Hi guys, just a quickie. Was wondering what people's experience with getting rid of red mite is. I seem to have a perennial problem with it no matter how often I clean out the coop or what products i use, I was wondering if anybody could give me any advice at all? I am thinking of changing my coop as a last resort and starting all over again! Have had chickens for the last 6 years, but have had this problem for about the last year and am tearing my hair out! Any help at all would be wonderful. Many thanks in advance.
red mite
- Thread starter ajmellu7
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dinosaw
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If you stick red mite into the search bar ajmellu then you will find every treatment known to chicken. The one I currently use is to mix up a large quantity of diatom with water into a slurry and paint the entire inside of the coop liberally with it, every crevice and crack including the perches both top and underneath. Once it has dried then the bedding goes in sprinkled with a large quantity of diatom powder, it takes about a week till you stop seeing any mites. The good thing about this is it acts as a preventative until it rubs off the coop over time at which time you reapply.
Another tactic to use alongside cleaning and spraying etc is to add Red Stop to their drinking water. This is an organic product which doesn't affect the eggs but makes the hens' blood taste nasty to the mites so they can't feed and eventually starve themselves out of existence. You add the Red Stop every day for the first week or so and then less often when the problem is under control. Dosages are very low, so although a small bottle may seem expensive it lasts a long time.
If you keep the birds in a closed run with a roof, where wild birds have no access, you're much less likely to get redmite as it arrives on the feathers of wild birds, which shake it off when they preen, or when they land in an open run to feed or drink from the chickens' utensils. Also, whilst overhanging trees give welcome shade to a run, you may get redmite drifting down from the feathers of wild birds perching or roosting there. So the problem keeps recurring, however often you clean the coop, and a new coop won't make a difference except at first before numbers build up again. Mites can also be imported accidentally on wood chips made from trees where birds have been roosting, so this sort of wood chip is best avoided as it also goes mouldy and releases spores which are dangerous to both chickens and humans
Whet sort of coop do you have? Plastic coops have far fewer nooks and crannies where mites can hide, and come apart for complete cleaning. The worst type if wooden ones have felt roofs, where the mites creep between the layers and are totally inaccessible. However, if taking any coop apart, be aware that mites may fall off onto the run floor and just crawl back up once you're finished cleaning it. Some people stand the coop legs in pots of water, or even paraffin, to prevent this, though I suppose the ramp is still a way in for mites.
However, I think the main thing us to prevent access by wild birds in the first place, as not only do they bring in mites but also the risk of viruses and bacteria. If the run is large enough (min. of 2 sq. metres of floor space per bird) the chickens are perfectly happy in there and are safer from predators as well. My girls have lived happy, healthy, mite-free lives for 7 years now, in their big covered run, and I know they're safe and not at risk from mites or larger predators.
If you keep the birds in a closed run with a roof, where wild birds have no access, you're much less likely to get redmite as it arrives on the feathers of wild birds, which shake it off when they preen, or when they land in an open run to feed or drink from the chickens' utensils. Also, whilst overhanging trees give welcome shade to a run, you may get redmite drifting down from the feathers of wild birds perching or roosting there. So the problem keeps recurring, however often you clean the coop, and a new coop won't make a difference except at first before numbers build up again. Mites can also be imported accidentally on wood chips made from trees where birds have been roosting, so this sort of wood chip is best avoided as it also goes mouldy and releases spores which are dangerous to both chickens and humans
Whet sort of coop do you have? Plastic coops have far fewer nooks and crannies where mites can hide, and come apart for complete cleaning. The worst type if wooden ones have felt roofs, where the mites creep between the layers and are totally inaccessible. However, if taking any coop apart, be aware that mites may fall off onto the run floor and just crawl back up once you're finished cleaning it. Some people stand the coop legs in pots of water, or even paraffin, to prevent this, though I suppose the ramp is still a way in for mites.
However, I think the main thing us to prevent access by wild birds in the first place, as not only do they bring in mites but also the risk of viruses and bacteria. If the run is large enough (min. of 2 sq. metres of floor space per bird) the chickens are perfectly happy in there and are safer from predators as well. My girls have lived happy, healthy, mite-free lives for 7 years now, in their big covered run, and I know they're safe and not at risk from mites or larger predators.
