Poorly chicken

[bronze]

horrible horrible and if they get on you theyre hard to squash

[Sheilaz]

...........over the outside surface were little grey pin head sized dots, quite visible to the naked eye, which were crawling around at some fairly rapid pace. We didn't see anything crawling inside it.

Have I seen red mite which haven't had their fix of blood, being grey? It would be good if I had, so that I now know exactly what to look for....

 

Yes, it sounds like it Jules.

[charliechick]

Well blimey I feel so much better now!!!!! I just posted a note b4 I read all the above 6 pages, saying how I discovered a big infestation this afternoon. See ' Big problem red mite' on the cube topic.

 

Charliechick

[Ain't Nobody Here]

At least you know you're by no means alone . Good luck eradicating the little critters .

[charliechick]

Thanks yeah I do feel better about it now. Ive no powder left either so im gona have to leave work early ( no hardship there) and stock up. Thanks for the support, I was abit upset with myself really.x

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Guilt is a very powerful emotion...and there but for the grace of God go any of us ..........good luck kicking these little monsters into touch

 

Sha x

[Tutti Frutti]

Another place I suggest you check Bron is the 'manufacturing holes'. They are in the coloured parts of the cube. Much larger than the pin pricks - you can't really miss them and they tend to have some 'plastic wool' like substance in them. I used to drench these bits with poultry shield because I was so paranoid about red mite setting up home it there. It seemed an obvious nest site.

 

Edited to say, if I remember rightly there might be some of those 'maufacturing holes' with the woolly bits in the nest box divider as well

 

Did anyone have a solution for plugging these manufacturing holes? We gave our 2nd hand cube a thorough clean on Sunday and lots of black, specky dirt came out of the plastic wadding Applied lots of Total Mite Kill and will repeat again asap

 

Thank you!

[sandyhas3chucks]

Steam clean it??????????

spray it with Net tex total mite kill and use loads of diatomous earth when putting back together.

Just the same as people with wooden coops but easier?

Or am I missing something?

[Jools]

TuttiFrutti is talking about the small holes in the plastic and the stuffing coming out - most wooden houses have neither.

 

I think she's looking for a solution to sealing the holes to avoid the nightmare that Bronze had last year.

[The Dogmother]

If she'stalking about the belly button manufacturing holes, I'd just pop some silicone sealer in it if you're that bothered.

[sandyhas3chucks]

sorry all, I missed (yet again) a whole further page, I had only read about those weeny blister holes

I had a second hand Eglu where clearly the steam cleaning had blasted dirt & water in and had been left it was gross, the smell, we made drain holes and worms came out to.

We plugged them with a plastic filler.

I wondered if the manufacturing holes were necessary for letting out air like expansion or something, But am really happy if it is ok to plug them up!!!!????

a great place for critters to hide in !!!

I always use a quick blast of steam and shove in the D Earth

[Tutti Frutti]

Thank you all - I too wondered if the holes have to be left unplugged for air circulation... but we're going to seal them today. My neighbours must think I'm nuts, going out in my dressing gown at night with a torch and waking the girls up for a house and feather inspection But the good news is... the black specs weren't red and and weren't moving either

[bronze]

Feel I could advise on this

 

Now every time I clean my cube I focus the jetwash along the grey plastic where the holes are (for me they are worst on the sharp edge of the grey plastic which is the back bottom corner) I then spray along there with total mite kill.

I then treat the rest of the house as I normally did with diatom but I spray tmk into all the screw holes and manufacturing holes (the ones used to mold)

Day to day I carry on as I did prior

 

I havent had mites again this year (touch wood) or if I have I havent noticed an theyve been zapped quickly

 

I think originally its because I never even thought to look on that edge as its actually external but as long as people know to its possible to keep on top

 

If you want to check yours look closely and then zoom in. The holes are tiny, smaller than pins heads and some just show up as small grey patches under the edge

[The Dogmother]

Thanks for the heads up Bron, perhaps you could post a photo of the area so people know which bit you're referring to.

[bronze]

here http://www.photobox.co.uk/my/photo/full?photo_id=849428309

though there can be the same problem on the front edge too

[The Dogmother]

Sorry Bron, that link just goes to a general Photobox page, not your photos.