The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Helencus on July 25, 2010, 08:48:53 pm
-
Went to clean out the coop tonight and for the first time ever we have red mites. It's only a week since I cleaned out but the whole coop was crawling with the horrible buggers. I wouldn't mind but I have diatom all over the place but seems to have made little difference. So spent the last 3 hrs cleaning out top to bottom and spraying red mite concentrate all over the coop and birds. I then covered the lot in diatom again and burnt the old bedding nest box covers and roosts. I also burnt the stand I used to hang the water on. May seem drastic but hubby is a carpenter and they didn't look dead to me so burnt them.
I dont know if it's enough as it's abad infestation I hope so. I must say I was staggered by how they can infest the coop like that in 1 week yuck!
If anyone can think of anything else I can do if not gone or recommendations for sprays then I'd welcome suggestions.
-
Get a second henhouse built, treat with Creosote (inside too, especially perches, and any nooks, corners etc) let it dry, then treat the hens again and move them in. Then paint the old coop with Creosote too. Use the old type Creosote, you can still get it from fencing supplies.
We also use plastic nestboxes, just get storage boxes from the supermarket, cut a hole into the front and put on a roof (better if you can get boxes with roof already fitting). the pop into the henhouse. Easily removed, cleaned, disinfected etc. We use some of the waste hay from the goats as nesting material in them.
No mites since we started to do it that way, in our first year we tried all the super new products with absolutely NO success whatsoever.
-
Same thing here Helencus. We have only ever had red mite once before in 15 years of keeping hens here and that was just a few, but we burnt the house to make sure we got rid of them (it was old and decrepit anyway). Last week I lifted out the perch in one house and a small handful of the horrible things plopped onto the floor. I use a weed wand to frazzle them, which it does with a satisfying sizzle. We painted the inside of that house with Cuprinol and I have been doing the perch ends and surroundings in all the houses every day since then but a few mites were present every day, so today we blitzed all three houses. I burn with the weed wand until the wood is scorched, but hopefully not quite on fire, paying most attention to anywhere there are tiny crevices they can gather in. I don't want to have to burn down these houses as they are quite new. If the mites are still there we will use a liquid we bought (can't remember the name) as last resort.
I know the mites don't live on the hens but I am wondering if just a few might hang on all day and be ready to breed again that night and that could be where they are coming back from? You both say you treat your hens as well - what do you use?
-
I was told that plain old cheep vinegar kills redmite on he spot just get a spreay bottle and do the coop .Ive not tried it yet but i was told it was dam good .Saves you paying out for new stuff.
-
And don't forget good old vaseline at the ends of the perches - stops them getting to the hens when they're roosting.
-
Thanks all. Didn't see any this morning but that doesn't mean much yet I know. Trouble with alot of my birds is they don't roost they're ex bats so never did learn. That means they sleep in nest boxes or just on the floor so the mites can get to them anytime. If it comes to the worse I'll have to buy a cheap shed to keep them in and creosote the other one. Hubby is busy building stables right now so can't ask him to do me another house that might cause a divorce ;D
-
we've got them at the moment aswell. I've pressure washed, steam cleaned, used some spray stuff from domestic fowl trust and enrolled my daughters in redmite squashing sessions but still they come back. in fact the pressure washer blasted extra 'nesting' holes in the wood for them to live in which I am gutted about!!
so far (thanks to Sharon and her vaseline tip!!) the birds are clear (phew!)
the fowl trust did say that the wild birds will just keep reintroducing the mites all through summer but it is really frustrating!
where do I get a weed zapper thing Fleecewife? that sounds fun!!
-
I too love the sound of the weed wand. I want one! ;D
-
Me too - does it do creme brulees too? :P
-
http://www.primrose-london.co.uk/ecoweeder-weed-wand-p-596.html?gclid=COD8sOyAiaMCFSCY2AodVBv3ZQ&source=googleads
Just google anything and you will find ;D ;D ;D
-
Ive kept birds from the age of 11, Canaries and Australian finches mostly. Ive never had red mite. This post is a touch scary. I was always under the elution that no matter what you do, If theres going to be mite. there will be. The creosote will work wonders though. I'm now on red alert. The fact that they were there to see, obviously in day lite hours is unusual? I thought they were a creature of the nite. Good luck and hope you eradicate them quickly.
Craig
-
Ive kept birds from the age of 11, Canaries and Australian finches mostly. Ive never had red mite. This post is a touch scary. I was always under the elution that no matter what you do, If theres going to be mite. there will be. The creosote will work wonders though. I'm now on red alert. The fact that they were there to see, obviously in day lite hours is unusual? I thought they were a creature of the nite. Good luck and hope you eradicate them quickly.
Craig
Red mite is nocturnal - it suck blood during the night, then leaves the birds during the daytime, when it can be found under the perches. If infested, running your hand under the perch will leave it bloodstained as you squash the engorged mites. Individually they are like spots of dust.
