Grandmashazzie Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 As I am new to chicken keeping I am reading as much as I can about chickens and dread ever discovering red mite.I recently bought a mag and an article in it suggested giving a drink,herbal based which discourages mites biting as they don't like the taste of the blood.I thought this sounded ideal and wonder if anyone has used it and any stockists.There is an article coming up on google but it is a few years old.Product called red mite avian.Many thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 I did a bit of reading about that but not sure how effective it would be -can see how it works in theory. They say it needs no withdrawal as it doesn't enter eggs or meat(?) but if it enters the bloodstream to get to the mites then I'm not sure how it wouldn't enter other products. I'm doing my Dissertation on red mite (testing the efficacy of a new treatment) and I found out that the red mite spend 23hours living in the coop and less than an hour on the chicken. Red Mite can also live in an empty coop for up to 9 months without taking a blood feed... so it would make sense (to me) to treat the coop/shed, rather than treating the birds. Would be interesting to hear from anyone who has used it though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 I've heard of it, but haven't heard any reports yet - I agree with Lewis and would be sceptical of its efficacy. I swear by a combo of Total Mite Kill Concentrate and Buz Busters powder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandmashazzie Posted February 11, 2013 Author Share Posted February 11, 2013 Oh thank you for your replies,when I read the article it sounded good but I was sceptical as it hadn't been mentioned anywhere else and wasn't readily available.I am checking coop and have red mite spray etc and use diamaceous(am sure I've spelt that wrong)powder on rungs so here's hoping I don't get any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Red Mite and Diatom are a good idea! At this time of year I'd do it when you clean them out or once a month but in Summer I'd say once do it once a week/fortnight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
