i have the dreaded red mite

K

karminski

New member
Joined
Apr 25, 2011
Messages
1,020
Reaction score
0
i always thought i was keeping everything as clean as poss but i wasnt :( i decided to go plastic with my coops and i have converted 3 of those large storage bins so far so good but i also brought a very pretty little wooden coop which is ideal for 6 of my girls but as i went to convert the large wendy house into a 3 sided all weather feed shelter i noticed loads of dust on me but it wasnt dust it was red mites i am so so angry with myself for letting this happen that i have now dismantled the wendy house { thats ready for burning } and the 6 '4 shed swapping that for another large storage bin :) . the little bleeders were so far into the cracks an crevices no amount of spraying would of got them under control easy option is to get rid of everything wooden except of course the new house havent had it a week . now i am of cleaning patrol every night for a week and then every other day after that for how ever long it takes to get rid of them so guys get out there and check everything personally i think its a nasty thing to have to deal with i pray this is my first and last time i get them .
i took down the 6 '4 shed tonight with help from a neighbour but doing that while being ill isnt a good idea .
 
We've been hit again. If you can see 100 you have 10,000. Our biocide 'Elector' can't be used this year because the mites become immune (chief DEFRA vet advised to alternate treatment) so we are back to the ineffective insecticides. Vaccumned 1 lb in weight of mite out of two coops built into an old shed -the bag was soaked in blood. Forgot to dust hens beforehand so they brought them straight back in and we'll have to do it again this weekend! Only the original creosote works 100% but its nasty stuff as it stinks and burns skin. We treated a coop 5 weeks ago and it is now ready to reassemble and put the hens back in. You need a spare coop if treating with creosote. The mite hide in the planking joints at the top of the tongue in the groove -need to turn panels upside down to treat effectively but its difficult to turn an assembled coop upside down. I tried localised insecticide spraying on a daily basis but they just moved further away until they were in the roof felt. Had some corrigated cardboard blackouts over the windows and the mite even got inside that.
 
i cant get cresote i used to but not now , if i can get the strength up i am going out in a bit to the allotment and going to start re treating the 6 '4 and then paint it very thickly i treated the girls over the weekend but as for dusting them they are going to have to wait tell i am better which is tpyical who always full ill when you just dont need it .
but i am so annoyed as my new little wooden house had them again this morning only a few though so i was spraying that at 5.50am this morning .
 
Can only get creosote 'trade' in 20 litre drums; you might find an Agricultural Merchant prepared to sell you some. We are a registered sheep and chicken holding so had no problem. Creocote, the new equivalent, is much milder and so not as effective. Haven't tried cuprinol clear wood preserver that may also do the trick as it should stay in the wood long enough to kill the hatched eggs. You would still need a week or so for the fumes to subside. Mite prefer new untreated wood apparently, but you wouldn't think so looking at our mite affected areas. We have 9 coops, 6 are infested to varying degrees.
 
i gave up using the cuprinol i put it on really thick but they were still moving and coming out an hour later , the shed is now in the trailer in front garden ready to go down the dump and i am moving over to all plastic housing i dont want to be going though this again am sure i have some in the house as well which is making me paranoid :lol: and i cant be doing with washing clothes on stop at least with the plastic its one good blast with the hose and its done and clean i just need 2 more large storage bins . yesterday i treated my new little wooden coop with powder and this morning it was clear but i did o.t.t on the powder as i dropped the tub in there :lol: thing is i cant get any more of this louse powder it was given to me by someone who works at a vets and beleive me it works on anything even wasps nests , the weaker version of it i can get anywhere but this stuff comes on prespriction only .i wont be getting hit by the bleeding things again i know that :D
 
We had a nightmare with red mite our 1st summer we had hens. Ended up dismantling our heavy duty home-made hen house (mainly because of damp problems & vermin nesting underneath as we'd not raised it up high enough) & due to the red mite we burnt it (was verry satisfying in a morbid way hearing the small pops of the exploding red mite...). Have another wooden house & have gone down the prevention route - no roofing felt & complete clear out every week with a good spraying with concentrated Poultry Shield (1 part Poultry Shield to 4 parts water) paying particular attention to any nooks & crannies. Leave open to dry & air then dust diatom on the floors, perch supports & make a diatom paste with water & paint into the corners & any other nooks & crannies. Pop clean bedding material in & perches, etc, dust with more diatom & give the perches another quick dusting halfway through the week. Seems to work - I check for red mite regularly & while I come across the odd 1 or 2 (& I mean the odd 1 or 2) we haven't had any infestations & certainly haven't had enough of the little bu**ers to affect the chickens.
 
i cant get any more poultry sheild tell tomorw afternoon as the shop i go to closes on a wednesday and i can safely say bleach doesnt work i put some of the wood on the bonfire pile ready to burn and i thought i would try bleach it mite of killed some but not all which surprises me big time . i have had about 5 in the wooden coop hehehe checked it about 8 times today and i killed each one and then sprayed yet again but i feel i have them crawling all over me and i cant go near the bonfire pile even though its on the other side of the site as i feel i am picking them up from there and carrying them back to the run this wood cant be burned until the end of september :( :( so i am just going to douse it in poultry shield , the other shed is in the trailer ready to go to the dump saturday morning .
 
