Red Mite Alert!

[matthew2riches]

After all the years I have been keeping poultry at home, today I found red mite in my chicken shed In an utter rage, I broke out the hammers and set to work smashing up the old shed. I've just finished clearing it all up and will move the fence later on today and place in their new house

So the new shed is much bigger (meaning room for more birds ) and is fully sealed around all joints with a solvent based silicone. Panels are painted with wood gloss and house will be treated with powder before birds are settled in.

I guess it must be bad this year. I never have had it so never really bothered with the treatment ritual.

Still, there's a first time for everything

[Suechooks]

Evil little beasties. Had my share last year so trying to be very vigilant this time - creocote liberally sloshed around empty huts, Diatom, Poultry Shield and Smite all around! Good luck

[Snadger]

Touching wood, I've managed to repel a very minor infestation with diatomaceous earth!

[Mrs T]

Silly question... sorry... but how do you know if you've got it???

[Snadger]

Silly question... sorry... but how do you know if you've got it???

If you walk into the henhouse and start scratching like mad!

[matthew2riches]

All over my eggs were little red splodges and black dots. I then dug my nail into a few of the black bits and they were the mites ;-)

[di]

If you walk into the henhouse and start scratching like mad!

I remember that moment from last year so well

[Scarlet]

Just like when the kids come home from school with nits! You can't stop scratching

[matthew2riches]

I remember that moment from last year so well

Any bad luck this year?

[jessmorris]

..that itching - yuk - it drove me mad last year! This year I've sprayed the house every week and so far touch wood...they've just got northern fowl mite instead!

[Mrs T]

Ahhhh Thanks for the feedback here Snadger and other kind people... got to hope we stay clear of that one...

[Suechooks]

Silly question... sorry... but how do you know if you've got it???

I've never itched!
If you wipe a tissue along the underside of the perches in the morning you may find it comes up red which means the mites are feeding off the birds at night and hiding under the perches in the day. They look like grey/red/black clusters of aphids usually in cracks and crevices in the wood. They'll hide under roofing felt or behind perch supports or even in the joins in nest boxes etc. Your hens may become severely anaemic if you don't keep on top of it and could die as their immune system can become compromised leaving them susceptible to all manner of illness.

[di]

Any bad luck this year?

Nothing too bad...we've come across the odd little pile of them,which have been blasted away.
I don't think you'll ever be totally free of them...the key is staying on top of them.
Last year we didn't really know what we were up against which I think is why they took such a strong hold.

Hope you manage to carry on winning your battle.

[RichmondHens]

If you get to the point where you itch when you walk in the shed, and the mites are on the eggs, then you have a bad infestation which has been there a while. Mostly, the first signs of the beginning of an infestation are as Sue says, a small clump or colony hiding in a crack or crevice which gets squashed as you run your finger along the crack, and your finger gets blood on it.

If you get into the habit of looking for mite (winter and summer although they are less common in winter) each time you clean out the hen house you will soon spot the beginnings of an invasion and can deal with it before it gets out of hand.

[Mrs T]

I've never itched!
If you wipe a tissue along the underside of the perches in the morning you may find it comes up red which means the mites are feeding off the birds at night and hiding under the perches in the day. They look like grey/red/black clusters of aphids usually in cracks and crevices in the wood. They'll hide under roofing felt or behind perch supports or even in the joins in nest boxes etc. Your hens may become severely anaemic if you don't keep on top of it and could die as their immune system can become compromised leaving them susceptible to all manner of illness.

Thanks Suechooks... will keep vigilant...