The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: mwncigirl on August 13, 2012, 10:54:21 pm
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Hi, we have a red mite problem, >:( Someone mentioned to me that putting garlic in the water for the chooks helped. Does anyone have any experience of this? I thought garlic was bad for chickens?
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Garlic won't irradicate the red mite but it does help to ward them off the birds and it is good for them and they like it!!! ;D
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I have been using my horse garlic powder in the hens feed. More to help with the eau de chicken poop smell. It is also said to be a natural Antibiotic. :eyelashes:
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Do you have to crush it into the water or just float a peeled clove?
I recently bought a weed wand and have taken great pleasure in zapping the life out of clumps of red mite in the sheds. Have used diatom but would be good to treat with garlic too...
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Weed wands are brilliant :excited: :thumbsup: Great sound effects 8)
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Weed wands are brilliant :excited: :thumbsup: Great sound effects 8)
Absolutely!!! sort of "Crrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" and you hear little pops too ;) so far not managed to set the sheds on fire too - result!
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Well Mwncigirl, you would still have the red mites but the chickens wouldn't be bothered by Vampires. Garlic is supposed to be good at warding off blood suckers but I doubt it will work on red mite! Garlic is supposed to be a bit of a health tonic but never tried it myself -fresh greens are far better. Think the 'someone' is 'pulling your leg'?
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Well, i'm gonna give it a try. Keep spraying the houses and doesn't seem to make any difference. Tempted to just burn the lot. (Houses, not chooks ;) ) Tried flames, but still the little blighters crawl out from their hidy holes.... Getting fed up now and the ladies are suffering :gloomy:
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What are you spraying the house with?
Poultry shield is a REDMITE disinfectant, contact the manufacturer if you are using this. They may help with advice as they claim it is a REDMITE eliminator.
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Smite Professional, it guess its the same sort of stuff as Poultry Sheild. Bored with it now :huff:
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My wife soaks garlic in water until its well smelly, then strains it and puts it in a plant mister and sprays the plants. :bouquet:
It works very well at upsetting/deterring insects and mites. :tree:
The funniest thing is my friend and I used the sprayer when we where laying on and polishing plaster one day. :-\
My friend was constantly commenting on the braw smell of sausages my wife was cooking. :pig:
Turns out it was the garlic smell was going into the plaster. :gloomy:
Wall doesn't smell now its been sealed and painted. :D
But i bet we dont get any infestations in that wall. :fc:
The best of all the room is now our kitchen! :trophy:
Result! :thumbsup:
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You need to creosote the shed inside and out to get rid of red mite, stinky but essential :thumbsup:
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Haha Robbiegrant!!!
Can you still get that really smelly creosote? I thought you could only get a 'nicer' version these days?
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I LOVE the smell of creosote!!! :sofa:
last year we managed to knock the little bugs on the head with pink Nettex redmite stuff from countrywide. This year I'm barbequeing them as I dont' have spare accomodation for if we creosoted.
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I spent most of yesterday attacking the little b******s in my hen houses. There seems to have been an explosion of them in the warmth. The diatom powder is not keeping them at bay and even Poultryshied is struggling ??? . So garlic granules in the water is the next method of attack :stir: . Is a weed wand like a mini flame thrower? (Vision of me going out to the sheds dressed like a Ghost-buster :roflanim: ).
I also love the smell of creosote. When we moved here I found a old container of it in the shed. I used it on the hen house and the neighbour could smell it 70 yards away ;D Brilliant stuff, lethal.
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The new type stuff works fine aswell, applied with a sprayer it gets in all the nooks and crannies! Ours is a big pen and I treat in the morning, leave to air and the hens go in at night with all ventilation windows open. You will be amazed how many of the little buggers appear, very satisfying ;D
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yep, the weed wand throw a little flame out. I'm addicted to mine not just for weeds and redmite but for lighting bonfires too. Have drawn the line at marshmallow toasting as suggested by 9 yr old daughter though.
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Oh, I hadn't thought about alternative accommodation, its so rainy here most on our mountain most of the time, not sure it would dry in a day :gloomy: Also, they need to go in to lay.
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Poultry Shield has the same effect on Red Mite as washing up liquid. It hasn't been sold as a Red Mite killer for years -so you must have an old bottle. Smite is good at flushing out eggs as it contains a powerful detergent that 'unsticks' them, but it doesn't kill red mite very quickly. Nettex Total Mite Kill does -but doesn't wash out the eggs. The aformentioned two work well in a combination of Smite followed immediately by Nettex.
Alternatives. Steamers work well with a fine nozzle (particularly into the weather boarding joints)and we usually start with that and follow up with chemicals. Blow torch has much same effect but risks burning down the coop. Jetwasher is good but can split or shred the wood, but it washes out the preservatives as well and just moves the mite and eggs with the water. Plastic coop like Green Frog is very easy to strip and clean completely. Creosote, the ultimate red mite killer, which may shortly be banned. Creocote does work but not quite as well. Mite love new untreated wood so just get something into it. Or the radical -Elector a biocide, which targets the nerve system of the mite. Really easy to apply as you just spray everything in sight. Totally effective for a few months at least but the mites evolve immunity so can't use it two years in a row. Has a very long shelf life though -5 years I think. Woodash soil baths -recommended in France for control on the birds and it seems to work. Haven't tried anything else as I am still using my 30 litre drum of creosote (diluted 50:50 with paraffin for better application).
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Thanks Chrismahon, creosote it is then. I've just been out to put the ladies to bed, and the houses are teeming...... sprayed again with smite....... gonna go the creosote route. Can't take much more of this! >:(
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Make sure you do inside and outside the pen and slosh it in all the corners well, just the thought of them makes me itch!
