removing all red mite traces

[karminski]

i have just been out removing the end nest box area of the little bantam house as it had started to rot { not even a year old } its one of those cocoon tpye ones and while doing so i found a few red mites which were soon killed then the aera sprayed but i then decided to check other pieces of the coop that i had removed and i took each slat of wood apart and hiding right within each slat were red mites so even if you think you have sprayed well be warned unless you strap out every srcew holding all slats together then you wont get rid of the probelm i thought i sprayed and treated well but obviosuly not , i'm part tempted to take every single piece of the house apart and completely re build it but that would take me forever to do .

 

[chrismahon]

Steamer 'mite' get in there Karminski. As the steam tends to rise and get into even the tiniest gaps. Then there is creosote of course, but the coop would be out-of-service for weeks.

 

[karminski]

would still have to take the house out of action for a few days though to let it dry , will see what the weather holds for the weekend and have a look at getting it out the garage and giving it a go could be fun 05 to tell you the truth iu was shocked that they were even between the slats .

 

[Philcott]

Karminski - whatever it is you are using to kill off your red mite, obviously has no residual action - either that or you are washing it off. There are stronger chemicals that you can use to spray your coops, which dry during the day and then the birds can be put back into them. It has a residual action for about a year or so, after which you would need to redo them with something a little different so that a resistance doesn't build up.

PM me if you want more information.

 

[kegs]

A suggestion on another site recently was whether pipe freezing spray from a DIY shop would work. It gets down to -40 and could be sprayed in gaps and shouldn't damage the wood.

 

[chrismahon]

It's very expensive kegs. I killed a wasps nest in our food store with it and used half a bottle which equates to £16 at trade price. Sure it would work though. Can't see any advantage over steam, apart from being in a handy container.

 

[karminski]

sounds to dangerous for me to use :lol:

 

[brahmist]

Have you ever tried lacquer.Reasonable price, covers a good
area.I know it will not kill them.but they should not be able to get
out !!!! 17

 

[bex46]

Creosote Subsitute all the way. I do mine twice a year after being infested with them the year before last. Havent seen any sign of them since. After trying pretty much everything else, I swear by it.

 

[karminski]

i got die-mite spray from the chicken vet website it comes in two parts that you mix and so far so good for the first week there was no mites at all but for the past 2 days i have found 3 mites tucked into the groves of the plastic nest boxes i use which for some reason the mites seem to adore .
i was meant to be of the week after bank holiday but looks like i might have to work and i was all planned to pull my big 8'4 house down split into two 4'4 houses and treat one while the other is used etc etc and i was going to use the Creosote Subsitute but not sure now when i will be able to do this as i wont know tell next week if i can still take the time of but friends not far from me swear by the Creosote Subsitute but all i can do is try it , seem to be having more luck with the red top fly trap at the mo :lol: wander why one hasnt invented one for red mites 05

 

[hedgerow pete]

i used to have a red mite problem but i dont have one now, you have to really want to do it as it ant going to be easy and by not wanting to dismantle the whole lot just makes it harded,not impossible but harder.

some of my methods are proberly going to upset some one as its going to toxic or some such thing but heres what i tried anyway ,you decide whats ok to use.

we found ,nipon powder (for ants) worked great, we used to add it to the sawdust on the floors so they dust in it.

i use old, old fashioned jayes fluid and black jayes fluid as a pen wash, walls, ceiling, perches and flood the timber bits, we do it once a week for a month to break the life cycle.

other non use chemicals and methods was a wall paper stripper squirting steam every where we had problems getting in to ,
baby oil works as a seal around the mite so it chokes to death,

an old farmers trick to kill green fly and black and white fly and mites is fairy liquid in water a one litre squirty bottle and a large splog in it and squirt it every where.

for the girls as there is no point putting back dirty chickens into a clean pen, we used to catch and dust them with talc and human head lice powder, you can also conditioner,(we used to use conditioner on the kids)

we have also found baby oil works on the chooks under the wings to clean them as well as the legs wish vasilene.

and lastly if its wood you can also use a small hot air heat gun not blow torch

 

[brahmist]

Just lately we have been using spray glue as an experiment,
and it really seems to work.Used mainly in corners and between
slats also in the ends of the wood.

 

[chrismahon]

That sounds like a good idea Brahmist. So the cross the area and get stuck to it and die?

 

[karminski]

oh i like that idea so if your not on here in say a few weeks time we know where to find you stuck to your chicken house :lol: :lol: :lol: think i might just try this wonder if dad has any in the garage hes got everything esle .

 

[karminski]

i was going to have another clean an spray tonight but seein that its raining i will leave it until i know i can leave the coops open to dry , but i use the royal mail plastic boxes as nesting boxes and on them they have very very sticky barcode labels and one was peeling just slighty and the other day there was 1 mite on it but i never thought to pull it of well tonight i did and i found another little nest starting they soon got splattered and then sprayed ohh i love watching them melt the liquid turns all greeny :lol: i only counted about `14 though so i am hoping tonight my girls will get a better nights sleep without getting biten .
i might have a look at work as we use glues etc , i can get loads of double sided tapes but i wander how lony they would stay sticky for with the dust etc probably not very long but i may even try those as well .

 

[Gavin1985]

I posted last week on how I had contaminated hatching eggs off ebay which turned my incubator into mite city. Took me a week to get rid off all traces.

I had to disassemble the entire incubator and clean it all with disinfectant (taking care not to get the electronics wet) and then left it for a week in a decontamination zone. Basically, an isolated area which was generously bathed in red mite powder. I covered the incubator in powder too. I had to constantly check the incubator for any stragglers which would get squished.

I then gave each component a final clean before leaving it for a further 24 hours. The tricky bit was cleaning around the electronic components that I couldn't just dunk in the disinfectant.

The incubator is back on and I won't be buying hatching eggs again!

Also, as I found out, bog standard dettol kills the mites. I sprayed an area of work bench which was crawling and they checked out instantly.

 

[Margaid]

Is it safe to use Dettol on poultry equipment? It isn't something I normally have because it is toxic to cats.

 

[Gavin1985]

I have a poultry specific disinfectant.. Varkins?? or something like that. I wouldn't use dettol to clean the incubator but any other surface perhaps.

 

[foxy]

I have a poultry specific disinfectant.. Varkins?? or something like that. I wouldn't use dettol to clean the incubator but any other surface perhaps.

Do you mean Virkon S Gavin? It's the one I use too 17

 

[Gavin1985]

Yea, thats what i meant.