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

[kitchens]

I wondered how many of us had mites.

 

We suffered an infestation a couple of years ago in our wooden coop which prompted us to get the Cube. We burnt the old house to the ground and moved the girls into their new home. Obviously there were mites on them which has kept their lifecycle going and we still have them, although there are only a few about now as I'm hot on their case.

 

I was convinced that after what a cold winter we had last year that they would be exterminated but ..... alas no!!

 

So wondered what everyone does to keep them at bay.

[Snowy]

I also had quite a heavy infestation this year in the cube, but since blasting it with poultry shield and total mite kill I have only seen the odd one. Regular cleanouts and wash downs with poultry shield, and if I do a quick clean everything still gets a blast with the total mite kill spray. Oh, and diatom in the aubiose in the nestbox and caked into the roosting bars. Bit of a pain, but it is controllable.

[Jools]

Nope, prevention is better than the cure. A liberal application of red mite powder, cleaning with poultry shield a couple of times a year and OCD vigilence here. Is there a fingers crossed smiley?

[Ain't Nobody Here]

 

Been lucky here too . I think it's more luck than good husbandry as I only jetwash it every couple of months and only recently bought some Poultry Shield (after the scare stories on here!)

[kitchens]

Definately agree it's luck because if you bring home a bird with a single mite on it ..... then that's it. I also have a pigeon keeper two doors up!

[Gamebird]

I have a wooden Forsham ark and so far have not had any red mite.

 

I drench the ark with Poultry Shield every week with a pressure spray, put Diatom in the nesting box and on the floor of the ark and treat the girls with Xeno 200 on a regular basis.

 

Fingers crossed - so far so good.

[jos]

I have wooden coops and have to work very hard to keep them at bay; and even though I am obsessive about cleaning and watching for them the little blighters still manage to make an appearance sporadicaly.

I use Barricade (as suggested by my vet) and, more recently, on advice from this forum, Total Red Mite Kill.

[Clur]

Is it possible for red mite to live in wooden runs? We have an eglu and never had any issues with red mite, but as we have a wooden walk-in-run, I wonder if I should be doing anything preventative here???

[Jools]

They only come out after dark for a blood meal, so providing you're regularly treating your eglu with red mite powder or diatom or similar, any external intruders will be thwarted, regardless of the source.

[Fur 'n' Feathers]

We haven't had any and are very grateful.

 

Introducing some new hens shortly but we decided to get them from the same breeder who keeps them in a barn to minimise infections from outside.

[TAJ]

We have never had red mite on lice, but do use poultry shield and Stalosan F, plus red mite powder in nesting box/poo trays and diatom the chickens about once a month all as preventative measures.

 

Tracy

[The Dogmother]

Some locations are more prone to mites than others, just more to do with this indiginous wild bird population.

 

As you've all demonstrated though, good husbandry and prevention are the best tactic; the new Total Mite Kill range from Net-tex has had some good reviews from users and I'd recommend treating any wooden runs with it too. I use a preventative treatment on my girls, spray the housing regularly and check both the cube and birds on a regular basis.

[chocchick]

When you spray wooden housing do you mean you use a squirty bottle or you spray with a power washer or garden hose? Do you wash with the product, then rinse or just spray on and leave?

I've been OK for mites in the eglu, but planning a wooden WIR.

[Jools]

Some people swear by using a steam cleaner to boil the little blighters! For a small house you can use a hand sprayer, but you can buy larger sprayers, as used for weed spraying, sort of back packs with a lever device that pressurises the spray.

 

In theory, red mite are only going to hide in any joints or crevices in your WIR, so you'd need something that got the spray in there. One thing they don't like up 'em is day light, so it's pretty unlikely that they'll choose a WIR as a new home anyway. You also have to ask yourself where do you stop .... wild birds suffer from red mite, they roost in trees, so it follows that trees harbour red mite ..........

 

I'm not so sure that some areas are more prone than others, I think it's more due to extreme vigilence and an awful lot of good luck. I know I push my luck as I encourage garden birds and most of my housing is smack bank under some large trees. Still, I keep my fingers crossed at all times lol.