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I am realising how difficult the chicken houses are to really clean and keep mite free. And also, what a labour of love it is keeping chooks!
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I think this year is different. I've had chickens for 6 years or so now and this is the first year the redmite have got on top of me.
I literally disassembled part of the coop the other day and as I took it panel from panel was horrified at how many millions of redmite where in there. Made me realise that a general spray around was never going to get these :-\
Having said that, the hens are still laying really well and don't look mite ravaged :fc: [size=78%] [/size]
[size=78%] [/size]
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Problem with creosote is the drying time. The fumes are toxic and made me very ill in a confined space. Takes at least two weeks to dry before I would risk putting hens back in and that's when applied diluted 50:50 with paraffin. You need a spare coop Mwncigirl. That's what puts people off using it, the expense and storage of a spare coop which itself needs treating.
Perhaps one day (subject to a lottery win) we'll buy a dozen Green Frogs.
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Well, to be honest, we have two houses in the very large spot, and for the last few days (even though I've been spraying and dusting) the chooks have been cramming into one. I think its the one with fewer mites, so perhaps I'll just let them cram in while I treat and dry the other. Better in the long run. Lots of them are moulting now, and we haven't had hardly any eggs for ages so better just get on with it when the weather breaks :raining:
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Well, to be honest, we have two houses in the very large spot, and for the last few days (even though I've been spraying and dusting) the chooks have been cramming into one. I think its the one with fewer mites, so perhaps I'll just let them cram in while I treat and dry the other.
Mine are doing the same even though both houses have been treated with Poultry Shield , then red mite killer - so creosote it is.
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I'm not really experienced with chickens, but I was wondering if the sulfur lights used for killing bugs in greenhouses would work? The fumes should get into all nooks and corners. Just a thought.
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A good thought though AS :wave: . Need to check what the chemical is that zaps the greenhouse bugs, and how long the house needs to be aired. Might check out the garden centre this weekend (another excuse for a browse/impulse purchase) ;D ;D
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Just a quick note, going back to the original topic, I tried putting some crushed garlic cloves in the chooks water......... they ate it........ they're still bothered by mites ::)
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But not vampires I bet :roflanim:
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Does garlic taint the eggs? ???
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Bramblecot, if they ever start laying again I'll let you know! :rant:
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Well, just to feedback, we spent most of today taking apart one of our chicken houses and painting it with a 50:50 paraffin:creosote mix. Well, I actually can't believe the amount of mites we found, especially since I've been spraying so regularly. Every nook and cranny treated and now hoping it will dry so I can move the chooks into it and treat the one they're in now. There were trillions. Even after liberally painting it on the mites continued to pour out of everywhere. I wonder if I will have to re-do it even though I can't imagine anything could survive that toxic mixture.
I, however, feel very pleased with myself. Forget garlic, and smite and powder. Bring on the toxins (says the organic gardener). THanks for all the advice. I'm off to buy some more creosote while I still can! ;)
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Silly me for thinking I had sorted it. The house has been empty of chooks obviously, but guess what I found under the ridge???? :roflanim:
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We've spent last weekend taking coops apart, washing, chemicalling, flamethrowing and painting. All finished with a dousing of diatom.
Like you....there they are again (not many but enough to make you go ::) ) its a bad year for parasites :tired: [size=78%] [/size]
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But creosote??? Surely even id they weren't directly soaked the fumes should have killed them? I despair! ???
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It must kill trillions but leave behind (in a tiny, tiny crevice) a breeding few who multiply at a rate of knotts and come back blowing raspberries at us.
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You are not alone :bouquet: . I hate the ruddy things >:( .. Have taken to rattling the perches just to hear them crunch against the sides :o :o ...before I start spraying again.
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Out of desperation i evicted the hens out of the hen house for a few hours, shut the door , hatch and windows and set 2 of those smoke bombs off, it has seemed to have sorted the problem out as its been 3 weeks since I did it and :fc: I have not seen any
We did however get a phone call from a neighbour to say the hen house was on fire :roflanim:
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Out of desperation i evicted the hens out of the hen house for a few hours, shut the door , hatch and windows and set 2 of those smoke bombs off, it has seemed to have sorted the problem out as its been 3 weeks since I did it and :fc: I have not seen any
We did however get a phone call from a neighbour to say the hen house was on fire :roflanim:
Ooh Sokel, can I ask where you found the smoke bombs? My OH kept saying "there must be a bomb out there we can get..." but I'd not heard of one.
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Out of desperation i evicted the hens out of the hen house for a few hours, shut the door , hatch and windows and set 2 of those smoke bombs off, it has seemed to have sorted the problem out as its been 3 weeks since I did it and :fc: I have not seen any
We did however get a phone call from a neighbour to say the hen house was on fire :roflanim:
Ooh Sokel, can I ask where you found the smoke bombs? My OH kept saying "there must be a bomb out there we can get..." but I'd not heard of one.
I bought them off ebay
they have the smaller flea ones that also does ants, bed bugs and cockroaches or they have the ones for greenhouses that does all flying and crawling insects
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Creosote, ficam w and duramitex for me. Not all at the same time but I change what I use year on year. I am creosoting the coops next week, to prepare for next year and then if I get anything next summer I will whack it with one of the insecticides. I have used all sorts of powders sprays etc but all those sorts of things did was put a hole in my pocket. Absolutely useless and utterly time consuming too. I learnt my lesson and now use the decent stuff.
Smoke bomb wise...Regency pOultry used to sell them....
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ficam w and duramitex ...
Hi. I don't know these - where do you buy them and do they have brand names please? thanks.
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Plastic 4x6 shed b&q = no redmite... So far :fc: :fc: