I found this on the t'internet an unusual organic possible control for redmite.
http://www.theranger.co.uk/index.asp?show=newsArticle&id=340"Scientists from Bristol University are looking for a hen house with a red mite problem so that they can trial a novel control method.
Not a problem, you would have thought, but the volunteer will have to agree to run the flock on a lighting regime which involves a continuous cycle of 3½ hours of light followed by 2½ hours of darkness. And because the hens will not be getting an uninterrupted eight hours of darkness, permission for the trial will have to be granted by the Home Office.
The research team, led by Dr Gerald Coles, has already undertaken a three month pilot study in which they found that the selected lighting regime prevented the build up of red mites.
The trial involved four groups of 25 commercially reared pullets which were housed on litter at 16 weeks and supplied with bell drinkers, tube feeders, metal nest boxes and wooden perches. An ADAS mite trap was suspended underneath each end of the perches.
One of the groups was given a conventional lighting regime consisting of 14 hours light followed by 10 hours darkness. A second group received a lighting programme, again based on a single photoperiod, of 20 hours light followed by 4 hours darkness.
The other two groups were kept on short-cycle symmetrical repeating programmes. One of these was based on six-hour cycles of 3½ hours of light followed by 2½ hours of darkness, giving the equivalent of 14 hours of light and 10 hours of dark every 24 hours, as per the group on the conventional programme.
The fourth group was given one-hour cycles of 15 minutes of light followed by 45 minutes of darkness (six hours of illumination in every 24 hours).
Around 400 mites freshly collected from a commercial poultry house were introduced to each of the four groups of pullets one week after they had been placed in the pens. The relatively low number of mites added, say the researchers, was to resemble a ’clean’ hen house and to ensure that welfare problems were unlikely to develop during the 12-week trial.
Mite numbers were counted at regular intervals during the trial, which was funded by the British Egg Marketing Board (BEMB) Research and Education Trust. At the end of the 12 weeks the highest prevalence of mites was found in the group of birds on the conventional 14 hours light/10 hours dark regime, while the second highest number of mites was found in the 20 hours light/4 hours dark group.
When it came to the two groups on the intermittent lighting programmes, by 12 weeks only one mite was found in the 15 minutes light/45 minutes dark group and no mites at all were found in the group subjected to 3½ hours light/2½ hours dark.
The light intensity during the experiment (86 lux) was intentionally kept higher than is normal commercial practice to ensure that if
light did interfere with mite numbers the
effect would be observed.
The trial took into account the effects of the lighting regime on the productivity of the hens and the results revealed that the two groups on the intermittent lighting regimes not only had the least number of mites but also laid the most eggs, averaging 60 per bird over the length of the study. The hens on the conventional programme laid 59 eggs while the birds on 20 hours light/4 hours dark laid 56 eggs. This group also ate the most at 15kg per bird whilst the lowest feed intake was found in the 15 minutes light/45 minutes dark group which ate an average of 11kg.
Hens in the conventionally lit group ate 12.5kg of feed each, while the group on the intermittent lighting programme proposed for the field trial ate13kg a bird.
The scientists conclude that the potential for controlling mite with intermittent lighting is “very promising” but they admit it is unclear why it appears to work. It could be that the dark period is insufficient for the mites to feed or that when the lights come back on the mites leave the birds, becoming visible to them and are eaten.
The scientists also do not know whether the mite could adapt to intermittent lighting over a period of time and that is one of the reasons they are keen to progress the study to the second stage involving commercial conditions. It is also unclear how the lighting programme can be adapted to suit free range systems where total light control is not possible.
Dr Gerald Coles and his team are now looking for a producer to volunteer to help.
“Ideally we’d like a smallish house which has a history of red mites and is located not too far from Bristol,” he told the Ranger, adding that present evidence suggests that the lighting programme proposed is unlikely to significantly affect production levels.
So if your farm fits this criteria and you feel you would like to help, who knows, you may be rewarded with a mite-free summer. Dr Coles can be contacted by phone on 0117-928-9418 or by email at gerald.c.coles@bristol.ac.uk "
found here
http://www.theranger.co.uk/index.asp?show=newsArticle&id=340
Similar Topics
April 26, 2011, 09:33