrygeist]

i think the theory is that poultry shield will kill off any over about 3 days, providing you spray thoroughly in all the nooks and crannies, and then the diatom catches any survivors, newly hatched mites and eggs, but obviously only where you can sprinkle it.

We haven't got any diatom but I would like to get some at some point. It does seem to be the long term solution.

Rob

[SnooziSuzi]

I just discovered that Henny Penny has mites yesterday and my parcel of gentain violet, poultry spice and poultry shield also arrived yesterday so todays job is to blast all of their wooden chicken house, replace all of the straw and litter and re-do the girls with permethryn.  This was recommended to me by the small animal feeds place in the village, but is usually used for pigeons so not sure if it will have worked.

how soon will I know?  I don't want to put her through any more distress by having to wait longer than necessary to get rid of them...  :cry:

[GrannieAnnie]

I use the NAF purple spray, or cheapy vseline with a drop of liquid paraffin mixed in, but people on here have said you can't get the liquid paraffin in chemists anymore?  I only bought mine from Boots last year!

And I only use poultryshield for mite prevention or cure, to clean out the houses I use Jeyes first, then make sure the house is well dried before chooks go in and vanodine is another good disinfectant and cleaner, it is iodine based.

[stickywicket]

Thanks for all the advice .

Has anyone tried using apple cider vinegar for anything. That sounds like a good all round product. Can anyone recommend it ?

I let my new chooks into their larger run today to stretch their legs but it's been so wet I found them back in the house an hour or so later