Red mites and loads of them!!

[JillA]

Maybe the weather, maybe I have never spotted so many before I had plastic housing but my Eglu is covered in the bloody things. I always keep DE in the bedding in the nest box but clearly not enough. f I had a wood henhouse I might have missed them, but there sure are a lot of them just now. All duly Smited and sprayed, and hens dusted but they were so evident on the plastic

 

[teacups]

It's a bad infestation if you can see them. My sympathies.
At least it's easier to get rid of a bad one like that in a plastic hen-house, that's the only bonus.

I Poultry-shielded my (wooden) hen-house yesterday - no sign of mite but that doesn't mean they are not there.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Feeling your pain, I did my chooks pens this morning and have a similar situation even in the Eglu

Total PITA.

Tip: if cleaning out red mite infestations beware you don't get them on yourself, they're horrid critters and you'll feel like your skin is crawling.

I use a boilersuit/overall with wellie boots, rubber gloves, and a beekeepers veil or similar (look on e-bay for midge-proof veils): as there's nothing worse than them getting in your hair. Makes the whole job a lot easier IME, and you can then bung the lot in the washing machine (and yourself in the shower) afterwards.

 

[Clodagh]

Ah! MJR2BT, the red mite dance - walking slowly away from the hen house, stopping every step to raise your arm like a graceful modern dancer and check out your skin for crawlies. Culminating in realising you are covered in them, dumping all your clothes, and bolting to a hot shower. It can be startling for passers by!

I have open fronted avaiary houses and it has made life so much easier, only perch ends and nest boxes to maintain now, although I do creosote everything annually.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

yeah, creosote saves all the faffing with other stuff that doesnt work as well.not much good for an eglu though.

 

[Clodagh]

No, I am not keen on the plastic houses although I do see they are easier to maintain on a dayh to day basis. I wonder, OP, if the mites are living in the ground under the house? Surely there isn't anywhere on the house for them to live?

 

[JillA]

No, I am not keen on the plastic houses although I do see they are easier to maintain on a dayh to day basis. I wonder, OP, if the mites are living in the ground under the house? Surely there isn't anywhere on the house for them to live?

There are runners the sliding tray sits on, crevices around the doors, frames the openers fit into, as well as louvres in the ventilators. Lots of places but fortunately all reachable with a mite kill spray. I had been using newspaper to line the tray under the perches, I guess that was nice and warm for them, but I thought it was better to have removable poo liner for daily cleaning. I know at least one person who thought they would be more or less mite free The soil under is a good dust bath so well dusted with DE

I thought you could no longer get creosote?

 

[Clodagh]

If you are a farmer or smallholder you can. I must say it isn't the same texture as the old barrel I just finished (which was about 20 years old) but seems to be effective.

I see what you mean about the crevices, at least it sounds easier to clean than an old tongue and groove wooden job.

 

[Evie91]

Once had a terrible infestation - my chucks live in a wooden Wendy house. Scrubbed weekly, used diamotenous (sp?) earth stuff. Had to cut back a bit as it seemed pretty harsh on chickens legs and breasts but had managed to get on top f it. It was like a horror film though, as I sprayed with water and poultry shield they were crawling out of the cracks in the wood in droves!!
Was toying with the idea of spraying coop periodically with the stuff from the vets that treats house for fleas but also kills dust mites spiders etc and protects for up t a year. Thoughts please?

 

[JillA]

Apart from their environment it's the hens themselves. Caught and dusted today, loads added to their dustbath and nest box, hopefully won't need ivermectin, but if I do is it spot on or dose? My two are somewhat precious species (an Appenzellar and a Poland) and hate being caught - I do miss my lovely friendly warrens!

 

[MotherOfChickens]

red mite dont live on hens though, they feed at night, so ivermectin will only kill those that feed-not the nymphs so unless you did a program of regular treatments it wouldnt be that effective against red mite (quite good against scaly leg mite though). ivermectin is also off label as not licensed for chickens in the UK so check with vet re dosage (as you run the risk of underdosing and ivermectin resistance is already a thing in certain mite species) and get an egg withdrawal period.the problem is that red mite are very hardy and persist in the environment-they can last for months without feeding.

I only have tongue and groove housing, never had a big problem and I honestly think creosote is the only thing that controls them.

 

[JillA]

Thanks for that. Nowhere near as many this morning after spraying and dusting so I think I'll continue with that. I'd rather not use ivermectin if I can avoid it - hens look more cheerful this morning too

 

[MotherOfChickens]

its a useful drug and rubbish that its not licensed here for poultry tbh but its not the right tool for red mite imho.

 

[teacups]

We manage to stay on top of it by regular (ought to be every month) Poultryshield treatments from April-Oct, plus Diom. earth - once you've had the kind of infestation where they are visible or crawling on your skin, imo you want to avoid ever getting to that point again. If you can't see any, but they are reluctant to go and sleep in their coop at night, it's also a sign you have a bad red mite problem. I never found the dusting stuff helped. Be careful with Diatom. earth as it contains silica - you don't want it in your lungs, so wear a dustmask when dusting it around.

It'll be hard to get rid of but at least it should be easier in an Eglu, well done, bet chicks are happy.