[Oopsiboughtasheep]

I have just spotted red mite in one of my henhouses for the first time (which has made me feel like a bad person!) and I am worried about my hens. I can't see any mites in the other house but guess they might be there? It has passed the 'wipe the underneath of the perches with kitchen roll test'.
I have read some notes on the Forum but dismantling afftected houses or burning them but this isn't an option for me. I have 10 hens and would value your help as to how I can tackle this urgently and as thoroughly as is possible tomorrow but don't want to waste time (for my hens) or money buying stuff that will be ineffective.
I use shavings as bedding (cleaned out very regularly) red mite powder dusting in the house after cleaning plus diatoms.  All chooks look perky enough and combs are red and they are laying OK. All putting themselves to bed happily every night but I want to get right on top of this before they are unhappy.
I would be very grateful for your help. Thankyou.

[Clansman]

I use cheap ant powder.

Spray it round the shed, onto the shavings where they nest, in the crevices, perch ends etc and rub it into the birds feathers.

Its not a licensed product for poultry but it kills the mites fast. 

[twizzel]

I had quite a heavy infestation about a month ago. I cleaned out the house (6x8 shed, so not small!) and sprayed with poultry shield twice- 4 hours apart. Make sure to get in all the crevices, end of perches, doors etc etc.  Let it dry and then covered the whole house in diatom powder and minimal bedding. That got rid of a huge amount of them but it's still not totally sorted, the problem areas (door and frame, nest box lid) have been sprayed every week since and I've just about got on top of it now. I don't think it will ever be eradicated but I'd like to get it under control.

I also dusted the hens in diatom powder especially under their wings and put it in their dust baths.

[Marches Farmer]

I think my son summed it up neatly when he said that anyone who says they don't have red mite this summer just hasn't found them yet!  I put split feed sacks on the floor, weight down with large, flat stones then put shavings on top.  When I clean out I lift the stones very carefully and any red mite will be clustered underneath.  The stones are put to soak in a bucket of water or put on the fire.  I then gather the plastic and shavings together very slowly and carefully and put them straight in the old oil drum we use for burning all poultry bedding, hopefully not allowing the red mite to get blown away (and, of course, inevitably ending up in another henhouse!)  They are burned immediately.  I use disposable gloves and pick up the shavings - using a brush and/or dustpan just moves them into another coop.  If I encounter red mite I don't clean out another coop that day and give the red mite a couple of hours to migrate to my head for warmth (urghh!) and be disposed of before going near any other poultry. 

[Stereo]

I use Nettex total mite kill as a last resort and it does work but I use it late afternoon and lock the birds out for a few hours. Then plenty of Smite powder around the place. You'll never really get rid of them in a wooden house in high summer but you can give them a really hard time of it and keep numbers down.

[Backinwellies]

give the red mite a couple of hours to migrate to my head for warmth (urghh!)

   

Think that about sums up my last 2 weeks!!

[Possum]

All the above remedies will get rid of red mite for a while but I have found that the only long term solution is to paint the inside of the house with creosote or creosote substitute. It needs 24 hours to dry (in the summer at any rate) so the chickens will need somewhere else to roost for one night.


Well worth doing though.

[Oopsiboughtasheep]

Thankyou to everyone for your helpful advice. I will get on and tackle this today and then do my best to keep them at bay.

[Stereo]

All the above remedies will get rid of red mite for a while but I have found that the only long term solution is to paint the inside of the house with creosote or creosote substitute. It needs 24 hours to dry (in the summer at any rate) so the chickens will need somewhere else to roost for one night.


Well worth doing though.

I would have thought that creosote would need a few weeks for the smell and harmful effects to fade.

[lord flynn]

I creosoted a new henhouse last friday-and will be moving them into it over this weekend. Its in bits though and has been laid outside in sun and wind to dry off. It stank for the first few days so I'd not want to put anything in it before it'd been properly aired. Creocote isnt so bad.

[HesterF]

I don't think Creocote is as effective either though. I painted our main layers house inside last week with a 50:50 creosote/paraffin mix and the chickens are still locked out. I'll give it until the weekend at least and then see how I feel in there after a few minutes!

After weeks of trying to spray perch ends daily and doing my best to get in all the crevices, I reckoned there was an epicentre I hadn't discovered because I didn't seem to be getting the numbers down. I stripped off the felt on the roof and the nest box and found where they'd been clustered - under the edge of the felt on the nest box where it attached to the house. I had red mite last year and painted with creosote then which seemed to get rid of them but I didn't touch that bit so I wonder whether they just lay their dormant until it was safe to come out again. I've now replaced all the felt with onduline which I'm hoping will help - my Wells poultry houses just have onduline roofs and they're far less badly affected although they do have a few. Agree that they probably never all go but creosote definitely knocks them back better than any insecticide spray although you do have to have a short term alternative.

H

[ScotsGirl]

I painted my wooden perches with real creosote, left for days outside to dry before putting back. Still the damned mite were on some of the ends.  This was in a plastic house! What possesses a company to put wood in plastic? Either way they were also under the nest boxes which are plastic.


Only good thing is the ease to take house apart, wash with Jeyes and air before re-assembling. The solway houses never seem to get them but guess there is nowhere to hide on them. New ones might be different with nest boxes. I wish I could see the little blighters cos dust mites are around somewhere too and I go in scratching.

[WoodlandsDevon]

I think the same as Hseter F. I tried a 50:50 parafin to "creocote" mix and it doesn't seem to have worked very well... I couldn't get hold of real creosote. Where can I buy it?

[HesterF]

I got mine from SCATS (which has now been taken over by Mole Valley Farmers according to my husband although he's not that reliable). HUGE container though - especially given you can paint a whole house with about 100ml. I think you can buy online too - there was a link somewhere on here before.

[sarahdean_66]

Cooking oil works well. Spray on perches ect and the mites love it but they breath through there body so it suffocates them. It's safe for the birds and can be used on them as well!