Eglu Cube Coop and Accessories

[njoy]

I don't own any chckens yet. Hoping to very soon. I keep reading about these little blighters - red mites, and a thought came to me. If you were to start off with hatching eggs and therefore raise your own chickens that had never met any other chickens does that mean they would not get red mite ? Are red mites only passed from an infected chicken to other chickens?

[majuka]

Our first girls were ex batts, we never saw any signs of red mite the first summer they were here. We had read a lot about red mite and constantly checked for evidence of them but it was months later that we first found evidence of them. I don't think they came with them but that didn't stop them getting them. As I understand it, they can come from wild birds, especially if your coop is under a tree where wild birds may roost and the mites fall down.

[Patricia W]

They are insects that live in and on wood - mainly. Wild birds can have them so that's one way your chickens can get them. They aren't chicken specific either and don't live on chickens. They just come out at night and feed on them!

[Redwing]

Yes, sadly wild birds are usually the source

 

I have two lots of chooks - the ones in the garden and the ones in my field and stables, we have always struggled with red mites in the garden coops but were careful not to transfer any mites to the field

 

I had managed to keep the field and stables completely free of red mites until this spring when a bird nested in the stables rafters and the red mite moved in

[njoy]

Thanks everyone, I feel a little more informed now! I always thought it was just a chicken thing.

[shoura]

I wish I'd known this when I positioned my WIR at the bottom of my garden, under the trees---Nice and shady for the girls I thought!!!

[majuka]

I wish I'd known this when I positioned my WIR at the bottom of my garden, under the trees---Nice and shady for the girls I thought!!!

 

Same here - we placed our coop underneath a large hawthorn tree as we read somewhere that it was a good idea as it would provide shade and shelter!

[Heidi-Hi]

Mmm, me too... Now that has put a slight damper on my Sunday night

[Isabel]

Add me to that list ... my coop is kinda under trees at the bottom of the garden and i'd planned a really sheltered spot at the very end of the orchard for winter ... well, I had until a large branch came off a tree there a few weeks back on a really windy night. Am off to look at alternative coop sites now

[Jools]

I wouldn't go beating yourselves up - chickens feel much more secure under trees and are in fact descended from Jungle Fowl.

 

Yep, my bantams are at the top of my garden under some mature trees and have been for the five + years we've lived here.

[Egluntyne]

My hens are all at the top of the garden, under trees. Nowhere else to put them - or at least nowhere else, and have a decent bit of garden too.

 

I scrub the Eglus regularly with Poultry Shield and treat the hens with Eprinex *not licensed for use on poultry in UK....... and so far so good.

[The Dogmother]

My hens are all at the top of the garden, under trees. Nowhere else to put them - or at least nowhere else, and have a decent bit of garden too.

 

I scrub the Eglus regularly with Poultry Shield and treat the hens with Eprinex *not licensed for use on poultry in UK....... and so far so good.

 

Same here. I clean with Total Mite Kill and dust with Buz Busters, the odd bit of lice from wild birds, which I soon zap, but no red mites *touches wood*