Scotty Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Totally amazed... I clean the girls out every saturday, which includes the presure washer on the cube.... yet yesterday I noticed a red mite infestation in their bed. I've cleaned and dusted everything with red mite powder and lef the roof off so the sunlight gets in, I've also dusted the girls... but I still see little bugs on them... Can I wash the hens ? what else can I do for them???? Scotty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 You can try a permethrin based dog shampoo, although they aren't licensed for use on poultry in the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkysmum Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Although not exclusively for poultry my vet recommends Zeno 200 for parasites (ivermectin) It is a spray & easy to apply. Much less heavy duty is Johnstons anti mite & insect spray * again not licensed for use on poultry* This contains pyrethrum. Both these insecticides will deal with lice but not red mite. Please see red mite thread for info. Alli Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Whats your bedding material out of curiosity and have you tried Diatom mixed in to it? Have a read on Diatom, we've always used it in the bedding and sprinkled it in the nest box too. We use Aubiose in the Cube and give the two a good old mix Arent the little critters just 'orrible! Troy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted August 15, 2011 Author Share Posted August 15, 2011 thanks for that, I bed them down on shredded paper and have done since I first got them since 2007, never had a problem in the past. Yes they are horrid, and I constantly feel itchy myself even though I shower once I've been in to the pen area. As Im typing this Im imagining them crawling on me I've gone completely over the top with the Diatom and has sprinkled in bed and roosting bars, (nearly whole tub!) as well as over the hens... My next mission is to bath the girls and and wash them in the permethrin dog shampoo then use the spray. If anything is surviving then it will be a miricle. How do they get there? and how long do I need to treat the pen before theya re all gone? I checked again yesterday and I saw a small clump probably of about 10 little bugs but they soon got squashed and then sprayed with bleach and then re powdered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 It is best to treat the housing and hens after 7 days, to catch any eggs that might have hatched. Good luck.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddie Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 We've just had the same issue, but only second time in over 11 yrs of hen keeping. We've had everything to bits, and pressure washed, treated, then blowtorched the walls, (old stone!), and cobbled floor of our hen house!! We made a temp nesting /perching out of cardboard boxes, and they've had to manage for a few days, while we spray/pressure wash etc a bit more Like you, I ITCH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 Freddie, if you have a bigger hen house (which it sounds as if you do) then make up a pump spray or back pack spray of total mite kill concentrate, don a mask and spray the whole lot every week, that will get rid of them. My friend does this to keep her hens' stables clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted August 15, 2011 Author Share Posted August 15, 2011 Can the mites live on us? I've just collected the eggs out of the cube and realised that Im covered again (awful things!) also my son who jumped up for a cuddle is also covered... Its horrid! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 They will happily populate your house, so strip off outside, hotwash your clothes and yourselves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddie Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 We hoselock everything, with something commercial poultry farmers use, and the hens aremoved out to the summerhouse(messy) for a couple of days. It does the trick though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dixie chick Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 They will happily populate your house, so strip off outside, hotwash your clothes and yourselves OMG that is awful! I did not realise they could survive on us! I have had a shower since spending the whole day de-miting my stable and nest boxes - but still itch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted August 16, 2011 Author Share Posted August 16, 2011 Can we still collect their eggs or should we throw them away hate having to discard since they go to so much trouble... So I've Diatom'd the whole area (hens included), have red Mite bombs arriving today, have various other sprays to work on the girls themselves.... and then I realiase I have to work the whole process again in 7 days.... Is there anything I am forgetting here? Poor things it's yucky for us must be awful for them! My concern is that I pressure washed the entire area... have I not just blasted the mites around the pen??? therefore rather than concealing the area I've made a worse scenario for myself... could those eggs still hatch or because its in the open the daylight has also kill them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dixie chick Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 These red mites really are getting me down - I really am at my wits end and itching constantly ! I spent the ENTIRE day yesterday blowtorching, spraying and repainting the shed and roosting bars with Creocote (a creosote substitute) - and this morning the top roosting bar is once again covered in the hideous things. Are they living inside the wood of the bar or staying on the chickens during the day? I was under the impression that they did not stay on the birds but just crawled on at night to feed .... Can anyone give me any reassurance that they will die when it gets colder or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted August 16, 2011 Author Share Posted August 16, 2011 I feel exactly the same... more so that I see them on me when I leave the pen and I spotted a few of them on my Baby which totally freaked me out... I've ordered a red mite bomb which you light and leave to smoke in the pen it smokes them out.... (taking girls out first of course!) I'll let you know how I get on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindafw Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 One of the traveller boys at school told me how they kill mites... apparently you get one or more cardboard boxes and put a single sheet newspaper in the bottom of each. Then place a chicken in each box at their roosting time and leave in the coop ...according to him the mites go in the box to bite the chook and then in the morning hide under the paper....you then burn the box...and you can hear the mites popping!!! Who knows if it works...but it might be interesting to try Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BocBoc Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 I found red mites in our Eglu last night - gutted I was itchy all night too!! Good luck to everyone with their extermination plans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
