Parannoid?

[crazyhorse]

Hi

I've had my four chucks for about three weeks now.

They are housed in a cocoon hen house. (Yes I know, not the best build in the world). I have put about six coats of cuprinol cream colour exterior wood treatment and it looks nice. It is brand new and i have sprayed the interior three times with Poultry Shield when cleaning the interior.

I have got some red mite powder which you put on the birds. So I am going to powder them on Friday night before they take themselves to bed.

Should I paint the interior with creosote? As I hear it's a deterrant to red mite. But if I do, how long is it before I can let them sleep in there again?

In a couple of months, I will be covering the roof of the 6.5ft high run with plastic/polycarbonate roofing sheets to keep the rain/snow out and also will be encasing the house with the same roofing overhead at the same height.

I keep reading about red mite. Am I doing the right thing by powdering the birds every four to six weeks and should I creosote the interior of the hen house?

Thanks.

Lisa

 

[Chuck]

There are quite a lot of us it seems who use creosote and think it is the most effective treatment and preventative. I have used Poultry Sield and found it had no effect at all on the living mites - they just kept living ! Most of my sheds are big so I creosote them in the morning and the birds go back in later in the day. Perches, nest boxes, every nook and cranny is soaked. Obviously best on a hot, dry day so it dries quickly but it soaks into most wood very easily. In a small coop I'd leave it a couple of days then use it again with all the vents open.

Putting powder on the birds might help but the mite live in colonies in the housing, not on the birds. They only go to the birds to suck the blood.

Not clear whether you are putting the plastic sheets directly onto the house and if so, this will create another layer in which the mite can colonise.

 

[chrismahon]

Hi Crazyhorse. Don't apply creosote neat, use it diluted 50:50 with paraffin. It dries much faster. We dismantle the coops as far as possible to paint creosote mix on, leave the panels to dry fror at least 3 days and then resssemble. But if the coop is assembled we leave them out for two weeks in a spare coop. We don't creosote inside the nest boxes as in Summer the fumes that come out whilst the hens are sitting are terrible. Another point. Last time I creosoted a little assembled coop I was ill from the fumes for three days -you need a proper protective mask. This is why creosote is no longer allowed to be sold to the public -business only. it does run through the panels and stain the paintwork on the outside. Tongue and groove panels are best treated upside down to let the creosote run into the groove.

 

[crazyhorse]

I think the creosote idea is out for now then. I don't have a spare hen house and it does sound a bit toxic.

In answer to the query about the plastic sheeting. The hen house at the moment is attached to their run. The run is 6ft 6in high x 12ft x 8ft. They are in that when we are not about, when we are around, they have a total area of about 30ft x 22 ft which is 6ft fenced but not covered across the top, the area is a mixture of shade and sunny spots with some slabs, grass and soil. I am having an extension to the run which will enclose the hen house and the plastic sheeting will therefore be on top of the wire at 6ft 6 height. I leave both dogs out in the garden on 'fox patrol' when the hens are on the loose in their enclosure. I am worried about the fox scaling the fence but my thinking is I know the dogs will make a racket if foxy appears. They are Staffordshire Bull Terriers and are quite territorial.

Sorry if that sounded garbled. Lol

 

[Marigold]

That all sounds fine but do you plan guttering to take the runoff from the plastic roof? If not, the accumulated rain will blow under the edge along the open side of the run and soak quite a large area of the floor. Taking guttering to a water butt will deal with most of it and you may also want to fix clear tarp or removeable screens to the wire, which will also provide shelter from the wind as well as rain.

 

[crazyhorse]

Hi

We are planning on putting guttering in with a water butt. They have adequate shelter from the wind whilst in the run and also in the free range enclosure.

Lisa

 

[chrismahon]

We've just bought scaffolding debris mesh cladding to divide cockerels off having seen it used to same effect in Wales. Comes in a variety of colours and is quite thin so breeze will get through and some diffused sunlight. We plan to double it up to get it thick enough so the cockerels aren't distracted by each other -they can only see a vague outline rather than a definite shape. Won't replace wire mesh but does protect from driving rain to some extent as it catches it. We got two 50 metre rolls at 3 metres wide so for the covered area it's pretty cheap at £97 delivered -35p per square metre. Works out same price per for a two metre wide roll. Perhaps that's what you need to protect the chickens?

 

[Stapfam]

You can get Paranoid about Red Mite and at some time you will get it. But a few things you can do to lessen the impact. Check the coop on a regular basis for the tell tales signs. Look at the end of the perches an hour after they have gone to bed to see the blighters- Rub a tissue under the perches to see if there is any specks of blood from the ones resting their and the red is blood from when you squashed the ones you find.

Then you can get Paranoid about removing them.

Certain precautions can be taken to try to stop an infestation and the main one for me is to clean the coop on a regular basis and spray with an insecticide that works. Diatom at the end of the perches and dust the birds periodically with mite powder although I am not certain this will stop an infestation.

But if you have an infestation--Then your problems begin. Lots of cleaning- lots of spraying and a lot of swearing.