[violet]

Help!!!!! My cube is awash with red mite!...

So far I have thoroughly washed the eglu and put a powder which I think is probably diotome stuff but isn't called that.

I have just got some poultry shield, but a bit confused as to how to use it because of course being plastic the liquid doesn't soak into the "house"

At least it is very easy to see the little beasties on the plastic and easy to wipe them off...yuk

My plan is to wash the cube ever other day, put the powder stuff in the nest box and spray the poultry shield around hinges etc and under the roosting bar area..what do you think?

[SMD66]

yep, just spray in areas where they can hide.  Can't believe they are in a plastic house.  I am battleing with them in my 8 x 6 wooden shed.  It uses up a lot of spray and powder every week!  B@#*%y red mite.  I HATE THEM

[hillfooter]

yes you are doing the right things the answer is good hygene regular clean outs every 3 or 4 days for 2 weeks.  I'd be a bit careful about using chemical cleaners on plastic so I suggest you ask the manufacturers if it oK or which they might suggest.  Use the DIATOM powder (it's generically known as diamaceous earth which is non toxic but kills through dehydration).  Don't bother with the expensive Barrier Powder which is based on a fly/ mozzie repellant and won't work on the house anyway.  You can paint on a slurry of DIATOM add it to water (not the other way around) until it's a creamy constituancy and paint around the vertical edges & corners and particularly perches and sparingly sprinkle the powder on the floor.  Spraying a weak solution of Jeyes Fluid on the surrounding ground is not a bad idea but again avoid the plastic with this unless the manufacturer approves.  Two weeks and you should have it beat.

There's no reason red mite won't infest plastic houses too but it does mean they should be much easier to eradicate than from a wooden house where there's lots of hiding places.

Keep us posted on progress I'm sure a lot of folks with plastic houses or who are considering them will be interested in your experiences.
Regards

[Aunt Sally]

Any idea where they came from violet ?

New birds ?

Second hand equipment ?

Wooden hen house near by ?

Straw or feed from a farm with chooks ?

Have you visited any other chooks ?

or has any other chook keeper visited you ?

etc.

[hillfooter]

OOoops mean't diatomaceous earth.  It's fossilised single celled aquatic plants which have formed into sedimentary rock over eons and is mined and milled to a powder.  It's very absorbant and abrassive at a microscopic level.

I should have said that in between cleans look for clusters (red mite colonies where they breed and mutually protect themselves with a waxy coat) and spot treat them with the spray.  Red mite aren't difficult to kill they're just difficult to find which is were a plastic house should score.

Aunt Sally missed out wild birds.  I don't suppose you have any of these near by??

Regards

[violet]

Having answered no to everything asked by aunt sally I then noticed the wild bird question.........we have hundreds (ok, ok I may not have hundreds, but many, many, many)

The hens are kept in a garden with a 6ft fence and then in the eglu which has its own enclosed fence at night...during the day the garden is full of birds, they even go into the eglu enclosure at eat the layers pellets!!!

Now I know the little creepiess are around once I have cleared them away I will be extra cautious, but there is nothing I can do about the wild birds.

the powder i have is called some algae or other..is this the same as diatom?

Could the mites be the cause of low egg production?Out of nine hens...six which are definitely egg laying age I only have one or two eggs per day....

[Aunt Sally]

The mites will be the cause of low egg production as they make the hens anaemic.

I have always kept my eglu dusted with diatom and have never had red mite in the 4 years I've had it.  I have no idea what the powder you have is you should be able to search on google for it if you get the name from the container.

You should be able to eradicate them easily from your cube (or is it an eglu) with good hygiene or a jet washer.

[hillfooter]

Diatoms are single celled aquatic plants otherwise known as algae so it sounds very much like it is what you have.  There's several product names for it but it's basically the same material.

No not much you can do about the wild birds other than to try to discourage them from entering the house by keeping the food and water under cover but outside the house.  Commercial breeders ensure wild birds don't nest in their sheds or in nearby hedgerows.  You will just have to eradicate the infestation first and then use the powder as a preventative once the deep cleaning process is complete and you have reverted to the regular cleaning.  I wouldn't bother with the powder until you are happy that the clusters have been eliminated otherwise you will be wasting a lot in the cleaning process.  When you spray the cube out use detergent in the sprayer as this breaks up the waxy clusters and will help kill the mites.
Certainly red mite will reduce the egg production.  I had a bad infestation in a wooden house this year and egg production dropped to a couple a day from eight layers but now they have been almost eliminated it's back up to 6 or 7 a day.
Regards

[violet]

Thank you all for your replies...the wild birds look lovely as  they wander around with the hens who, other than chasing off the odd pidgeon don't seem to mind...squirrels are a different matter...zero tolerance from hens!

Hope once I have a new regime in place things will be better controlled...I thought I kept "a clean house" but obviously ....not clean enough...shocking hen keeper, will try harder!

[shelster]

Can I just say, I am so pleased to of found this site!!! Have been cleaning out my coop today to find it completely infested with the little blighters!! Lots of good advice on here, off shortly to buy some potions! Thanks guys xx 

[sloworm]

hello shelster, and welcome to the site i have found everyone extremely helpful and friendly and no question seems to be too daft! I haven't any birds at the moment but loiter in the hope of perhaps one day...........
p.s I am a fellow cornish person and hasn't the weather been awful?
p.p.s sorry to hijack this thread