Thanks for the advice. I am going to get some diatom red mite powder, a 5kg bucket which a local chicken place sells and liberally sprinkle everywhere and maybe use the tip of adding water and painting the coop. I have a lovely wooden coop, with a pressed and formed bitumen roof. It still looks great 5 years on, but I wondered whether to change it due to the problems, but appreciate how it would only put off the inevitable again! The chickens are kept in a run at the bottom of the garden, which is mainly soil with a few areas to shelter in and some large buddleias with some extra perches as well. I use dengie fresh bed in the coop as well.
Be very careful when sprinkling the diatom around, as the dust is dangerous if inhaled, either by you or the hens. It's a silica abrasive dust, which works by wearing away the coating of the mites' exoskeletons, and unfortunately it can have the same effect on human lungs. Hence its probably good advice to make it into a slurry and paint it on. Personally, if I were using diatom, I would get the medicated kind, such as Smite, which is more effective than ordinary diatom, and also smells nice.
The most effective way to really deal wth a bad outbreak is to use Ficam W, which is an industrial-strength and highly toxic stuff which you spray on to affected surfaces (having first removed the hens to a safe distance and put on a mask and protective clothing which you wash afterwards, yourself.) Used on a sunny day, and left to dry in the open air for several hours, it will do the job brilliantly, so long as you can cover all bases, is there are no remaining tiny spaces where pieces of wood join that mites and eggs can hide in. However, I expect many people on here will be shocked at my suggesting it, preferring more 'natural' methods, but if I were a hen who was being eaten alive every night, I would hope my owner could do something effective about it!
The most effective way to really deal wth a bad outbreak is to use Ficam W, which is an industrial-strength and highly toxic stuff which you spray on to affected surfaces (having first removed the hens to a safe distance and put on a mask and protective clothing which you wash afterwards, yourself.) Used on a sunny day, and left to dry in the open air for several hours, it will do the job brilliantly, so long as you can cover all bases, is there are no remaining tiny spaces where pieces of wood join that mites and eggs can hide in. However, I expect many people on here will be shocked at my suggesting it, preferring more 'natural' methods, but if I were a hen who was being eaten alive every night, I would hope my owner could do something effective about it!
Thanks again for that. I have looked into smite and that is what I am going to go with and will sort that out this week as I am on holiday all week. Plan on treating the coop and then getting a couple more girls in there! I have just looked at the ficam w and I can find pouches, so may have another look at that!
Margaid
Well-known member
The horrid critturs will hide anywhere! I bought a secondhand coop which fortunately I could smother with (proper) creosote. Dismantling the coop so I could flood coat it properly I levered off a couple of drawing pins - there were about a dozen redmite (except they were grey) under each pin. Squishing them was very therapeutic!
Are they active at the moment? If they haven't really got going yet this year as its been quite cold so far, you could begin a series of through weekly coop cleans to reduce numbers as new generations of mites emerge, combined with getting the hens started in Red Stop, as obviously this would work better to control relatively small outbreaks, rather than a massive number of mites. As you say, it's going to be a case of keeping numbers down in the face of continual infestation in a wooden coop if the run is open to wild birds. Then maybe save the big guns, ie the Ficam, if or until they start getting out of hand and you can rely on some warm sun to dry and ventilate the treated coop.
valeriebutterley
New member
I agree with Marigold, Redstop is absolutely great, it does actually work. I have loads of wild birds in my garden and a couple of wild pigeons, so the problem is not really solved absolutely.
I dust perch ends, perches and bedding when I am cleaning out, and sometimes I still find a few. They must have been around since the time of the dinosaurs, such is their resistance to being wiped out.
I dust perch ends, perches and bedding when I am cleaning out, and sometimes I still find a few. They must have been around since the time of the dinosaurs, such is their resistance to being wiped out.
Thanks guys. Have ordered some red stop and some smite diatom powder so hopefully will get that in the next couple of days and can start treating. On a slightly different note, my 2 daughters are fascinated with the hens and the coop and are asking me to paint the coop in their favourite pink and purple! Is it ok to paint the coop with normal outdoor wood paint or not and will it affect the chickens in any way or not? Thanks for all the help so far, I have to say I am incredibly grateful for the support, it has blown me away how knowledgeable and helpful you have all been. Thanks
Olivia9801
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I had red mites 8 yrs ago and tried simple "Dettol" and I have never had them again. I just diluted it slightly and sprayed it everywhere inside the hen house...... "Simples!" 