After feeding, the mite crawls into cracks in the wood to lay eggs, and the offspring emerge after two or three days. If they get into a wood & felted roof they are very difficult to remove, without completely refelting the roof. Hence commercial henhouses have an Onduline roof rather than wood.
John
-
If you see them in the day are they really red mite - could they be red spiders instead? I haven't seen any, but I'm not terribly observant, but just in case have been out with the vaseline and the vinegar. I'm scratching just thinking about the horrid things. yuk.
-
If you see them in the day are they really red mite - could they be red spiders instead? I haven't seen any, but I'm not terribly observant, but just in case have been out with the vaseline and the vinegar. I'm scratching just thinking about the horrid things. yuk.
They could be. However, the only time you'll see red mite will be during the day - at night time they'll be on the birds and they're too small to see anyway in the dark. They appear a bit like grey dust, in the corners of the perches, or underneath if you run your hand along the underside of the perch. They're easy to kill, but almost impossible to get them all since they can live dormant for months without feeding. Creosote, Jeyes fluid, vaseline, steam cleaners, flame guns, insecticides etc all work well - you just need to do it regularly.
John
-
The old man along the road from me at the time, Said "If you look in at nite by torch light then you will know" However I cant say that it works or not, As Ive never experience it!
-
<<The fact that they were there to see, obviously in day lite hours is unusual?>>
Where I found them was at the ends of the removable perches where they had gone to hide during the day, in a big grey grainy clump. They weren't running around sucking blood. My hens from that house are a lot happier now they are not being tormented at night.
I think I got my weed wand from LBS Horticulture (good prices for all sorts of bulk things) but various places sell them. They work on small disposable gas cylinders. Creme brulee - now there's a thought :yum: :D
-
I'm going to get one of those wands!!
mine were visible in daylight - they crawled up my arm while I was cleaning the coops out. I always think red mite are a bit stupid though because they do that thing where they group together so you can't really miss them - if they hung around ont heir own you'd easily mistake them for a bit of dirt or miss them altogether ::)
anyone ever had any luck with poultry shield? the fowl trust sold me a huge vat of it but 4 weeks (or 5?) we are still fighting a losing battle, every few days they are back :0(
-
One of my flocks has a really bad attack of red mite. They are in a wooden house so I have been pressure washing it out every week, then I wait 15 mins and watch the angry red mite come out of their hiding place then I pressure wash it again, I do this several times. When I think it's red mite free I wash it with Jeyes, rinse out, let it dry a bit, then liberally coat every surface with diatom powder. Then it's clean bedding! I've been on this regime for 4 weeks and I still have millions of red mite. Currently building them a new plastic ark.
I've used poultry shield before now and found it to have no effect. I may aswell have sprayed the coop with Carlsberg for all the effect it had. I'm going to try vinegar, if anything at least it will be cheaper!
DJ Chook
-
Totally hacked off with poultry shield, I went to countrywide and picked up a bottle of something very pink - sprayed it all over my pet red mites yesterday lunchtime. went out today expecting to see them blowing raspberries at me as they have done after each of their poultry shield showers but no! could see no crawlers, only dead'ns. feeling most chuffed today. will have to keep spraying this barbie stuff to break the cycle I know, but its a good feelign so far!!
-
I got a bottle of that too and it does seem to work.
-
What's it called I've got to get some as I'm pretty sure they're back..
-
I must get some too - I still haven't seen any of these horrid bugs but this thread is soooo scary that I MUST be missing them. I cannot possibly be the only person on here who hasn't got them. So please look at the label and tell us what it is.
-
its 'total mite kill' from total poultry solutions made by NetTex. its about £8 for a made up 750ml bottle. totally brilliant stuff - still no redmite looking up at me!! and teh chickens have today laid in a nest box that they abandoned weeks ago...
-
http://www.millbryhill.co.uk/small-holder-533/poultry-products-654/poultry-care-vet-products-665/liquid-smallholder-poultry-products-22767.htm
£6.99, orders over £40 post free in UK
-
i am fighting the same fight meself,
i have to say after reading all of these replys and seeing that some people are able to completly cover the floor,
etc when cleaning using diatom and poultry shield im amazed!
these products are so flipping expensive, i do use them meself but i have to admitt i hust put in nest box, perch at night and
around the outer edge of nest box.
i allso know everyone to their own ways, so please im not trying to aggrovate anyone ;)
langdon :chook:
-
I got a big tub of diatom ages ago for about £6 but I can't find anything as cheap ass that now. what's the cheapest anyone has found it?
Langdon, I cover the floor with diatom when i muck out once a week, but as it is so fine it doesn't actually use up an awful lot of it, and like you I just treat the perch ends and nest box otherwise.
