The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: plumseverywhere on July 30, 2013, 01:39:25 pm
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Wow, just cleaned the henhouse out and as I lifted the perches clumps of redmite fell off :o Am transferring the chickens all into the spare house so I can creosote this one on the weekend but just wondered if anyone else has noticed a huge deluge of them too?
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I went into our shed and got a bit bitten, not seen the mites as yet and the hens look OK but off to get some stuff then a good clear out!!
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I admit, I had to get the weedwand onto them today!! I know they will be eradicated with the creosote but an initial blast (or sizzle!) is so satisfying...until I accidentally caught the underside of the chicken house on fire. As luck would have it, the hose was filling the drinker up at the time :relief:
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whops...the little B's bite too, never had them before >:(
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They do and it itches, the crawl up your arms and into your hair. There's thunderbug thrip things out there too so I'm itching now!
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Thought it was just me :relief: .
Usually we treat the pens regularly with diatomous earth and spray a couple of times in the summer with Total Mite Kill but this year we have an explosion :o and what's more they are refusing to die.
OH has taken all the sawdust out of pens and just put in a thin layer of newspaper. Spraying out every other day this week to see if we can get on top of the problem.
OH is determined to win ..... he is a man with a mission.
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Interesting idea about the newspaper.
I might take some perches out as since mr fox came, we don't have the numbers we did before! all a case of finding ways to reduce hidey holes for the horrible things (and blasting them with chemical warfare)
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Sorry to hear that you all have red mite but at least it's not just me, can't creosote at the moment as I don't have a spare hen house so the blowtorch it is then ;D
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Bit risky Daisy's Mum. Try a steam cleaner. You only need a small one -ours is 1500W which we fill with hot water to speed things up (and then run outside with a Honda EU2.0 because we haven't got enough cable from the house). Very little water goes into the timber and it soon dries for the creosote later.
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Bit risky Daisy's Mum. Try a steam cleaner. You only need a small one -ours is 1500W which we fill with hot water to speed things up (and then run outside with a Honda EU2.0 because we haven't got enough cable from the house). Very little water goes into the timber and it soon dries for the creosote later.
Hen house just too far from any power point so really need to get a small generator.
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I managed to get a good secondhand Eglu this year so I have no red mites!
:excited: :excited: :excited:
Sorry to sound so smug - but my wooden henhouse last year was horrendous with red mite and no matter what I threw at them, it didn't work >:( They really are the most infuriating things.
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smug here too- really fortunate that we creosoted shortly before the weather turned hot- read somewhere that it needs to be above twenty one deg cent for 7 days for them to take hold. in previous years we have been swarming - only plus is the deep satisfaction of taking a blow torch to a million little critters- god they pop llike rice crispies. since the last time we have a spare house which we use once a year in late spring- completely dismantle the main one and creosote every single bit and then put back together
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i have them its only a little house and they are doing my head in!!!
when i have some more pocket money i am going plastic...
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I asked at the Domestic fowl trust about Eglus and they said that Eglus still have red mite infestations from time to time :-\ at the time this put me off of buying one but in hindsight I'm wondering if anyone has ever actually experienced redmite in plastic?
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I have never had them before and its not great as I gave my neighbour my last potion for mites..that talc stuff that I cannot pronounce yet smells nice!!1 They no longer have chickens...at least I only have 3 now !
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Does anybody know how long they can live in the coop if you remove the hens to another location? Just a thought.
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i read it was a year or more!!!
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I also heard that you can have red mite in Eglus - and they're SO expensive ....and plastic!
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I've checked and checked my two coops and haven't seen anything other than two tiny red insects on the clear plastic covering the roof.
Did pressure hose both coops two weeks ago and liberally prayed with poultry shield afterwards. Powdered with diatom and biodry.
Could anybody give my some idea how big these dreaded critters aremso I know what I'm looking out for? Seen piccies on google but the size is difficult to assess.
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"pin prick" as opposed to "pin head", I think is a fair description.
Bright red when fed but greyish otherwise.
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Hmmm, wonder if the ones on the clear plastic were them ??? but didn't think they liked light :thinking:
Think I'll need a magnifier tomorrow for a closer examine.
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I asked at the Domestic fowl trust about Eglus and they said that Eglus still have red mite infestations from time to time :-\ at the time this put me off of buying one but in hindsight I'm wondering if anyone has ever actually experienced redmite in plastic?
I think you could get it in the wooden slatted area of the eglu where the hens are supposed to perch to sleep - mine all get into the nice cosy egg laying area! ;D The great thing about Eglu's are that you can take a pressure hose to them so easily. Couldn't believe what a bargain I got with mine - thought I was getting one of the little ones, and when the people selling it turned up - it was one of the big ones complete with a little run! Despite it being plastic and a horrid colour (tempered by hanging a camouflage net across it) I totally love it.
