Solitary chicken - need advice

[tiggerlady]

hi guys.. we went to pam hills hen party recently(thanks pam..was brill!!) and had almost made our mind up to get eglu.However...went to see chicken breeder on sunday and he had those country cottage coops.Hubby was rather taken with it and,to be fair, it would sit very nicely in the corner of the garden,whereas eglu would be bang in the middle of garden(Its the layout you see)

since then he has read on internet about mites and how bad they can get..into your skin from chooks etc and frightened himself rigid with it!!(told him about poultry shield etc but apparently they can be very stubborn to shift) We know that they dont like eglus as they're smooth,but he is baulking a bit at the costof one. I know some of you guys keep your girls in wooden coops and was wondering if anyone had had problems with getting rid of the critturs.

Sorry its a bit long,but would like to know the ins and outs before getting our ladies.. many thanks..

[abwsco]

I have a wooden coop and touch wood not had a problem with red mite. Painting the coop with creosote will prevent red mites. Must admit hearing about red mite getting into your skin is a new one on me. My friend has numerous coops and arks and has never had a red mite problem either.

 

For me an eglu wasn't an option as I knew it would be too small and the cost of a cube was too much plus I don't like the gaps on it that I've seen shown on here

[tiggerlady]

yes.must say I didnt think you could 'catch' them,but it was a site about the rspca and a court case about alledged neglect and it gave both of us the crawly syndrome! Having said that our guinea pigs caught mites from their hay,but methinks they were different ones.It would be good to get a professional opinion on this one perhaps?

[tiggerlady]

also I'm not sure you can still get creosote.. banned by the E U?

[abwsco]

also I'm not sure you can still get creosote.. banned by the E U?

 

As far as I know you can still get it but only from specialised places. I chose not to use it as I have asthma and was doing all the timber treating but the man who converted my shed and built my run would have used it except we were in a rush as the exbatts were arriving a month early!

[Egluntyne]

A friend of mine lost all four of her chickens to redmite last summer. They were in a wooden house. A brand new one too.

 

This is not a criticism of wooden houses, just the reporting of an incident.

 

My friend had a look at my Eglu and cube at the weekend and was impressed.

 

She misses having chickens so I suspect she will order an Eglu.

 

Remind your OH how easy the Eglu is to clean.

 

Omlet have also introduced plastic roosting bars, so the last refuge of the dreaded redmite has been eliminated.

[abwsco]

A friend of mine lost all four of her chickens to redmite last summer. They were in a wooden house. A brand new one too.

 

This is not a criticism of wooden houses, just the reporting of an incident.

 

My friend had a look at my Eglu and cube at the weekend and was impressed.

 

She misses having chickens so I suspect she will order an Eglu.

 

Remind your OH how easy the Eglu is to clean.

 

Omlet have also introduced plastic roosting bars, so the last refuge of the dreaded redmite has been eliminated.

 

Did the chickens arrive with the red mite already on them then as from what I've read it has to be a really really bad infestion to lose chickens to it.

[Egluntyne]

She didn't think so, although I suppose one can never be certain.

 

They had them from a reputable local dealer not known for selling dodgy chickens.

 

They and the house were around 2 years old.

 

She had the house from new.

[The Dogmother]

Creosote has been banned now. Some suppliers still have stocks however.

 

Red mites can live in our homes - they are the same critter as the old bed bugs. You may be remembering Gallina, who reported them on her skin after her girls had an outbreak. She gave us some very helpful advice about eradicating them at the time (the lice, not her girls that is ).

 

Having an eglu doesn't mean that you won't get red mite, it just means that the likelihood is far reduced. I also think that wooden coops are very pretty, but when I got my eglu, I was swayed by the fact that most of my friends wuth wooden housing had problems with red mites at the time. It doesn't mean that your husbandry and hygiene are lacking if you have an infestation, just that your area is more prone to them - they are 'imported' by wild birds. Most of these friends now have eglus now.

 

I am always very careful to stress this at my hen parties as the subject always comes up.

 

It's not sa criticism of wooden housing, just a fact that a place with more nooks and corners MAY be more prone to getting them, but with good husbandry and strict preventative measures, they can be kept at bay.

[tiggerlady]

Many thanks for your replies.. its interesting. We think we're going to go for a wooden one, because the house is gonna be off the floor and my back isnt too good sometimes(old age is comin to get me!)

We will diatom the house although it will be new and the bedding before the girls get here,and when they are in the box before we let them out will shove some on their backs,just in case theyre carrying the.. unlikely I know.. and poultry shield it a couple of times a month. Will this be enough do you think?

