Best liner/ bedding for drop tray

[MaryKate]

I have a eglus classic with a 4 metre run - for my two girls. They spend most of the day in a large netted area free ranging but I know we have foxes about and the arrangement is just not really safe. So.... a WIR is the next item on the agenda. Can anyone advise whether you get mites nesting in wooden WIR's - as this seems to a big problem with wooden housing. So far we have avoided the little blighters as the Eglu is so easy to clean. The obvious answer is an Omlet WIR but they are soooo expensive but then they have no little wooden corners for mites to congregate. My OH says he can build a wooden WIR - I am not so sure he can - I think he sees it as a way of keeping the costs down but then he doesn't do all the cleaning out every week! Any advice would be really welcome.

[Egluntyne]

I spray the wooden bits of my WIR and into as many nooks and crannies as I can with Poultry Shield.

[Olly]

I've not heard of this being a problem, red mites like the dark and so it's less likely that they'll nest in the wooden bits of a WIR. I wouldn't be without mine, it makes hen-keeping a lot easier.

[Chickybaby]

I've had my WIR for about 3 years now and I've never seen any sign of red mite, I don't use any spray either.

[Plum]

None here either and don't do anything with run, it's the cube they'd hide in.

[mothercarey]

Yup, the WIR is outside in the light and that will put the mites off. Wooden housing is usually the problem. I wouldn't worry

[MaryKate]

Brilliant news - thank you all for your responses - a wooden WIR it is then. I will be able to get a much bigger run than the Omlet WIR for my money, which suits me and will suit the girls even more! (sizewise, I mean - my chickens haven't conquered calculating money yet). I have been looking online at designs and stockists but can't see any in my locality. Does anyone know of a stockist in Sussex - if I can find one before OH decides he needs to become a carpenter, that would be good. And any suggestions about designs, size of wire and guage etc., would be gladly received.

[Snowy]

It depends where the hens roost. Some of mine like to roost on the branches in their WIR, outside the cube - I found red mite in the cracks and knots of the tree stump and branches. I drench it all in poultry shield now whenever I do the cube.

[Redwing]

It depends where the hens roost. Some of mine like to roost on the branches in their WIR, outside the cube - I found red mite in the cracks and knots of the tree stump and branches. I drench it all in poultry shield now whenever I do the cube.

 

I've had this too and also red mites in the frame of the run although as already said its far less likely as mites prefer the coops

 

Bear in mind that mites can be bought in on branches too, some people strip the bark off before putting branches in the run

[MaryKate]

I hadn't thought about branches being a potential problem. My two girls have a fenced off area down the bottom of the garden and I have placed a pile of logs for them to climb on - I didn't think about it being a potential place for mites to hide. I have also built them a wooden cafe (Hugh Fernley Chef man recommended it on his TV programme) which they take absolutely no notice of, but again it's wooden and a good place for mites to hide - I shall be demolishing it promptly! I had lived in hope that they might appreciate all the effort I had made for them.

I think I will just get on with the job and build the Run and douse it regularly with Poultry Shield. But thanks for alerting me to the branch issue.

[Olly]

The only time I have had red mite was in the coldest part of this winter. I didn't notice anything bothering the hens, but kept finding what looked like cigarette ash in the droppings tray, which I know is a sign. When it snowed really heavily, I was battling to get a tarpaulin up - I had to give up as my fingers were too cold to do the cable ties. As snow was blowing horizontally into the run (we had about 6" in two hours) I ran to the garage and got two large cardboard boxes, flattened them out, and tucked them behind the Eglu table so the girls would have a dry sheltered bit.

 

I left them there in case of more snow, but I'm fairly sure they were harbouring red mite, because as soon as I removed them and blasted everything in the Eglu, the problem disappeared. So, beware of cardboard in the run, too.