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Flowerpot

Red Stop Solution

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Hi Everyone

 

I have just had a conversation with a man from the S.P.R. Centre who has told me about Red Stop Solution which is supposed to stop hens from getting red mite.

Apparently if hens are given a quite small amount in their drinking water for ten days and then once a week from them on. It does something to their blood which makes it unpalatable to red mites and they starve to death and hence leave the hens alone from then on.

This solution has been tested over the last ten years throughout Europe and for the last year here in Britain. There is no need for egg withdrawal because it is organic and meets the requirements of the regulations for organic farming.

Has anyone heard of this?

I have alot of garden birds along with my hens and I am afraid of red mite coming from the garden birds even though there is no sign of them in their coup as yet.

When I spoke with the man he told me that there was no reason to worry about giving it to the hens because it harmed the mites not the hens.

Has anybody got any experience of this or any opinion?

Flowerpot.

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I looked into this Red Stop stuff last year as my absolute fear is getting red mite. I found so many people on the net saying how rubbish it is. I also looked into other things, including chemicals which I hate, and I concluded that as OH works on a farm and has a pesticide licence, we will go down the creosote route. The coop was done at the end September last year and they don't seem to have any lice or mites. I know red mite are far less in the Winter. I will do a massive clean and re creosote in Spring just to give it a boost for Summer and then only do it once a year.

 

I truly hate chemicals but if creosote is the best and the coop is aired out sufficiently, I am happy to go with it.

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I have heard mixed reviews about Red Stop. Some believe it works and some know it doesn't. I don't like using additives in the drinking water anyway, so wouldn't go down that route.

 

We also use creosote. It is generally effective for about 12 months although we found on new wood it only lasts 6 months because of reduced absorption. Problem we have found is that chickens carry red mite into the treated coop and infest the bedding, so they still get to the birds. Needs careful monitoring I think. In the end we removed all the bedding and put newspaper down.

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Thanks Everyone

 

This is what I needed to hear. I hate the idea of giving my girls additives as well but like you Pixiedust I have a real fear of red mite so I thought I might just have to get over my dislike of additives and give it to them so that the issue would be dealt with. But having read what you all think I shall just continue to clean them out every morning and keep my eye on the cracks!

My girls have an Eglu cube so I think I might see if there are any - well that's my hope - I will just keep looking!

Flowerpot

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I don't like the idea of these sorts of products because if you need it to work that must mean there are red mite in the coop in the first place (I don't mean YOU personally, hope that makes sense)

 

I cant see of a situation where its ok to say 'my coop has red mite, they crawl all over the coop and the birds but its ok as they die when they bite the bird'

 

Its lazy chicken keeping IMHO. Keep them out of the coop and there will be no problems

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