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

[Redwing]

We bought a wooden house for the table birds I am thinking it may have been a mistake

 

I put my hand in the coop to say goodnight to the littlies and when I bought it out I had crawlies! They were tiny - hardly visable I would say less than half a mm but they bit me and made me itch so goodness knows what they are doing to the babies

 

Having done some reading up it seems they may well be red mite, they were a grey colour and looked like dust??

 

I gave the house a good clean out yesterday (before I knew) and sprayed everything with poultry shield and dusted with red mite powder leaving the house open to the sun all day

 

The house is well built with few cracks and crevices but I will now remove the nest boxes and perch as the table birds don't need these anyway and it will mean less cracks still

 

Any other bright ideas anyone please?

[The Dogmother]

Further to our PMs Tasha, if you've got somewhere else to kepe them while it dries, then I recommend filling all the cracks and painting the inside with gloss paint or varnish.

 

That's the only way to keep the numbers down, but it need to be dry and well ventilated before the birds go back in.

 

I spoke not long ago to a lady who was having a similar problem and she bought a new shed each time the old one became infested It turned out cheaper for her to buy 2 new cubes!... which she did!

[..lay a little egg for me]

We managed to eradicate a mild infestation of red mite with poultry shield and diatom. Both treatments take a while to kill the mites though as they have to dehydrate, so maybe numbers will be lower tomorrow? I think we re-treated every week for about 3 weeks to be sure and (so far) have been clear. But I'm thinking this good weather is an ideal opportunity to give the house a good clean

[The Dogmother]

Does the coop have a felt roof Redwing?

 

If it does, you'll be best off stripping it and replacing with Onduline or something similar.

[Redwing]

Its got a wooden roof 'luckily'

[mostin]

Can you use xeno 200 on birds you are going to eat? I don't know how long it stays in the system for, but if the lice bite them after they have been treated with this they will die.

[Redwing]

I am not sure, one or two are very close to their cull size I've ordered Xeno off Amazon today, in the meantime I have sprayed everyone with the Johnsons mite spray which luckily I had just in case

 

I will follow Clarets advice and varnish the coop once......and wait for it........our NEW Eglu is ready for collection *trumpets* the wooden house can then be a spare

[ClaireG]

at you getting another Eglu. What colour?

[Redwing]

I wanted a but the green one is in stock and is cheap!

[ClaireG]

All the best people have you know

[mostin]

All the best people have you know

 

I quite agree . Is it one of the shiny green ones?

[Redwing]

It is! - nothing but the cheapest for my chickens

[mostin]

It's nice to know there are still some of those left.

 

*rubs hands and forms more chicken plans *

[Redwing]

I was quoted £201 without the run

[mostin]

I was quoted £201 without the run

 

oohhhh that's really tempting , do you think Shaun would notice if one just popped up in the corner of the WIR .

[ClaireG]

Go for it Mostin I'm tempted to seeing as thats such a fantastic price

[Redwing]

I will confirm the price when I call tomorrow as it says the shiny Eglus are 10% off but a normal one without a run is £242 so the suns don't add up

 

Watch this space!

[ClaireG]

Waiting with baited breath. It should also be cheaper if you pick it up shouldn't it? As there won't be a delivery charge.