4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[tania]

Do others on the forum use red mite powder, or other type, as a pro-active device rather than wait for an infestation and then use it? I am wondering if I should start to use it now although, to my knowledge, the girls are clear of lice and mites.

[quickcluck]

Yup, I always puff into nooks and crannies after a clean

[PurpleTree]

I puff DE powder all around when I remember, usually weekly and after a clean. Try and get some on the girls now and then too.

[Hen Watch]

I confess I have never bought any red mite powder. I've had an for 2 years and never had the dredded mite. I know it can happen so I am vigilant though.

 

I use sometimes (but not always) put some DE (Diatomaceous Earth) in their dustbath. And I do have some Louse Powder which I shake on the hens every now and again.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

When we had wooden roosting bars, I sprinkled Diatom liberally around after a cleanout. I don't bother any more. I do put red mite powder in their nestbox though (I like the smell!) I try to remember to dust their armpits periodically but don't remember very often .

[Abbey Road Girl]

Does anyone know if there are no wood-to-wood joins in the run/coop whether the red mites will congregate?

 

I have taken delivery of a Cube extension and have two wooden rails (like curtain rails) that I intend to instal as a mezanine for the girlies at the end of the basic run. They will be parallell and attached and stabilised by a single metal plate and metal screws (sorry for the poor description).

 

Since one of the (many) things I love about the Cube--especially since replacing the original wooden roosting bars with the plastic ones--is not worrying about red mites (though I do have a huge canister of the dust!) I don't want to unknowingly introduce an opportunity for the red mite.

 

It's rather weird to be involved in red mite thinking patterns: oi, do we want to live betwen metal screw and wooden dowel in order to creep into the bed of the sleeping feathered ones?

 

Thanks for any information!

[moochoo]

I did have red mite in my cube last Summer it was in the notch where the nest box partition fits. It was incredibly easy to get rid of, I just wiped them out and put plenty of DE in the notch and that stopped it.

[Egluntyne]

I scatter it into the nest box and into any corners and crevices after the cube has been cleaned.

 

Apart from anythng else, it smells lovely.

[Abbey Road Girl]

Thanks Sarah and Egluntine! I guess I will break out the red mite dust then. I didn't know that red mites would hide in plastic--Darwinian adaptation at work, I suppose.