Is my pekin bantam male or female?

[chickencam]

I have discovered today that my wooden house that we built last year was crawling with what I think must be red mites.

 

I noticed last night when I went outside just before dark that the girls were not in bed, they were just standing in the run looking a bit miserable. When I looked today the house was covered in tiny brown crawly things (1mm) which I think must be redmites.

 

I clean their house which is lined with Aubiose every couple of weeks normally, the nest boxes get cleaned and refilled most days because I have a couple of nest box sleepers I always give it good brush out and then a scrub with Total Mite Kill spray cleaner. OH cleaned them out last time and I know that he did the same. It has been over three weeks since it had a full clean, because of manic family commitments, and I felt so bad when I saw it today.

 

I got my old Dyson out of the garage and vaccuumed the house and roof thoroughly, then gave a good spray, left the spray for about 20minutes then scrubbed it with some water and a scrubbing brush. I left it all the dry then dusted everywhere with Total Mite Kill poweder, the natural one not Permethrin, then put a thin layer of Aubiose back in.

 

I intend to clean it out again on Friday and every other day for a while. I hope that this will work. The hens are laying well and don't seem in any way unwell, so I am hoping that there is no harm done.

 

I feel so bad, I have been spreading myself a bit thin lately and the girls have lost out

[lillybettybabs]

I think it's something all chicken keepers dread,I heard a saying somewhere "Wheres the chickens theres red mites"

 

Have you go a pet carier or something the chickens could go to bed in whilst you treat their coop?

[francesca88]

Ergh, red mite - what a nightmare.

Is there a reason you're not using a permethrin-based solution? It's just that Indorex flea spray is the only treatment I've found that works (and even that doesn't completely eliminate the little @*%&£)

I've been trying Smite recently as that sounded good - it's supposed to dissolve the waxy outer coating of the mites and dehydrate them, but that doesn't seem to be working.

Maybe you could buy a steam cleaner? I find they're good for getting rid of the majority of the mites before chemically treating the coop.

[chickencam]

OH remembered a tip about going around the crevices with a cooks blowtorch, not powerful enough to imediately set fire to the house, which is gloss painted, but it really makes those mites sizzle

 

When I went out after dark my girls were still in their run and there were loads more critters despite my careful cleaning, so that was when the blowtorch came into use. i think that we will be out there with a torch and blowtorch for a few nights to come.

[Egluntyne]

Might be worth treating the hens too, either non chemically with something like **NOPEX - BK** or chemically with Ivermectin Not licensed for use on poultry in UK.

 

I've just bought a bottle of the Nopex - BK. Not cheap, but it has excellent write ups.

[jess1merlin]

I have heard good reports about Total Mite Kill - a friend of mine swears by it and he was plagued with red mite. He buys the concentrate and sprays regularly. I think they sell it at the Ponderosa near Cheltenham it might be worth giving them a ring or popping down there.

[chickencam]

I presume that it was the tonic that you bought Egluntyne? looks interesting thanks for the heads up.

 

It seems that we did a lot of good with the blowtorch last night. When they have done their laying today I am going to brush out the Aubiose again and have a go at the floor and bottom edges, which we didn't do last night , we were scared enough of setting fire to the Aubiose by doing the top and sides. There is no sign of crawlies this morning, whereas this time yesterday they were everywhere. I will leave the house empty this afternoon and have another go at dusk when they emerge in force. The girls have plenty of places to roost in their run, so they will just have to have a late night. I don't think that they have been in the house apart from for laying for the past couple of days anyway.

 

I put some Lifeguard in their water yesterday to give them a boost, so hopefully they will be alright.

[Egluntyne]

I presume that it was the tonic that you bought Egluntyne? looks interesting thanks for the heads up.

It was.

[Forge Cottage]

Alarming to hear how persistent these horrible critters are

 

Has anyone with an Eglu had red mite problems? If so, where do they hide? I keep an eye open and not seen any sign so far.

 

I use wood shavings dusted with red mite powder when changed. I find the frame joins by the nestbox and door get packed with sawdust, which could harbour nasties, so I dig these out and spray dettol in there.

[chickencam]

My Eglu thus far is fine, I have been really careful over the past couple of days about passing anything from the wooden house to the Eglu, but it may have already happened before I knew we had a problem.

 

If we could have found room for a cube down the side of the house we would have bought one, but we had to build it to fit the space availale. We made a plywood house and gloss painted it it to try to avoid this problem, but made the mistake of putting roofing felt on the top of the roof, we didn't know that this was a bad red mite idea until it was done. We have been fine for the best part of a year, but should have been more vigilant.

[The Dogmother]

Sorry to hear that Liz - please don't feel bad, this year is supposed to be especially bad for them. I always recommend spraying the housing with Total Mite Kill, then dusting with Buz Busters powder which contains permethrin. I treat my girls quarterly with Ivomec Eprinex*, which kills anything which bites them.

 

* not licensed for use on poultry in the UK