Mite Invasion help needed please urgently!

[MrsC]

hi all

I have a serious mite problem in the hen house housing the 9 hybrid layers. Been battling for around 2 weeks now with louse powder, brushing and scrubbing etc etc etc. Thought I had got on top of it until opening the hen house tonight and I am crawling in the little blighters. Any suggestions please and urgently

[MrsC]

Just to add I can't keep them any cleaner, I poo pick everyday, scrub out drink holders etc etc, tried garlic, lemon balm in hen house etc

[Nicos]

Yikes- sounds awful...I'm just waiting for my turn


I've never had to treat it- so i'm not much use with what you need to use- BUT
As they reproduce every 2-3 days I imagine you need to do a thorough treatment at least everyother day- if not daily for a couple of weeks???

I'd have thought that your coop is indeed clean- but maybe you need to look just where the yukky blighters are hiding during the day.
They must be somewhere you're just not getting at.
Have you put double sided ticky tape at the ends of the perches to keep them away ( for a while at least!)

Sounds like the louse powder isn't strong enough???

Can you blowtorch the coop ( with a hosepipe to hand) and then treat it with something stonger- bitumin perhaps?
You'd need to find somewhere else for the gals to sleep - but other peeps can advise you on that.
Do you have a felt roof they could be hiding under???
No experience at all I'm afraid- just some random thoughts.

good luck- I'm dreading my first attack

[MrsC]

Hi Nico

It's awful, I'm so careful and clean them everyday, no felt roof all the usual garlic in food, ACV etc, out for dustbaths, it's not nice. Maybe blowtorching is the only answer. I could move them into the playhouse for a cpl of days. Hope I get some more ideas. Maybe the kitten flea shampoo but this won't solve the hen house though

[Nicos]

I'd certainly move them out- can't be nice for them! ( but not now-wait til morning- cos they'll carry them with them and infest the new place!)

Poultry shield rings a bell.

I'm sure you're already trawling through old threads on mites-

this seems a long one....

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...tes_37166.html

At least it's more ideas until 'one who knows' comes along

[RichmondHens]

Creosote is the only answer. If you have somewhere to move them to then do so, and creosote the house thoroughly, every nook and cranny. It will kill all the mite and then deter them from returning for several months. But you must cover every joint and crack and if you have a felt roof, remove and burn it - these are the worst types of roof for harbouring mite and I cannot imagine why people keep selling houses with them.
You cannot return the hens until the wood is totally dry but they will be fine for a few days in temporary accommodation. You can dust the hens with red mite powder to get rid of any actually on the birds so they are not transferred to the new building.

[MrsC]

Hi Richmond it's not red mite, it's another type of mite, not sure of the name but I have googled pics of red mite and it ain't them

[RichmondHens]

If it's living in the hen house itself, rather than on the bird, it must be red mite (looks black or grey, not red until you squish them and the blood comes out). Northern fowl mite and the common louse live on the bird. If unsure, take a sample to your vet to be identified under the microscope.

[sheena]

If it's not red mite, then it will be lice... and god do I hate those guys.

This is making me itch just thinking about it, but if they look like this little critter (sometimes they can be pale in colour, so don't expect to see big black things like you do when de-nitting kid's)


I tend to bathe the girl's with a mild flea shampoo, and blow dry them and pick off any that you spot whilst doing so.
Once dry, I give them a squirt at the base of the neck with frontline and rub it in to the skin.
Next thing is thoroughly dust each chook with Louse powder, and sprinkle (liberally) louse powder into dust bath.

Might be a bit OTT but needs must.

Best thing to do is check each chook, I usually find them clustered above and around the vent... although they can be anywhere. But lice generally affect the bird, as RH said "Red Mite" is a home infestation.

[di]

Sounds like mites from your OP...they don't turn red until they've feasted....and aren't the same as red mites that you get in the garden.
If you find a pile of them that have eaten they look like squished raspberries...moving
But if you have an infestation then you may just notice dark grey specks crawling about....and if they get on you they itch like mad

From what we learnt last year they really don't care how clean your coop is...I got to the point that I was scrubbing the coop out daily with ***** fluid AND spraying with Poultry Shield.Wasn't until we moved the girls in with the opposing gang for a few nights so we could creosote their coop that we got rid of them.

If any of them have dirty bums then make sure and clean them...the only mites I've seen this year were living in the poop that had dried onto one of their bums...double

All the best getting rid...persistent little buggars...but as RH says...they don't like creosote

[Snadger]

Ok, ok it appears that creosote is the remedy. How long before I could let them back in after treating then?
I'll just block the pophole and they can go camping for however long it takes. I have a covered area in the run with a roosting bar and will just need to put a makeshift nestbox in it!

I was given a hut off a fellow allotmenteer who had mite problems in the past.
The hut had been unused for about five years but the little gits must have hibernated!

[RichmondHens]

The house needs to be thoroughly dry inside, otherwise it gives off fumes which are harmful to the chooks! In warm weather it may take as little as a couple of days, or more usually 3 or 4 days. If you have alternative accommodation you could leave it a whole week. Do remember to get rid of roofing felt though if you have it, that is the most likely place for the main colony to be, under the felt. Be careful about creosoting nestboxes - we try to just do the joins in the corners (although our later models of house are siliconed so nowhere for the mite to hide) as the creosote can taint the eggs if they end up lying on bare treated board - some hens have a habit of scratching out the shavings/nestbox material.

[julesapple]

I found a load of 'raspberries' last Saturday when cleaning out. The BH pressure washed every nook & cranny and the I sprayed generously with Raid insecticide (someone on here said about it a while back) and I've checked morning & night and not found any, except three caught in the vaseline liberally plastered on the perch ends. They were squished immediately.

I've been on the lookout for more, thinking about the egg cycle, but so far (fingers crossed) not a one.

I went to town with the Raid and the girls weren't allowed back in the houses for several hours. I've also put down a good layer of diatom under the bedding.

Jules

[SuzyB]

I've found smite powder and smite spray to be much more affective than Poultry Shield. Since swapping to Smite, Ive only found the odd few in the normal hiding places. I take all perches, runners and the tray out a couple of times a week, lift the roof off and squirt everywhere, leave it to dry and then puff every nook and cranny whilst ressumbling. Working a treat. (Touch wood!)

[Snadger]

I've found smite powder and smite spray to be much more affective than Poultry Shield. Since swapping to Smite, Ive only found the odd few in the normal hiding places. I take all perches, runners and the tray out a couple of times a week, lift the roof off and squirt everywhere, leave it to dry and then puff every nook and cranny whilst ressumbling. Working a treat. (Touch wood!)

Smite is diatonmaceous earth. I use diatoms on the chooks themselves. It appears to be cheap enough so I may give it a go first in the nooks and crannies!