[Jemimapuddleduck]

Okay, is this a good idea or am I being stupid?

I've been reading a lot about red mite, as hubby and I are now thinking hens would be a better option for us than ducks, but that's another story...

Anyway, as we know, red mite live in the henhouse, and love the roof area and perch sockets best of all.  So, if I slathered the inside of the henhouse roof and perch sockets with axle grease or vaseline, would that prevent the little blighters or not?

Would love to hear your thoughts!

[Pretty Chick]

if I slathered the inside of the henhouse roof and perch sockets with axle grease or vaseline, would that prevent the little blighters or not?

Hi  

I'm not sure about axle grease or vaseline, but we thoroughly spray the hen houses once a week with poultry shield. This helps prevent red mite. We have kept chickens for over 3 years, sprayed the houses with poultry shield every week and have never had a problem with red mite  .

[Jemimapuddleduck]

Yes, I was planning on doing that too, but I just wondered if the grease would keep them from coming in the first place?  Wishful thinking maybe. 

[Sharondp]

Red mite only munch on the chickens when they're roosting and they live in the cracks and crevices of the house when the chickens aren't there.

Therefore you only need to put vaseline (or similar) on the end of each roosting perch - this will stop them getting to the chickens.

Of course it's always advisable to treat your house with red mite powder or spray to keep them at bay!

[8doubles]

I coated the ends of the removable perch with a mix of vaseline and tea tree oil (it was handy) but that only slowed the mites down it did not stop them.
Hens are quite dusty creatures and any grease soon loses its stickiness.
 Every morning i would still find 1-2 dozen mites clustered under the perch and would give them a warm with the blowtorch.

[EJCTM]

I use either red mite powder (which contains tee tree oil) which I can get from the feed shop, or diatomaceous earth (a white powder made from finely crushed shells) and sprinkle it liberally about the hen house at each bedding change. I have never had a problem with mites. The DM you can buy off ebay and it can be sprinkled on the chicken's food to kill any intestinal parasites/worms. it is very inexpensive and much less hassle than vaseline!

[8doubles]

I now dust the coop with diatom and have seen no red mite this year..................so far .

[Jemimapuddleduck]

Thanks all!

Diatom it is then.

[Jeanette]

I use red mite powder every week and so far have not had red mite in the 4 years that i have had chickens.

[wolverine]

My hen house has a felt roof is there a way of preventing them getting in there I bought it before I read about felt roofs.

[joyfull]

use onduline or coroline for the roof.

[wolverine]

No idea what either of those two things are. ??

[joyfull]

they are both bitumin roofing sheets - here is a website to one of them - you can buy it from most builders merchants. Most people then either cut mesh or scruch chicken wire up to fill the gaps but this still leaves enough holes for air circulation.

http://www.ondulineroofingsheets.co.uk/

[newatthis]

i have a 4ft shed with roofing felt on i had no idea it was bad till i read this posting, so i will have to re-move the whole roof or just the felt???, sorry for asking a silly question

[joyfull]

the whole roof and then put battens across and fix the onduline to that