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They feed on each other, so they can be active a year after the chickens have gone.
Even plastic coops have little gaps they can hide in, but not many. Whereas in wooden coops they can hide in every joint. You can steam clean or jet wash a plastic coop and put the hens back same night.
I know someone who discovered they had red mite in the coops when they discovered them in their settee. Sat watching the TV at night and got bitten. The settee was torched.
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:o :o :o ...... that's freaked me out.
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Am I the only one reading this who now feels itchy? :o
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:fc: not had any
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Am I the only one reading this who now feels itchy?
I have just been to clean out and talc the shed and now am soooooo itchy its unbelievable, I have also just done my hair nicer than normal and now it resembles a birds nest :rant: :rant:
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We decided after 6 months into hen keeping to ditch the wooden hen house. Our big hens live in a 6 x 4 plastic BQ shed bought on offer and easily converted to purpose ( one wall has a window , which if you install upside down becomes a pop hole with a bit of imagination to cover the hole. Already vented on two sides, only problem is a bit of condensation in the winter but a battery run expelair thing help with that. The silkies live in a converted plastic garden storage seat .
No red mite problem in 3 years , both are so easy to clean, even in the winter, especially the shed .
Red mite can be in plastic houses but are easily eradicated on the smooth surfaces.
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Could anybody give my some idea how big these dreaded critters aremso I know what I'm looking out for?
Think "moving dandruff", and you won't go far wrong - UGH!!!
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I'm driving myself and OH stir crazy searching for them but cannot find anything. I don't believe the coops are mite free if everyone else is having such a hard time with the critters :-\
Just going to continue spraying with poultry shield and powdering chooks and coop with diatom.
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It took about 3 years of keeping chickens before we had our first sighting of red mite! The dandruff analogy is good, especially round cracks on perch ends they are just little, tiny red (or grey if hungry) dots that move! they are a bit shiny too.
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Listen for clacking beaks as they settle down at night - the red mite are on the move! I'd never have a T & G house or a felt roof again. I tried a heavy duty recycled plastic house last year but even with a thick layer of shavings and sawdust and the vents wide open the inside ran with condensation during the winter and I had to move the hens out.
The red mite get blown about in the wind and are really hard to stop spreading to other houses. I line the floors with split plastic feed sacks, split paper feed sacks on top held down with old terracotta tiles and a layer of shavings on top. When I clean out houses I do it in the morning when mites will be full of blood and not so lively and lift the tiles, which is where they'll be hiding. I just roll up all the bedding like a carpet and put it in an old oil drum and burn it. If I move hens from one house to another I also do that in the morning so they don't take any mites with them to new housing.
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Went away for a week and left 18 year old in charge! - came back andspotted what I think are red mite - a couple of red patches inside the coop door and nest box lid. Have sprayed with Smite and re-sprayed again and doused two coops with red mite powder but not convinced this has worked. Egg production has decreased rapidly - only 3 eggs today from 14 hens (although two batteries don't lay). Something's wrong - our Orpington Russell looks very sad; she may perhaps be moulting. They are all still eating and undertaking the usual great escape into the garden but never had red mite before - I suspect the creosote thing sounds the best although has anyone tried jet washing? Is there a solution the chucks can be dipped in rather than the usual powder application which is always an eventful task? :thinking:
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We've discovered an infestation for the first time ever this year too. Horrible little bu....
Cleaned out, jet washed, Jeyes Fluided, rinsed off, sprayed with Red Mite kill pink thing, doused hens in powder, powdered house, relaid new bedding.
So far this is the 2nd time in a week of this routine! Nothings come back as bad as the 'discovery' but they are still present in small numbers each morning - very few this morning.
My hens have been odd too. Seem thinner, bald chests, scruffy wing feathers and not the usual 'cast iron guarantee in all weathers' eggs per day. Eggs smaller too... a friend thought they may be about to go broody. I suspected the cockerel was now too big (Brahma) but maybe it's the mites??
Annoying thing was I discovered the infestation a day after I'd moved the first broody out so now take life into hands powdering her!!
Mx
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Snap, melholly. Removed a broken egg this morning and felt and saw a couple on my hand. Convinced myself our 'infestation' wasn't that bad but am now totally stressed out with it all. Husband brought home some NetX concentrate stuff which I am going to try - Smite does not work and the mites look funny crawling around covered in white barrier red mite powder! Going to jet wash tomorrow if I can find a hose long enough and do the coop again. Our other coop seems okay but I am doing that one as well. Have ordered some diatomacous powder too from Amazon; girls are constantly preening! have just put some newspaper in coop tonight - the inside looks like the top of a Xmas cake!