-
This year has been really bad for it with us. We have 10 poultry houses - garden shed, coops, arks a variety of designs. None has felt roofs,but all are wooden. We build our own and now use ply as T&G was offering too many hiding places. All perches, nest boxes etc come out, and i clean the birds about once a fornight, unless there is a mite problem.
Ive got it really bad in my Buff Orp house. A bit of litter fell outand under it was a seething mass! Iemptied it and it was like a horrormovie...a seething mass of movement.....
Tomorrow afternoonIm cleaning, spraying (yet again) and eprimexing the birds...
I think its just keep at it.....for me Jeyes works well internally with creosote externally. Its just a chore having to continually do it. If I could get big bits of UPVC Id use this,bolted together.
-
I think Fergie made a very valid point about the crevices of the wood. Redmite do tuck themselves away during the day into all the cracks and crevices so if you just treat the inside you may not be treating the bigger problem. If possible you need to loosen the screws that hold it together and spray (poultry shield?) into the gaps.
One customer of mine said she'd gone to the extent of taking the roof off and said she found large clusters of them :o
Also, if your poultry have a particular favourite spot for dust bathing put some Diatom down, that way when they fluff their feathers out its getting right down to their skin where the mites are most likely to be. More effective than dusting the birds yourself!
www.farmandcountrysupplies.co.uk
-
We are under red mite assault as well. Started last year when we bought some ex supposed free range hens. We may have had them before but the problem really started after that. We have managed to reduce them but never get rid of them. And they're really bad at the moment. I cleaned one of the houses today which we thought just had a few But when I slid the bottom out they just pored out like grains of sand. This week I am trying poultry shield and diotom (however you spell it) powder. We are hoping not to have to burn any of the houses as a couple are quite antique. Some of the new houses are just as bad but they are easier to clean and have less hiding places for the buggers.
Its getting to be a real chore. I will try the vaseline on the perches tomorrow and the weed gun. I hadn't thought to use it that way. should be satisfying even if it doesn't work. I will also look for some old creosote in the local sales.
-
To fill the nooks and cranies I've started to treat the inside of the hen house with epoxy resin. The idea being that it will totaly seal the wood inside. I'll then paint the outside with coal tar creosote and cover the ends of the perches with vaseline...And prey that works...But it's slow going when you only have the one house and have to treat a little bit in the morning so it's dry and safe for the birds that night. :'(
-
Was talking to a friend yesterday and he swears by frontline spray for the birds and Nettex Buz Busters (also known as fly killer extreme) for the house.
Ive used the nettex stuffand did find it useful, but used frontline spot-on for the birds previously which was good (apart from the fact that its expensuve and I have 80 odd birds.
Just seen the little gits in my laying house and so this is the last straw! Its a big 10 X 8 shed and will be a nightmare to cleanse....Its drizzling so I cant creosote outside..... >:(
So what to do? Frontline spray? (need a prescription, but could get one), frontline drops? or Eprinex?
-
I cannot possibly be the only person on here who hasn't got them
i don't thankfully ;D
it seems so strange, everyone else having awfull problems, and then there is a few who get little or no problems.
I'll have jinxed it now, better get everything in to combat the red army
-
This is the first year we have ever had them - i think it could be down to the weather extremes and teh wild birds carrying them to ours. that's my theory anyway!! all I can say is thank goodness for that pink nettex stuff - not one (visible) live mite now compared to thousands only a few days ago :)
-
I have frontlined my hens last time we had red mite, I bought the spray and just turned them all upside down and sprayed them, it worked now we have them again and my frontline spray is out of date.
-
Hi All
I'm new to chicken keeping, but the breeder where I got my young chicks from swears by the original creosote route to keep the mites out and to eradicate. I am a great believer of the original creosote so that is the route I have gone down. Coated inside and out of the full shed and the ends of all perches.
Now as a money saving tip from my years in waste oil industry, the original creosote is made up of waste engine oil, with additives, if you purchase 1 gallon of the original from a fence supplier you can safely add 2 gallon of any waste engine oil to it and still keep a safe consistency, this dries same as any creosote. and is a lot cheaper than some of the other remedies i have seen, especially burning a full coop.
Hope this helps a little.
regards
Keith aka mannimel
-
yes, we have real creosote, but the problem is painting a house inside and out with this means you have to leave it to thoroughly dry out before reinstalling the birds......I have 10 houses full of birds and cant rehome them to allow me to do this.....and
having done an inside and out creosting on one house 3 weeks ago, I was really cheesed off to see mite in it yesterday...grrr!
-
Well it's Creosote, old type stuff and it works! Inside & Out!
The eggs you are getting from your birds are just not covering the costs of any of the fancy treatments that just don't work!
