[jackiem]

Please help. I have I think got these horrible red mites under control, but my poor chickens have hardly any feathers left on them. Please can someone tell me what I am doing wrong.

[Kym503]

Can you give us a bit of background.  How have you treated the red mite so far?

[jackiem]

I have emptied the chicken house and power washed it. I have also been giving the chickens garlic in their water, and I have put loads of Diatomaceous Earth in their nesting boxes, and when I can catch them, on them. I hope this is what you needed to know.

[joyfull]

You need to completely empty the coop and after cleaning it spray with poultry shield, then make a paint of DE, washing up liquid (just a squirt) and either a disinfectant such as vanodine or more poultry shield solution. Paint this onto the ends of the perches and into any joints. Do not power wash on the ground where the coup stands as you will just wash the mites onto the ground and they will crawl back. You can also kill them by steam cleaning or by using a blow torch. Repeat this procedure weekly until they are clear.

[Chookiechook]

I have emptied the stack of breeder cages where my redmite infestation has shown itself... and every three days for the couple of weeks have flooded it with either poultry shield, mite kill or mite kill aerosol or in desparation, raid ant killer spray

I went to reinstate it today and guess what..... they are still hatching

They are no longer red, but grey and very tiny... they are obviously not getting fed but must keep hatching continuously .....

How much longer can this go on for..... I recon they would survive a nuclear explosion.

In sheer desperation i am going to try the dettol wash tomorrow...... that will tell once and for all if it works or not!!!

Welcome to hell..... it really is infested with redmites!!!

All this only a week or two after i was worried about bringing the beggers in on new birds...... seems i already had it

[Aunt Sally]

The can survive 8-10 months without any food 

[henamoured]

HI Jackie - red mite are horrible  hope you get rid completely soon
Is it possible your feather challenged hens are moulting?
If not and you think it's the rm you could try giving them a bath. The poor chx drive themselves mad with preening and a bath seems to instantly sooth them and they seem to enjoy it.
I get an old mop bucket fill it with warmish water (temp as you would for children) and another slightly warmer bucket.
I put about a 5% dilution of poultry shield in and wash the chuck with a bit of surcare washg liquid or any other gentle soap. You need to let them soak for about 25 mins and really work in the water so that all the feathers are washed.
Then just rinse in the second bucket, wrap in old towel and stroke dryish and use a hairdryer on cool setting to finish. Mine really love that bit.
After they're completely dry I put on a drop or two of frontline for cats which isn't, strictly speaking, licensed for chx but many peeps use it and it has worked in the past for me. Offers protection for 4 weeks and no egg withdrawal.

[Thingy]

I found that a good application of Diatamatious earth on the end of the perches and the Red Mite headquaters stopped them, as it kills them as soon as they hatch, and when they try and feed. I had a bad infestation and after powerwashing, poultry shield and Mite Kill spray, this works.

They may be breeding under felt, if you have roof felt on the nest boxes or the roof. Unfortunatly, Red Mite means refelting 

[jackiem]

Thank you all for the help and support. You have suggested a few things that I haven't tried yet. I didn't realise that these insects lived for so long. I am now going to try and catch my birds and put them in a bath. Thanks again.

[Ma Lowe]

I give the henhouse a good clean out every few months.
I wash the floor and perches with the poultryshield then spray the poultryshield all around the house and let it dry. Once everything is dry I paint on a mixture of poultryshield and diatom and paint it EVERYWHERE making sure it gets into every nook and cranny. We pooh pick every single day and add lice powder to the hemcore especially in the nesting boxes.
See the piccy below (we have painted the green bits so everywhere is now a grey colour)