Have a look on poultrykeeper.com. They have a really good article on red mite and how to get rid of them.
Best of luck!
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Having kept up with this thread, I now find myself infected :o :o
I have 3 coops in the overnight run and the hens mostly pack into the biggest one, I had a minor mite issue a year or so ago and everything was cleaned out and treated and every hen sprayed (thanks to doganjo as I couldn't catch them let alone catch and spray effectively!). Have used diatom at the perch ends and liberally dusted about the coops every week and mixed in the shavings in the egg boxes tho mostly they lay outdoors while free ranging.
But when I went to check for eggs last night there was a huge red mite population on the liftout lid of the boxes :o and my guess is they've hidden under the metal tray in the supposedly pull out easy cleaning base which has been warped and stuck for 18 months - way beyond me to tug free.. Which means if that many are visible, then it must be crawling under there :o :o
One hen is in heavy moult, the one I thought had heat stroke a couple of weeks ago, one has a bald bum from where a visitor's spaniel caught it by the tail feathers ::) and the wee runty deformed ex commercial is as pecked as ever, but the rest look fine feather wise. They spend at least 12 hours out of the run and up to 15 depending on weather/daylight, had woodash dustbaths til they wore them out, and seem quite happy. Egg production is low for the time of year and numbers but usually I find a stash every week or so despite daily searches of the garden and barn and nearest areas of the fields so I just assumed I was missing some but maybe it's the mites..
I am seriously contemplating closing the coop door and making them squish into the other 2 coops as they see fit, leaving the popholes open as usual so they can come and go within the run area while in it. Rather than let them choose to go back in there, as they seem oblivious.
Or even just feeding them corn in the run as usual to count heads and visually check but leave the gate open so they become completely free range and again can roost anywhere EXCEPT in that coop. I think they'll be displeased with the forced change of habit, but should adapt?
I have red mite powder, I have spray, I have diatom, I think I still even have creosote (am sorting in the garage this week and it looks worse than usual while I do so, but I've not found it so far to check if it's "real" or not..) But I'm totally creeped out at the idea of leaning in the sides and nestboxes to even do the usual muck out by glove, let alone start scrubbing, and I think painting inside it will be impossible due to the design. Anyone want to volunteer brave souls (or their kids perhaps ;) ) or would you just shut it up and make the hens homeless until they adapt to full free range.
In which case how do you encourage them to roost higher off the ground for safety, rather than on pile of twigs or kindling stack?
Gross, nightmares, yuk!!! :-\
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Just ordered some diatomaceous earth from ebay 25 kg bag for £24.99. Things are so bad I think I'm going to need lots :o
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I've never heard of this diatom... Going to investigate now! Hen house this morning showed no obvious signs of the horrid things. Of course, ill bet that's down to a new army of them just biding their time before hatching out!
Mx
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I don't know how to move my post but here is a link to a recipe that I was emailed about. I haven't yet tried it but will.
http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=36394.0 (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=36394.0)
If it does really work and help it is worth it.
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I've just moved my four broodies out of the way to get their eggs and feel all itchy now! We've had the blighters before but like others got away without for our first few years of keeping chucks. I think once you've got them you can never completely eradicate them. They're like the bug version of ground elder! We had a coop chicken free for a good eighteen months which was still crawling with red mites when we came to use it again.
Oooh, I need a shower...
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We had a T & G house which was heat-gunned, power-washed and sunk into the farm pond for three weeks. We dried it out and left it unoccupied through the coldest winter we've had here (-13 deg.) Opened it up the following summer - yup, there they were. Now knock together my own from odd bits of wood and external ply, creosoted. If red mite occurs I just burn them- it's not so upsetting if they're cheap.
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I have sprayed, used mite powder and diatom, but the most satisfaction l get killing the things is the blow torch. Not set fire to the shed yet. Having to do this daily and can actually see them reduce in numbers. Going to try the recipe with citronella next, it sounds worth a try. The little b----rs are evolving into super mites.
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How long do they last on humans? I went in and I am not too well at the moment with bad allergies sooo, no way do I want more itchy skin....yet I came back in and I am sure some went into my bed.....not many only the odd little tickle but I did wonder how long they last, maybe I need a creosote bath :innocent:
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Please let us know how you get on Mentalmilly.
