Red (Black) mites

[MaureenHall]

Can you put a link on to where you can buy diatomaceous powder at that price please? I've had a look and 25kg is around £80

[womble]

You can buy this stuff for £28 for 25kg if you look hard enough on the web...we are being ripped off by a lot of places.......................

Which stuff?

[colliebird]

For mites use a Permethrin based disinfectant all over the house, especially in the crevices. You use Frontline on the birds themselves, between their shoulders, the amount determined by their weight (and you can't eat the eggs I think). Get on top of the mites now as their life cycle is only 7 days! I had an explosion of mites last year and lost two hens to them. Once the infestation is gone, use a diatomaceous powder to dust the house. This is harmless to the birds but will cut the mites to pieces. It won't deal with a heavy infestation though. Check your birds vents also for northern fowl mite - these live on the bird and for these you need flea powder or anything Permethrin based. Mites are a bugger! Red mites look dark red and shiny when full of blood. Northen fowl mites are dark grey and move FAST!.
Good luck!

We all had very bad infestations of mites last year. One gentleman went so far as to burn down his hen house (not the birds!!)
After trying many things, I finally discovered Strike Back and that did the trick. The perches were dusted with diatomaceous powder morning and night and the bedding (finely chipped wood chipping) and nests.

[colliebird]

The powder we use on our girls,to my knowledge,doesn't actually kill the mites.They just don't like it,so will stay clear of going near it.
Whereas Poultry Shield will actually kill them.
I took our wooden nest box out & gave it a spray & then left out in the sunshine the other day.Once dried I sprinkled some mite powder in the crevices & was amazed to see loads of the little horrors come scuttling out cos they didn't like it...then had immense pleasure in squishing them!
I guess I hadn't got enough spray into the crevices to kill them all?
OUt of interest,when does everyone else spray...I tend to do it in the day so that I can then leave the coop open to air before the girls got to bed,but I read on another site that it's best done in the evening as that's when the mites are coming out of their hiding places?How harmful is Poultry Shield for chooks to inhale...I know it really gets to the back of my throat!

Poultry Shield didn't rid my coop of mites last year, and the coop was cleaned out once a week, sprayed with a pressure hose and sprayed with Poultry shield.
I got so frustrated at findind millions of mites that I decided to purchase an Eglu. After discussions with customer service at Omlet and people I know who have Eglus, I decided against it. Eglus get mites, they hide in the crevices and it is a long haul to take the thing apart and put it together again.
Hopefully the long term very low temperatures might have killed off a lot
of mites/eggs, but I started in February dusting everything with DE and spraying all the wood with Strike Back, and maybe these preventative measure will help

Valerie

[jessmorris]

Don't berate yourself, its so easy to get these pests! And I've no idea why so many hen houses are tongue and groove - heaven for mites!

[jessmorris]

Sorry, my post got split I think...diatomaceous earth.

[jessmorris]

Oh blimey, I'll try and find it, it was like a big poultry supply place which only did bulk................

[RichmondHens]

[QUOTE=jessmorris;658285]Don't berate yourself, its so easy to get these pests! And I've no idea why so many hen houses are tongue and gr.

Totally agree. Almost all "bought" henhouses are the same. We make our own, like a box with minimal joints, creosote the insides and remain virtually mite free year round. We get a few in an old house we have which has rather more joints than our newer models but a good dollop of creosote soon sorts them out.

[womble]

I thought we'd come to the conclusion that diatomaceous earth doesn't work very well and all you need to do, is to paint the inside with creosote replacement, creocote. (is that what you mean Richmond)

Why cock about with all the other expensive stuff, when this sorts it out?

[RichmondHens]

Yes that is what I mean, Womble. Creocote or any other creosote replacement is suitable. I don't use anything else in my houses at all.

[pink-angel29]

my oh discovered wh have red mite last night when he dispatched a cock.
we are very shocked as the chooks showed no sign of them. they went to bed with no problems they all look fit and healthy and i regulaly check the perches for mites. we covered the coop with D.E last night and i will do a good clean out today.
I cant creocote as i have nowhere else to house the chooks atm
ive read that the mites dont like garlic and ive always put it in the chooks drinking water so maybe thats helped abit.
has anyone any advice or can recommened a product please

[pink-angel29]

i also forgot to add they have a deep litter system in the run do i have to demite this to and if so what can i use

[Suechooks]

I use Smite and Poultry Shield and Diatom! If you can't rehouse the chooks you could creocote the perch supports and the ends of perches if you do it as soon as you let them out in the morning and leave the door open to get rid of fumes. I did this early on this year.
I spray under the perches every morning with Smite then each week or so I spray the whole coop with Poultry Shield and I chuck Diatom all round as well.
Try adding some Diatom to the litter when you top it up.

[Nicsknots]

I'm reading this a bit worried, as I didn't realise how big and common red mites were. Do you crush the garlic into the water to protect against them?

[Glutton4...]

Garlic is an all round goodie for many animals; Dogs and Horses benefit from it in their diets, too. One of the benefits is, it makes the gut an unpleasant place for worms and other infestations to live.