The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: AnnaB on August 11, 2015, 09:28:12 pm

Title: Red mites
Post by: AnnaB on August 11, 2015, 09:28:12 pm
Not had these before but our hen houses were crawling with them when I cleaned them out. >:(  I've read that we need to creosote the houses, but also this has to be the real stuff not B&Q shed paint or whatever.  Is this right ?  How long do I need to leave before the birds can go back ?  It stinks so can't be too good for a while ?  What do I get to dust to the birds with ?

Thanks
Title: Re: Red mites
Post by: Anke on August 11, 2015, 09:56:23 pm
You can (or used to a couple of years or so back) be able to get "real" creosote from fencing supplies, not sure if this is still possible.

We have found that once you have treated the house a couple of times red mite is not seen again. It needs to be dry before chooks can go back inside.
Title: Re: Red mites
Post by: Stereo on August 12, 2015, 12:13:56 am
If you are going to use the real stuff, you don't want birds back in there for some weeks. They are prone to respitory issues as it is.  My advice is to get a big tub of poultry shield (concentrated). Big clean out and go at it with a back pack sprayer in hot weather. Then dust regularly with DE. If you must go with harsh chemicals, you need to remove the birds for a while. 
Title: Re: Red mites
Post by: chrismahon on August 12, 2015, 06:09:22 am
Whilst we do use original creosote (not the new creocote) it is only when a coop is being stripped for refurbishment and the birds are being housed elsewhere for several weeks. We find it much easier to treat an infestation with a hand held steamer with a fine jet which allows penetration in all the tiny gaps particularly the weatherboarding joints. We then creosote only the perch ends which traps mites leaving the birds. Every morning any mites on the perches are killed and after about a week we stop finding them. We haven't found anything that effectively gets red mite off the chickens immediately.
Title: Re: Red mites
Post by: Jon Feather on August 12, 2015, 06:33:56 am
We had a massive infestation about 12 years ago after buying in 40 birds.  The vet proscribed Deosect which did the job.  We haven't really had a problem since with the 2,000 or so birds we have had since.  It wasn't cheap but it works.
Title: Re: Red mites
Post by: Marches Farmer on August 12, 2015, 09:19:59 am
I wouldn't put birds back for at least three weeks after creosoting. The best solution I've found for a thoroughly  infested coop is burning it.
Title: Re: Red mites
Post by: Jon Feather on August 12, 2015, 09:34:09 am
Hmm!  Each to their own....but I wouldn't be burning a house because of mites.  Deosect will kill them all.  It is expensive but not as expensive as buying a new house.
Title: Re: Red mites
Post by: Clansman on August 12, 2015, 11:44:05 am
http://www.creosotesales.co.uk/products-page/ (http://www.creosotesales.co.uk/products-page/)
Title: Re: Red mites
Post by: Kimbo on August 12, 2015, 02:26:21 pm
I use liberal quantities of poultry shield, and Smite and generic DE and that regime has worked well for my birds but didn't someone a while ago swear by ant powder? Maybe Clansman? Ant powder is a lot cheaper than food quality DE.

Although I haven't tried it yet ( as no need has arisen) I also really like the steaming idea.
Title: Re: Red mites
Post by: chrismahon on August 12, 2015, 02:40:20 pm
I have to strongly advise against using ant powder. We tried it once in a bantam coop and them flapping about and inhaling the dust resulted in what appeared as a complete collapse of the immune system. We lost two of the three hens very quickly and despite removing all traces of the powder immediately, the third was ill for months.


As described earlier, steaming and trapping on the perches works extremely well. We had 5 coops with red mite at the beginning of Spring and all remain clear. A side effect of not using chemicals is the ants. They will sniff out red mite and enter the coops to eat them. They are the first sign you have red mite, long before traces are visible. The chemicals kill ants a lot faster than red mite unfortunately. We had three of the 5 coops with ants in, helping us out. They can't reach them all though because ants can't squeeze into the very small gaps mite can hide in, but the steamer can.
Title: Re: Red mites
Post by: Clansman on August 12, 2015, 04:00:19 pm
I use liberal quantities of poultry shield, and Smite and generic DE and that regime has worked well for my birds but didn't someone a while ago swear by ant powder? Maybe Clansman? Ant powder is a lot cheaper than food quality DE.

Although I haven't tried it yet ( as no need has arisen) I also really like the steaming idea.

Yep been using ant powder on birds and houses for many years without any problems.

It does contain Pyrethrin which is toxic to cats but other than that no issues with it.

Combined with creosote on the houses, joints, perch ends etc I never have any problems with mites.
Title: Re: Red mites
Post by: vfr400boy on August 12, 2015, 04:36:00 pm
I had a prob in spring in one of my houses , I got some duromightx from a pigeon man a little goses a long way
Title: Re: Red mites
Post by: AnnaB on August 12, 2015, 06:25:27 pm
Thanks everyone, I've ordered poultry shield.  What is DE ?

The house is from Flyte so Fancy and not cheap, the burning solution doesn't appeal  :o

Might have a steamer somewhere too ....will the wallpaper stripping one work ?
Title: Re: Red mites
Post by: mojocafa on August 12, 2015, 06:28:46 pm
Diatomaceous earth, fab stuff :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Red mites
Post by: AnnaB on August 12, 2015, 07:04:04 pm
OK thanks ordered that too because the poultry stuff seller seemed to think it was a good idea.   :fc:

Title: Re: Red mites
Post by: Kimbo on August 12, 2015, 07:16:42 pm

The house is from Flyte so Fancy and not cheap, the burning solution doesn't appeal  :o



I'll bet!! WOW, those coops are  EXPENSIVE!!
Title: Re: Red mites
Post by: Kimbo on August 12, 2015, 07:19:11 pm
Anna, DE is also very good in a dust bath. The birds treat themselves for lice while having a lovely time.
I dust the nest boxes with it too as they spend such a long time sitting in there.
Title: Re: Red mites
Post by: landroverroy on August 12, 2015, 08:59:40 pm
Having kept poultry since childhood, we used "in the old days" to creosote once a year with proper creosote. Used to treat the house in the morning and let the hens back in to roost in the evening. The house was well ventilated and we never had any ill effects from the creosote on the poultry.
Now, DE is effective but you have to use it continually.
A good treatment to apply to the hens themselves is Ivomec pour on, as used in cattle. Some vets will supply a syringeful of it. You just put a couple of drops on the bird's head, where it doesn't preen itself, and it gets rids rid of external and internal parasites. You can also put it on legs to get rid of scaly leg.
Title: Re: Red mites
Post by: AnnaB on August 13, 2015, 08:06:53 pm
I'll bet!! WOW, those coops are  EXPENSIVE!!

But made of very solid stuff, the last house fell to bits in double quick time, and .... :innocent: ......it looks nice in my garden ...
Title: Re: Red mites
Post by: Stereo on August 14, 2015, 05:22:12 pm
Nothing wrong with spending out on quality I say and supporting a good UK business too. All these eBay chinese houses are useless and pretty much a waste of money. Been there, done that. if i didn't build my own I would invest in something with a good 20-30 year life if treated well.

Back on mite. Another good idea is to introduce wood ash to their dust bathing area. You can create some easily buy burning some clean wood and scooping up the ash if you don't have a wood fire in the house. It does a similar job to DE and is finer than earth so makes their baths more effective.
Title: Re: Red mites
Post by: Kimbo on August 14, 2015, 06:45:52 pm
we actually build our own houses too