Just the thought of creepy crawlies make me itch - says she living in the countryside with thousands of them. When we moved here I set fire to the old hen house and the birds had to put up with a rabbit hutch for a few weeks because of mites. It didn't matter what I did I couldn't get rid of them.
Once I get the Methylated spirit I will mix up the recipe more for prevention as I haven't seen any yet. I think I may go in with a torch after dark tonight just to make sure though.
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I have been over my bed with a magnifying glass before now and yesterday my daughter found 3 in my hair. Tried to wash them out of my hair but they are bomb-proof. They tickle so l knew where they were. Dont think they last long, am told they dont like the taste of humans.
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they dont like the taste of humans.
:relief:
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I think ours must like the taste of goats milk soap then, I keep getting bitten! (oh, shouldnt' really say that...I'll lose customers now ;) )
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I dont believe it either, the dog scratches a bit, hope he's just moulting.
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If the red mite get on you you probably won't feel them once they get beyond the sensitive skin on your hands and they make their way to the hottest part of your body - your head. It may take a couple of hours but that's where they'll end up eventually.
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Sprayed the huts with the citronella recipe this afternoon after the blow torch session. Not as many little critters as a week ago. If it does not work at least the huts smell better. Will let you know if it works but might take a while.
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God this thread is beginning to look like a horror writers brainstorming session - blow torches, concocted recipes including Meths, mites in the bed, in peoples hair... sounds like The Attack of The Mite or something.
Tbh I didn't know they would 'live' on us. Naive as I am I cheerfully got stuck into to all the crevices in the Ark... Had a shower afterwards etc but did spend the following couple of nights waking up in paranoid scractching. Urgghh.....the very thought!
Scratching again now!
Mx
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Last time I took my shed apart to treat it, I woke up (despite having a bath and scrubbing my hair) with intense itching all along my hairline!
Yesterday I took a perch out, turned it over into the sunlight and could see loads of clear/white mites running for cover - usually only see the red ones. eek!
Does creocote do as good a job as creosote? have loads of the stuff here and don't wan t to go buy more if I'm already equipped.
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I actually got around to ordering and paying for this last night.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIATOMACEOUS-EARTH-Red-Mite-Powder-10KG-Feed-Grade-/231022744005?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Poultry&hash=item35ca0751c5 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIATOMACEOUS-EARTH-Red-Mite-Powder-10KG-Feed-Grade-/231022744005?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Poultry&hash=item35ca0751c5)
I took the torch with me last night when I locked the chickens up, so that I could see what was scurrying about. :o I just hope that its good stuff.
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I used Diatom last year. It smells nice.
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Please tell me that it worked too. :fc:
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;D yes. It certainly helped. I don't think anything is 100% proof apart from (according to what I've read here..) creosote. I need to buy some more in to sprinkle the chickens
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I've been using diatom weekly for a year or so now and thought I had it under control until this explosion. Given the design of my coop I can't clean/creosote it completely effectively and cleaning or tackling what I can reach means sticking my head right in the side and I just can't do it any more :( I went to the hairdresser yesterday and got my hair cut so short as she could manage without shaving it because I can't bear the whole thing any more :(
But, while I've left the pophole open and other coops, and the last few nights have fed them their corn earlier and left the run open so they come out again after, which they do, more than half are still choosing to go in that coop out of habit I suppose ???
I am thinking of shutting it completely so they HAVE to find somewhere else, but how do you change their allegiance without upset?
Anyone that wants to offer to deal with the coop to make it habitable by them and manageable by me again, please feel free and quote a price by pm, I'll let you know when I have enough to pay and it can stay shut til then, I can't go back in there alone :huff:
Do they really continue to live in your hair like headlice? Don't they die for lack of chicken nutrition? ??? Would headlouse treatments from the chemist kill them? Oh yuk, I'm thinking totally free range is the only solution but presumably if the hens fixate on roost spots even in trees the beasties would move in, especially if they're coming in on wild birds to start with? ???
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:thumbsup: A very bad year i had a lot of them!!
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Ellied last time we had an epidemic of mites I got so paranoid that I used head lice treatment and yes it did work, that's if they were even in my hair in the first place ::)
I also burnt my chicken house down and front lined all the hens before moving them to a completely new run and house, now I am a little more blasé about them and just creosote the houses and I have just bought a 20kg bag of diatomaceous earth to put down.
I think that unless you can keep wild birds out altogether you have no chance of being completely free of them, I was going to pressure wash the houses but felt that all that was going to do was to wash them out on to the grass and they would just move back in.
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2 days since spraying with the citronella solution and the mites are still there and more of them, so it probably is not working. Went out to buy creosote today and will slap it on the hut tomorrow, that should stop the little blighters. Itchy all over now.
