are mites a problem in winter?

elmdene

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Can someone advise whether mites and lice are still a problem in this very cold weather. I am worried about cleaning out the whole of my ark and spraying it with Total Mite Kill as I do the rest of the year because it is impossible get it dry again. At the moment I am just cleaning the poo out each day and topping up with wood shavings with some louse powder and diatom sprinkled into it - is this sufficient?
 
They shouldnt be a problem, but could appear any time. They can come in on bedding & quite often if an animal is poorly they will be more susceptible to lice/mites. Wild birds are carriers.

Id use permethrin 0.5% once a month this time of year - a bit more if I thought there was a problem, daily use of powder would only be necesssary if you actually had a red mite infestation.
 
Mites don;t tend to be a problem this time of year, but you can get lice and scaley mite anytime. Lice love the warmth of a chickens body. I tend to dust the girls in the winter every 2 weeks with louse powder.
 
i say that mites are a problem all year round, but they are less active in the winter months.
Dan
 
My Red Mites are freezing their waxy little coverings off in this weather!

As soon as the temperature drops, I don't see any activity but I know the little buggers are just storing up their energy to give me a hard time in May as the weather warms up!

There is an excellent picture of Red Mite on this page, you can see them before / after a feed and the eggs too...
 

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