Poultry Shield is useless on red mite, its just a disinfectant. Net Tex total mite kill or Smite are better but still not entirely effective, which is why I am building a spare coop and dismantling each other coop in turn to treat with old creosote with the coop sides turned upside down to reach the mite and eggs in the cladding grooves. Can use the 'Elector' biocide again next year, which last year was 100% effective for the whole year. It attacks the mite's nervous system after contact with any of the surfaces sprayed with it. Takes about a week to have an effect but is expensive.
 
i hyave just used the total red mite kill stuff its the pink liquid one i found that worked well but 1 spray bottle didnt last long at all so thats on the list for tomorrow as well think this is going to be an expensive project killing mites :-)10 so i need to get some of the gold label louse powder from the equine vet but i am looking at about £50 plus for the large tub and i dont really want to be paying out that much at the mo sounds bad i know but with having a pay cut for another month i am living the cheap way at the mo god i hate red mite .
 
Smite is £12 for a litre which mixes to 10 litres at least (they say 6% but I used 10%). Net tex can be bought as a concentrate in 2 litre containers for £32 (it's not pink in that form though) which makes up 20 litres. You need to buy a hand sprayer from B & Q or somewhere. It needs to have a very fine spray on it. Bought some from Wilkos and they were no good. Expect to pay about £12. Or you could mix it and put it through the old spray bottle of Net Tex for a while. A major pain I know.
Chickens eat red mite and scratch up the bedding to find them in daylight hours -which is the first sign you have mite, before you actually see them. Sounds a bit wacky I know but has anyone tried removing all the bedding and then lighting the coop for an hour or so in the middle of the night, while the mite are out of their hiding places, so the chickens can see them to eat them?
You were up early this morning!
 
I use Johnson coop spray and dust with diatom and steam clean twice a year but still get the odd cluster of RM.

In the summer i have no bedding or sawdust of any kind, just lay fresh newspaper down each day which helps.
 
u wont catch me doing that theres spiders out there when its dark :lol: :lol: :lol: i have been on our site a few times over the past few yrs in the dark checking a poor chicken or after burglars have been in and they have been the scariest times of my life . this pink liquid i have seems to be working well so i will get another one of those and if i remember to look at the bottle when i put it away later i will pop back on with the name etc.
 
chrismahon i am using total mite kill ready to use solution its bright pink and made by net tex , i will get more powders tomorw to re do the girls with as i am getting a few on me when i pick them up and then will do the run floor after they have gone to bed i might even jet hose it really well to .
 
Hi Karminski. That's the stuff. If you are going to jet hose it pay attention to the cladding joints and flush the things out of there. Just been out to the big fixed coop we treated last week and they are coming out of the horizontal joints in the door. Will have to take the door off and turn it upside down to get the mite kill spray into them. They are jumping off our birds as well so they all need dusting. We've got this until the cold weather arrives -roll on Winter!
 
i have been out an put the girls away early so i can clean the run floor out which was bit of a waste of time really has the hose didnt have much pressure and tomorrw i will go get some more stuff to do the girls with .
this morning i called the council to see if i could have a one of bonfire { banned them from april to october } on the site and although they said they knew about red mite on poultry { big lie } they have said i cant have a bonfire until october so the big shed thats on the pile ready will just have to be treated as and when i can do it which really wont be tell late evenings after i have done the girls .i have had about 10 mites on me today and i think thats from handling the girls but the small wooden coop as been mite free today but that doesnt mean it will be tomorrow morning ,i did bring in one of the old perches to see if hot water and washing up liqiud would work and i did get some on me then as they were still alive even though they have been out the run for a week .
 
O dear.
Prevention is better than cure , but now that you have it, you need to remove it. Total mite kill solutions, smite the mite spray really gets in to the cracks and removes dreaded critters, barrier health care has some powder, but i think its pretty inefective. Total mite kill has some powder which is good, diatomous earth wears the mites skin down and kills them, the choice is out there!!!
 
dare i say i have done it and survived :lol: the new wooden coop has been clear for 2 days and i havent had any on me for over a day :D all houses have been cleaned right thoughly brought all the stuff yesterday and so far i am happy and my girls seem better as well , i know one thing i would get hit by them again like i hve just been i am on a war path with mites :lol: :lol:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top