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Sorry to here the spray hasn't helped. Just as a thought, could it be that they are just coming out of their hiding spots because they don't like it?
As I said I haven't tried it but I think anything is worth a try with those horrid little things. I have just got the stuff to mix it aswell. I haven't seen any mites in the houses but thought I would use it as a preventative.
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Get some Elector in a hurry (contact biocide). I think that's the only way to get it under control now. Then next year plan ahead, because Elector won't work two years in a row as they evolve immunity to it, as they do to all chemical treatments used regularly.
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I hope l have mine under some control now, spent the day drowning the shed in creosote, the real stuff, and will do the other huts as they become vacant for the winter. Really hope this works its getting expensive.
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I ran in and ran out to collect the eggs and sprinkle, they still got on my hair but not many.....I have been far too bad to clean them properly and I need a day to sort the shed out, although it actualy looks clean....how can you stop them crawling in your own hair? I put my hood up etc but still had the itches
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hazmat suit?
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hazmat suit?
:roflanim: , I did think about a shower cap with grease around the edge but I am not going out to buy one so could make do with a carrier bag :innocent:
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carrier bags are the ultimate smallholding accessory you know (that and baler twine). I wear a carrier bag with 2 holes for my legs, so when I sit down to milk in the rain I don't get a wet bum. awesome! and you can change the bag to match your outfit, blue/white tesco, morrisons a nice shade of dog sick green...and so on.
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Know what you mean Plums. We don't use orange baler twine because it doesn't match anything we have. We stick to the blue stuff.
Still think Elector is the only option when the infestation has got out of hand. If the red mite are still hungry when you go into the coop and jump on you, imagine how much blood the chickens are losing and how they feel!
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[quote author=chrismahon link=topic=36226.msg362837#msg362837 date=137633561
Still think Elector is the only option when the infestation has got out of hand. If the red mite are still hungry when you go into the coop and jump on you, imagine how much blood the chickens are losing and how they feel!
Where can I get some from?
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Elector sounds like the way forward. Hadn't heard of it before. would like to get some too - is it only online?
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I have loads of BIG B&M bags, funny thing they are my size and my colour :innocent:
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Plums I have found it on Amazon, will ask my local ag merchant when I am next in there.
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When we discovered Elector there was only one licensed Company in the UK supplying (mail order). Unfortunately our records are a bit of a mess at the moment with the move and we are moving again soon. BUT, I have just flicked through the file and the name Bowden and Knights was in the Elector spec. www.bowdenandknights.com (http://www.bowdenandknights.com). They were extremely helpful if I remember correctly. I did talk to Defra and ended up in conversation with the head vet. He recommended Elector but advised it couldn't be used in successive years. We tested that and sure enough the second year all the mites were immune to it -back to regular chemicals. £70 it was for the smallest bottle but it had a 4 year shelf life. A little goes a hell of a long way. Alternate treatments on a yearly basis.
This stuff is way past your local agri-merchant Daisy's Mum. This is the nuclear bomb of red mite treatments and very much for commercial use only (because of the price, but very cheap in reality). We have it stashed away for emergencies as I'm sure the French won't allow it.
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Things are looking a little more under control here now although I feel completely 'diatomed' out. Not sure how much longer I can go wandering around with a dust mask, rubber gloves, special coat and bucket any longer! How much diatom can one person, never mind a hen take - I am afraid everyone is sneezing, OMD I have probably overdone it, yet it seems to have worked. What is needed is something you can dip the chucks in rather than the difficult application of powder. A couple are losing feathers and when I inspected them yesterday there were red mite on the feathers so were they on the bird in the first place or crawled onto in the coop?
I think it is the case of keeping on top of spraying and powder application, checking everyday for mite (although I am going to just use the barrier red mite powder on the hens next time) :chook: Egg production is getting better - went up to 11 but down again now to about 7-8 a day so again I think it is a case of just checking every day. I haven't tried the citronella spray recipe yet but it is on the list to try! Funnily, when discussing the matter with the receptionist in the Vets, she told me she had used Domestos to clean the coop! Not sure I'll try this.
:raining:
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Mites now seem to be under control, not millions anymore but tens which is good. Diatom, mite powder every 4 days foe 3 weeks and spraying the hut and perches with mite spray. the citronella mix for me, a total waste of time. May work for someone else though. Creosote one shed and the chucks moved into the other for the time being. Got to be on the look-out all the time though, but no longer need the blow torch. Feel quite smug now that l am finally winning, hope its not temporary.
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We've a great reduction here too :thumbsup: eggs are being laid again and chickens looking happier. phew.