Mite infestation and my irresponsible neighbours.

[Poddington Pea]

Hello!
I've been keeping hens for 2 1/2 years, no rats no mites, until now.
My neighbours got their own hens in November, immediately we had rats visiting and then living in the compost heap, ow we have mites. I don't want to blame them as I know these things happen, but in a week we have gone from no (or so few I didn't see them when I cleaned them out last week) to having had a hen die this week, riddled with mites! I have scrubbed out the house, sprayed in all the nooks and crannies, then dusted with powder, mixed the powder into the new bedding and dusted the hens, carefully rubbing it right in.
The coop is still crawling 24 hours later. I have bought a fumigation thingy to use tomorrow if it is still crawling.
Naturally with the neighbours coop being immediately next door (through the fence) I warned them of the situation and advised them to check their hens and dust them regardless.
I've just been round this evening to see how they were and tell them how awful ours are and been told their hens are fine. Three of 6 are completely bald on their bottoms and heads, they are all twitching and pecking at themselves and then I spotted that they all have puffy dry legs. Really, really puffy and so I said that they clearly have scaly leg mite to which he said "oh yes, I hadn't noticed that before"!!!!
What should I do? I'm sure he'll do b*#&#r all to treat them as he said he would just "wring their necks if thy got mites"!!!!!!!

[elizajay]

Not a happy situation. Will he wring their necks and then get more to suffer the same fate?

[RichmondHens]

Tough one. i would be inclined to move your hen house as far from his as possible and retreat with creosote. Unfortunately you can't do anything about his birds. I see a lot of chickens kept in less than ideal conditions, sometimes you just have to bite your knuckles and keep quiet, but it is b****y hard. Unless there is outright cruelty going on the likes of the RSPCA etc aren't going to do anything.

[Poddington Pea]

Well, it turns out he's all talk. He must have found mites in the house as the following day he was out there scrubbing and spraying for all he was worth!
In some ways I'm not surprised, he's so unpredictable. I've now fumigated as well as treating the house, but it's still not mite free and I'm running out of powder :-(

[kathyd]

As RH says, you'd be better off using creocote on your coop PP... I tried something called Total Mite Kill on mine, and it did the job - for less than a week. However, following RH's advice we then creocoted it, and so far all's good...

I understand that once you've got red mites around, you'll always have them around, so protecting the sleeping space is critical. I had to ban mine overnight from their coop while it dried thoroughly and the worst of the smell dissipated, and they still haven't really forgiven me - egg-withholding or laying in a range of inaccessible places outside! Cheeky blighters . But it's worth it in the long run - I can see an immediate improvement in one of my birds which actually sleeps inside the coop rather than on top of it. RH said she'd been mite-free for 3 years after using creocote, so fingers crossed eh? I got mine from B&Q I believe - a large plastic tub for around £12 - £15 I think. Maybe you could let your neighbour have your left-overs?? Search online to check they have it, then go shopping! (B&Q | Kitchens, Bathrooms, Sheds, Paving, Gardening, Planning Tools and more). Now I just need to get back to the vets for some pyrethrum-based powder to dust the birds, along with the diatom we chuck around the coop and nest boxes.

Good luck with your birds, let us know how you get on?

[Poddington Pea]

Creosote it is then! The house is still riddled and I physically cannot spend anymore money on this! We have a big bottle in the shed, out I go....

[Glutton4...]

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly Mites infest a coop. I cleaned mine out two weeks ago, and last week they appeared. I saw no sign of them at all, but when I came indoors, I had a speck of 'dust' walk across my hand! I went straight back out and doused everything with Diatom - Chooks included! Then came in and got in the shower!

My old boss keeps Chooks, and has done for ever - his were always crawling! Ugh!

[Poddington Pea]

Quick question, how long will I need to exclude the hens?

[kathyd]

Depends on how long it takes to dry PP... it was hot and sunny when we did our's, and we left them out of it overnight and reassembled it the following evening. It still smelt, but it was good and dry. RH says make sure it's thoroughly dry so the birds don't scorch their feet on it. I have one bird which constantly suffers from respiratory problems, but she's been inside the coop ever since it was done and has been fine (until the last few days, nothing to do with the coop anyway). So if you have dry warm weather, you should be OK by tomorrow night. Where will you house them tonight?