Its a shame the cube doesnt come in a smaller size as my name would be first on the list..!

[The Dogmother]

The one thing that I would recommend is to treat your girls twice a year with Ivomec Eprinex (*not licenced for use on poultry in the UK*) There are a few threads on this on the forum, but it works like the cat and dog flea treatments in that it enters the blood stream and kills any lice or mites that bite the chook. It would be a good way to keep any mites from colonising your housing, that and regular sprinkling of diatom or red mite powder.

 

Good luck with your new chooks

[tiggerlady]

Thamks for that one..is it from the vet? Will have to enquire if they have one that can deal with poorly ones before you need them!!

[Gallina]

I would advise you not to put a wooden coop under a nesting box in a tree, which is where I went wrong. The red mite fell straight out of the blue-tits' nesting box into the Eglu run.

 

I was very new to hen-keeping and didn't know about checking the ends of the bars. I have never had another infestation, and I put that down to using Diatom. Red mite is easy to deal with, as they don't live on the hens.

 

I was simultaneously looking after the hens next door which were in a wooden house, and they had Northern mite -- the black ones -- and these do live on the hens. It was these black ones which bit me, not the red ones.

[Stevie]

If you go the timber route-why not gloss paint the inside and silicone all gaps so mites have no where to hide.If you get enough coats on,it'll be smooth as plastic and can be washed out with hot soapy water.

[tiggerlady]

now THEREs an idea..paint! Hmm would white gloss be better or get the girls up earlier as it would be brighter? We've also got a steam cleaner that could blast the critturs...but paint seems a good idea. Also there is a pine tree small branch above it but thats gonna go now just in case some wild birds decide to stay awhile(with 5 cats about it would be a little foolhardy,but you never know) Thanks so much for your help guys.. this forum is truly brill!

[Lesley]

When we first had our Eglu, shortly followed by a second, we made a platform to put them on, inside a permanent run area. I had difficulties with the Eglu being on the ground - the platform made it much easier.

 

Since moving to a smallholding we increased our Eglus by buying second-hand but also have 4 wooden coops which we use for table birds. We started with layers in one of them until we could replace it with an Eglu, but just found it really hard to try to eradicate red mite in the wooden coops. We only use them as short term accommodation now, for table birds.

 

We just don't have a red mite problem with the Eglus.

[The Dogmother]

I was simultaneously looking after the hens next door which were in a wooden house, and they had Northern mite -- the black ones -- and these do live on the hens. It was these black ones which bit me, not the red ones.

 

Sorry Gallina - I mis-remembered which mites bit you.

[Gallina]

That's all right: I just didn't want people thinking they were my mites. Red mite, foxes, rats, and fleas yes -- but nothing nasty like Northern Mite.

[The Dogmother]

[Stevie]

now THEREs an idea..paint! Hmm would white gloss be better or get the girls up earlier as it would be brighter? We've also got a steam cleaner that could blast the critturs...but paint seems a good idea. Also there is a pine tree small branch above it but thats gonna go now just in case some wild birds decide to stay awhile(with 5 cats about it would be a little foolhardy,but you never know) Thanks so much for your help guys.. this forum is truly brill!

 

Exterior white gloss would be ideal because it's waterproof and not expensive when bought from DIY sheds.I think a few coats plus silicone in joints should dramatically reduce the chances of mite.

 

Steam cleaning is an excellent idea-the heat will kill any parasites.

[matt_b]

I'd be careful of using silicone sealant in a coop - chickens seem to think it's delicious!

[The Dogmother]

Matt's right - someone on here had the silicone pecked out from most of their UPVC doors!

 

Any other sort of non-toxic filler would be OK though.

 

One of my friends who still has wooden coops recently completely jetwashed it, replaced the roofing felt with polycarbonate, sprayed it all with anti-mite stuff, used wood preserver, then varnished it inside and out... I pointed out that she might have actually saved money by buying and eglu... I ran away fast after that!

[Stevie]

I'd be careful of using silicone sealant in a coop - chickens seem to think it's delicious!

 

Good thought. Perhaps if the silicone was painted afterwards it might disguise it?

 

Before i discovered Eglu's-i was gonna make a coop myself as im a half decent chippie and then tile the inside for ease of cleaning (i work for a ceramic tile importer so have millions of them!).You cant get much cleaner than tiles!

[Lesley]

You'd have chickens skittering everywhere!

[Egluntyne]

It'll be a bit chilly in winter I would think....but very easy to hose down, on the plus side.

 

Am looking forward to the pictures.

 

Lesley is the forum tiling guru.