[colliebird]

I have been messing around in Cluckingham Palace and have been bitten to pieces 
I can't see any mites, but they are the only things I can think of that have bitten me.
I'm itching like mad.

It is due to be emptied and sprayed next Wednesday and sprayed with Poultry Shield, but does anyone know of a fogger that can be used instead?  Foggers usually get into all the crevices and I could use them on a regular basis.  I'll also be using Diatom powder in the bedding (I use deep layer fine wood shavings that is emptied about 4 times a year).

Would the Strikeback foggers be efficient?
http://www.strikeback-products.co.uk/strikeback-flea-killing-fogger.html

Help!!!!

[woodside farm]

Oh dear  you will probably find the pen is crawling in mites if you use deep litter, this year has been the worse I know for them, have your hens gone off lay or looking pale in their combs?
I have never known red mites to bite humans though. 
Sorry don't know if the foggers would work, never used one.

Michelle xx

[colliebird]

Oh dear  you will probably find the pen is crawling in mites if you use deep litter, this year has been the worse I know for them, have your hens gone off lay or looking pale in their combs?
I have never known red mites to bite humans though. 
Sorry don't know if the foggers would work, never used one.

Michelle xx

Just found this which shows a photo and gory details:

http://poultrykeeper.com/chickens/health/red-mite.html#Have%20you%20got%20red%20mite%20in%20your%20chicken%20house
http://poultrykeeper.com/chickens/health/red-mite.html#Have%20you%20got%20red%20mite%20in%20your%20chicken%20house

I have bite marks in several places, similar to flea bites (my dogs get deflead regularly).
My hens look fine, are laying well and their combs are nice and red, and they aren't scratching themselves.

[colliebird]

Oh dear  you will probably find the pen is crawling in mites if you use deep litter, this year has been the worse I know for them, have your hens gone off lay or looking pale in their combs?
I have never known red mites to bite humans though. 
Sorry don't know if the foggers would work, never used one.

Michelle xx

OMG!!!!   I've just been into the hen house and it is heaving with red mites.  I found an enormous cluster under one of the perches.  I've had to have a shower and wash my hair cos I'm itching all over.  If anyone tells you they don't bite humans, they are talking rubbish.

I went in to take the 6 fertile eggs I bought that the broody hen had sat on for 3 weeks then left the nest.  They all had chicks in them.  That makes me sooooo sad. 
I now have to wait until Wednesday when the hen house will be emptied completely, disinfected with Poultry Shield and new shavings put down.  I don't think I'll be putting in deep layer again, in fact newspapers might be a good idea so they can be burned on a regular basis. Has anyone else done that.

[Flowerpower136]

love the scratchy smiley!

I have newspaper  on coop floor, with a shallow bed of woodshavings (a heavy scattering),  and change every fortnight when I spray with PS (if its dry enough for the coup to dry out), and also powder the place down with diatom.

I thought they'd go into a decline in winter?  Maybe this hot spell brought them all back again.

[woodside farm]

Hi colliebird,
You are very lucky that your hen had sense to move, I lost a broody hen earlier this year to mites, she was under a pen sitting on 12 eggs, the pen had been treated for mites but when I found her dead and lifted her off the nest they where in the straw she had made a nest with  
I have never used poultry shield but I believe it is very effective, but you will need to do in more than once as it will not kill the mite eggs, and the process will start all over again.
If you have found a large cluster under the perches wait until you clean the litter, I clean my chickens out once a week and still had problems with red mites this year, is there any chance you can do it before Wednesday? Your chickens are being eaten alive   chickens can go down hill very quickly.

Good Luck
Michelle xx

[SnooziSuzi]

theres an item in this months Practical Poultry about a new product that aparently kills all stages of the mites life, not just after hatching, so it's supposed to be more effective cos it kills the eggs as well.

Last weekend I found a very small cluster of red mite under a drop-away bit on my perch board so I cleaned the whole house out. 

FIrst I bought a fogger from pets at home, but that was worse than useless; it barely smoked and even after using both of them in the pack the red mite were unfazed.  Mind you, it didn't specifically say it would kill RM so I can't really complain.

next I decided that, without having any PS left I would instead buy a gas torch and a couple of butane cannisters - that worked a treat!!  you can hear them popping as they get superheated in a microsecond!  Mwhaahahahahahahah!   Afterwards I dusted with Barrier red mite powder and as yet I have only seen one or two, but they are at a level where I will be able to get rid of the few remaining stragglers this weekend.

They're not fun and will live in the hollow 'tubes' of the straw so regular checking and dealing with is always advisable.

[colliebird]

theres an item in this months Practical Poultry about a new product that aparently kills all stages of the mites life, not just after hatching, so it's supposed to be more effective cos it kills the eggs as well.

What is the name of the product?
Once the coop has been cleaned, fogged (Strikeback foggers) and sprayed, I'll only be using newspaper on the floor.  That can be taken up and burned every/every other day.
They used a blow torch to refelt (3 layers) the roof, and I think that is what has brought them all out.  I was horrified when I saw the cluster of thousands of mites under one end of the perch.
Unfortunately the coop can't be done before Wednesday, so fingers, paws and claws crossed the hens will be ok till then.  they are all laying ok, combs nice and red.
Any good insecticide will kill the mites.  I used a wasp and fly killer on the cluster and they just perished immediately.  I have someone coming to do the coop on Wednesday as I'll be absent some of the time between now and then, and we'll be doing it at 7am so the hen house can be cleaned out, fogged, sprayed with Strike Back then all the crevisses sprayed with a smaller spray then left to dry.
I'm full of bites and they itch incredibly.

[beulah59]

Take some antihistamines to help with the itching ...

[Flowerpower136]

I used to use a cream........Antisthan? or something like that.  V good for stopping itching.  And it was midge bites before anyone asks what was itching

[colliebird]

Take some antihistamines to help with the itching ...

Thanks for the advice, I've just taken some NeoClarityn.

I can take spiders, snakes, mice, rats, whatever, but to see all those mites has sent me into a blind panic and given me the screaming pieackers.  
I've now got someone who will do the coop for me on Wednesday, very early, so I don't have to do it.  Hens and geese will have to be outside for a few hours, but that won't be a problem.  I can dust/spray the hens while they are outside and prepare a sand and insecticide bath for them too.  They'll just have to wait to lay their eggs.
It's almost put me off having hens  

[too many girls]

why wait till wednesday? do it now, you don't like being bitten, do you think your chickens will? prevention is better than cure, we can't forsee the future, but sometimes we can help the aftermath, shift your chickens pronto, garage, bedroom, kitchen, anywhere is better than letting them be eaten alive in the hen house...................

[woodside farm]

why wait till wednesday? do it now, you don't like being bitten, do you think your chickens will? prevention is better than cure, we can't forsee the future, but sometimes we can help the aftermath, shift your chickens pronto, garage, bedroom, kitchen, anywhere is better than letting them be eaten alive in the hen house...................

100% agree

Michelle xx

[Kate and her Ducks]

Have to agree with Woodside Farm and TMG, why not take advantage of the weekend and get it done asap. Just imagine trying to sleep in there, especially as red mites come out at night and there are probably even more than you think! I'm itching just thinking about them. Ughhh! Makes me very glad I just have ducks and they don't get them (touch wood).

[Aunt Sally]

I've now got someone who will do the coop for me on Wednesday, very early, so I don't have to do it.  

Wednesday is nearly a week away   

Why do you need to get someone else to do it ?

As Kate says - do it over the weekend don't allow your birds to suffer all that time.