hopingforchickens Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 OK back ground, I inherited a house off a friend (I'm saving for a Cube ) before I got my chickens. When I got it I took it apart and scrubbed the life out of it. I'm pretty sure it had red mite (dh dismantled it and said he saw 'red spiders' running around). So I disinfected it, jet washed it, left it out in the sunshine for a couple of weeks and drowned it in red mite powder for another couple of weeks. Now I have the girls I clean it out each week, replacing the bedding and scattering it in more powder, paying particular attention to the ends of the roosting bars and the slots that they sit in. I haven't powdered the girls yet, as I've always been confident that lice is not a problem. However today I had taken the roosting bars out to fry in the sun for a couple of hours. At least an hour after the had been laid in the sun my daughter showed me a tiny red spider crawling across one of them. I immediately squashed it! I have just been out with a torch and been on my hands and knees with my head inside the peep hole (I'm quite impressed I fit in ). There is no sign of any mite in the house. So could it just have been a random red creature that happened to walk across the roosting bar in the middle of the garden, in the middle of the day, or is it the dreaded red mite? I'm tempted to leave the girls out in the WIR tonight, but I can't be sure it's 100% fox proof and if anything happened to them I'd never forgive myself, but I've never seen any evidence of a fox since I've had them. If there's no red mite showing up under torch light should we be OK? Sorry for the rambling post, really need advice on this one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 It sounds like you saw a red spider mite, they are harmless to chooks red mote dont look spider like, they are very pale brown/grey and tiny if they havent fed and dark red and still smaller than a pin head once they have fed, signs of red mite include a 'cigarette ash' residue by cracks and perch ends (this is their waste) If you do see a real red mite there certainly wont be just the one so do keep your eyes peeled! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Kitty Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Hi hopingforchickens, I am so pleased that you wrote this as it's almost exactly the same thing that happened to us this this afternoon!....We have a and have had our girls for just under a month. I cleaned them out this afternoon and whilst leaving everything to dry in the sunshine I noticed a red mite running up the inside 'wall' of the 'Go'! Like you I squished it and then spent half an hour searching for others...but found nothing (and have never seen one before when cleaning out)! I came to the conclusion that it came from the grass below (poo tray and roosting bars were drying separately). I have been using Diatom in their dust bath tray and also in the 'Go' but like you I haven't powdered the girls yet! So relieved to read your reply Redwing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopingforchickens Posted July 9, 2011 Author Share Posted July 9, 2011 Thanks, this was bright red, like those little red spiders I used to squash on my grandma's wall! Well hopefully we are in the clear. I'm so paranoid about getting them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henergy Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Thanks, this was bright red, like those little red spiders I used to squash on my grandma's wall! Well hopefully we are in the clear. I'm so paranoid about getting them I remember those at my nan's too - there always used to loads of them around rockeries !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoeBunny Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Sounds like you saw spider mites, not red mite... spider mites are a more vivd bright red colour, red mite (when red) would appear more wine coloured and much tinier. This is what red mite looks like and another pic of some which have been disturbed by poultry shield Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercedes55 Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 I had the same worry a few weeks ago. My garden table had literally hundreds of spider mites all over it and I had just been cleaning the roosting bars on it and I convinced myself it was red mite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 I'm sure those little red spiders used to be called 'bloodsuckers' when I was little - they used to give me nightmares as they always climbed inside my bedroom in the summer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopingforchickens Posted July 10, 2011 Author Share Posted July 10, 2011 thanks for the pictures (made feel feel slightly but very helpful! ) it was definitely spider mite then, poor little thing I feel sorry I squished it now and yes we used to call them bloodsuckers to, or maybe blood spiders... thanks for your help everyone, I'm glad I didn't risk their safety and leave them out all night, although I'm sure they would have loved it (unless Mr Fox turned up) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