-
Just a quick update. I got the total mite kill spray and it's worked. Not a sign for nearly 10 days. Thanks all. :)
-
amazing stuff isn't it?! I spent over £20 on other things (inc poultry shield) but just a half bottle of this wiped them all out. we have been clear for a few weeks now :)
-
Yes plums really good stuff thanks for the tip.
-
Hi,
Total Mite Kill comes in 3 forms:
Powder - for use on the birds
Liquid - For use in the houses
Aerosol Spray - For spraying everything!
We think it is one of the best products for mite eradication.
Find it here:
https://www.suppliesforsmallholders.co.uk/poultry-health-c-100.html (https://www.suppliesforsmallholders.co.uk/poultry-health-c-100.html)
Thanks
-
OK maybe I'm dumb lol Creosote not cause breathing problems???
-
Hi,
Total Mite Kill comes in 3 forms:
Powder - for use on the birds
Liquid - For use in the houses
Aerosol Spray - For spraying everything!
We think it is one of the best products for mite eradication.
Find it here:
https://www.suppliesforsmallholders.co.uk/poultry-health-c-100.html (https://www.suppliesforsmallholders.co.uk/poultry-health-c-100.html)
Thanks
Would have bought from you in preference to any other company but a) you don't list Clackmannan in your counties and b) I'm not paying £5.20 for p & p when others do it for £3. Will try to find it locally.
-
Hi,
Thankyou for the feedback, which is always welcome.
1) I have now added Clackmannan to the list of counties.
2) Have revisited the packed weight of the item and have reduced the Shipment costs to £3.50 which is the best I can do on shipment, as packaged weight is approaching 1Kg.
Thanks
-
Thank you - prompt action has won you an order! Just hope I don't need the stuff! Better safe than sorry though. if I have it at the ready at least I'm prepared for the little Bs
-
Best to be Annie. I thought diatom would keep them at bay but unfortunately not. This stuff is brilliant though, I used spray and powder and still used diatom as well. So far so good
-
Ive been using the Nettex total Mitekill in a backpack sprayer now....every 2nd day for a week.
Ive nailed it in 4 houses, the others have been considerably reduced but one is still causing concern - out there again today!
-
Thank you - prompt action has won you an order! Just hope I don't need the stuff! Better safe than sorry though. if I have it at the ready at least I'm prepared for the little Bs
Sorry, Had to revisit the packed weight again, the actual postage cost was £4.50, that is without packaging materials, tape, padding etc.
I find it amazing that a package weighing 1.2Kg costs £4.50 by royal mail, but I can send parcels upto 30Kg by parcelforce for £6.50 on a 48 hour service!
Im trying to steer away from a single packaging cost (as some of the other companies apply) but this is getting increasingly difficult as RM prices keep increasing.
What is the general view of people? would you rather pay the actual shipping cost of an item or a fixed rate of say £6.50 regardless of what you buy? (obviously I would need to exclude some large heavy items from this).
Maybe I should start a new topic with a Poll?
Thanks
-
This is from Royal Mail website - cheaper if you have a franking machine. I'd prefer exact costs than a blanket one for all as it's mostly one item I'm buying at a time.
-
I ordered udder wipes from you yesterday and the posting costs more than the single item I ordered :-\ it did tempt me to go back into your site to see if I should buy more than one item for the same postage, although I never did due to it being bedtime for the girls.
Its the same when I used to by lye for my soap making - cost me the same posting as it did to buy the stuff, was most relieved to find it stocked at B&Q!!
-
Thanks for the link, I use the RM site to get a guide anyway.
As you will see the 1.2Kg price by First Class is £4.50, what Amazes me is that I can pay £2.00 more and deliver an additional 28.8 Kg on probably a faster service, with higher compensation and full online tracking.
I would say that currently 80% of my deliveries go by parcelforce.
Thanks
-
I ordered udder wipes from you yesterday and the posting costs more than the single item I ordered :-\ it did tempt me to go back into your site to see if I should buy more than one item for the same postage, although I never did due to it being bedtime for the girls.
Its the same when I used to by lye for my soap making - cost me the same posting as it did to buy the stuff, was most relieved to find it stocked at B&Q!!
Hi,
My point exactly! what would you prefer to do now? I can place your order on hold and allow you to add more items (if you wish) or I can ship the item as bought by Parcelforce, or I can send by RM and refund any postage cost differences.
Thanks - This is exactly the feedback we are looking for.
-
My mitekill arrived today - very quick, thank you! I might well have another look when I need anything else, so yes I can see a blanket postage cost might work if on a large order - perhaps a compromise might be possible?
-
OK,
Im concious that this is hijacking the original thread which I don't like doing, so I think I will start a new topic in the coffee lounge.
Thanks
-
Dammm i spoke to soon, jinxed it,
went up earlier into the shed and found a colony in the corner, borrowed a weed burner from the farm, and fried the damm critturs, put Jeyes fluid down all the cracks gaps and crevaces i could see, heres hoping i caught it on time