Cube mk2 and WIR

[Steph101]

When I went out to the chooks this morning, I saw a bright red teeny spider thing sat on top of the eglu! I'm shocked, as I am soooo vigilant about cleanliness. I scrubbed them out thoroughly on Saturday, for instance (this is a weekly ritual) with hot water, Ecover, tea tree, etc, finishing off with my usual dusting of Diatom, Stalosan and Red Mite powder. I use the stuff every flippin' week - I can't believe it! I give it a good all round spray with pet friendly lavender disinfectant too before dusting with the powders. The girls are fine in thenselves at the moment, all healthy looking and laying. Have I missed something? I thought my regime was more than adequate.

[Guest]

if it looked like a spider then it's not red mite.

 

red mites will appear in clusters in corners, nooks, crannies, end of roosting bars etc. They're grey when they haven't had a feed and a dark maroon colour when they have. They're very tiny indeed and you wouldn't find or notice a single one on its own.

 

we've still got some despite being fastidious ourselves and doing everything we can to get rid of them. I'm so fed up and my cube isn't coming til 13th october.

[Steph101]

Weird; it looked like the pic I saw when I googled it. Should have taken a photo I suppose. You've taken the plunge with the cube then Poet! What colour are you going for?

[Steph101]

I use barley straw in the nest box. Could this be encouraging them?

[Snowy]

It was probably a red spider mite - a plant mite, rather than the red mite that feeds on chickens. Two different things! Unlikely to see a red mite on top of the eglu, but I often see red spider mites around the garden. Hope this helps

[Steph101]

Oh, it does help, thank you! What a relief.