Red mite

[Pickle]

Hoping you can help me! We discovered red mite in our coop a few weeks ago. We disinfected the whole coop from top to bottom and treated the birds with some anti red mite powder (not sure of the name of it as don't have it to hand). I've gone out to let my girls out this morning and it's back. We disinfect the coop every week as a matter of course. And we will treat the girls again tonight. BUt I just wonder if anyone has any pearls of wisdom as to how to overcome this problem.

We've only been keeping chickens since Oct and I'm just wondering if we are doing something wrong.

Thanks

[Suechooks]

Poultry Shield is the stuff recommended for disinfecting and allegedly getting rid of red mite. I have no experience of the little beggars so far in my chook career thankfully but have read it's difficult to get rid of completely. I put red mite powder in all the corners and joins of the hut and under the perch ends and in the nest boxes about once a month and spray with an anti-red mite aerosol every couple of months. I have Onduline roof as felt is supposed to provide shelter for them.
I'm sure you're not doing anything wrong as it can be brought in by wild birds or it could have come on your chooks when you got them.
I've read about people using a flame gun as well to try and get rid of them!
Hope that helps and you have success in at least reducing them to managable numbers. If you have a spare hut it might be worth trying fumigating - like you do with greenhouses at the end of the season but you'd need to keep the chooks out of it for a day or two. Good luck!

[KimT]

I am new here but have experienced the red mite problem.

I have tried everything to kill red mite and spent loads of money on all sorts of products and I have to say the absolute best thing I have found that keeps the blitters at bay is fresh garlic!

I rub fresh garlic gloves all along my perches and especially on the ends and have found that it really does keep them down. Make sure you wear gloves as your fingers will really whiff of garlic and the hen house will smell like you local Indian but it does fade after 24 hrs.

Give it a try.

[Suechooks]

I am new here but have experienced the red mite problem.

I have tried everything to kill red mite and spent loads of money on all sorts of products and I have to say the absolute best thing I have found that keeps the blitters at bay is fresh garlic!

I rub fresh garlic gloves all along my perches and especially on the ends and have found that it really does keep them down. Make sure you wear gloves as your fingers will really whiff of garlic and the hen house will smell like you local Indian but it does fade after 24 hrs.

Give it a try.

Thats a great idea Kim! It'll keep the vampires away too!

[HayleyB]

I'll bear in mind too, problem we may have is that it's a whole foaling box of a hen house

[MaureenHall]

I give my girls powdered garlic in their mash a couple of times a week. I wonder if that's the reason I haven't had the red mite problem? Oh dear! I hope I haven't spoken too soon!!!!

[Nicos]

Touch wood...n all that..but we've been free so far

I work on prevention better than cure- and powder my chooks every week- and the ends of the roosting perches.
Full disinfectant with dilute 'original'Dettol ( the brown one)once very10-14 days.

I understood that once a week isn't enough to break the breeding cycle-( 8days?????)- so maybe dusting twice a week for now- and minimal bedding???

I know I'll get them eventually...tis just a matter of when methinks?

Like the garlic idea on th perch and in the water/food. Mine had it in their food when they were eating mash- but once they went broody they refused mash...and therefore no garlic powder nor spice.
Will try and tempt them again ....

[matthew2riches]

A friend of mine had it and she moved her whole run, burnt the hen house to the ground (and bought a new one) as well as treating the birds.

[HayleyB]

couldn't do that to a stable will have to hope I don't get hit, I use mite powder spread liberally all over the roost area...

[Snadger]

I use diatominous earth (Diatoms) on the perches and in the nestboxes! I even threw a small amount on each birds back today! I also disinfect the coop with ***** once per week!
Never had red mite, or any mite come to think of it, and I don't want any!

[NSB]

I use specific poultry disinfectant, i spring clean the coop and disinfect every ssaturday. Also if you spray all cracks with the disinfectant, they recommedn painting the inside of the house as well as this seals all the nook and crannys where the red mite lives.

You could put garlic in their water/food.

The books say red mite lives in the wood but feeds on the birds.

Put red mite powder in the nest boxes as well. I put some of the powder where the girls have their dust bath.

[CountryFayre]

Poultry Shield is a general disinfectant which also kills red mite but does not have the nasty chemicals in it that some things do. If you spray your house once a week or so with poultry shield (using a pump spray) and make sure that you reach as many of the cracks and crevices as possible, then put a dusting of Diatom in the perch holders, corners of the floor, nest boxes and on the birds you should keep on top of them no problems.

[Pickle]

Thank you all for your replies. OH cleaned the girls out today and although he is normally very thorough it took him twice as long as normal to clean them out today!. The coop has been scrubbed, disinfected, dried in the sun and disinfected again and then dusted with red mite powder as well as the girls getting a dose of it again this evening.

I wonder, would the garlic thing work if you made up a solution of garlic and sprayed the coop?

Nicos, that's interesting about the length of their breeding cycle. I'll bear that in mind.

Thanks again. Fingers crossed we can get on top of this.