[suziequeue]

I thought I would go and check my chooks in the dark this evening to see if I could see any red spider mite. I understand that they "glow" in the dark......


Well - I got to the coop and they're all tucked up on the roosting bars but as a result I couldn't see their legs for signs of the mites. I did lift their skirts (so to speak) to have a look at their legs and couldn't see anything.


Am I doing it wrong? Where should I be looking?

[Sbom]

Run your fingers  underneath the perch, if there's mites then you will have red bits on your fingers, they also tend to drop on you so ou can come out feeling itchy aswell.

[mwncigirl]

I found that one of their favourite places to hide is between the end of the perch and the bit it sits in. If you have removable perches you would notice the little red nasties when you lift the perches out to clean, especially the end nearest the perches, or on the top of the walls where the nestbox lid sits. Do it in the day time, they will be bright red if they've been munching on your chooks during the night    Just another thought, if you give a quick spray with a red mite treatment/disinfectant, and wait a few mins, if your house is infested they will cone crawling out of the nooks and crannies!

[Fleecewife]

But often they are grey when you find them in clumps at the end of the perch, if they haven't been on a hen yet.

[Laurasfarm]

During the day tapping prone areas brings them out, they must think the hen has landed.  Vaseline rings around the edges of perches act like traps.  Theres no harm in treating your hens for mites anyway at this time of year.

[in the hills]

SQ - I was staining my coops for the winter a couple of days ago and the mites appeared in the stainer on the outside of the pen  . It must have soaked into the gaps and disturbed them. Check as others have said where the perch sits on its support. Also in joins of nest boxes etc.


My pens were clean a couple of weeks ago but all affected now. Mites can be red or tiny and grey. Also look for fine light grey dust ..... a bit like fine ash.

[plumseverywhere]

If you have removeable parts on the laying area they like to hide in there too, also the metal work (hinges, locks etc). I had my sheds apart a few weeks back and trillions came out as we hosed ,sprayed and painted stuff on, bleugh.  But having checked with the naked eye, you'd think we only had a dozen in there.

[jaykay]

Definitely under the perches and as folk have said, where the perches sit.

You can look for them in the daylight when you clean the chooks out. If you've got them you'll see clumps of them, red, in these places. They are grey before they've fed but obviously they don't go long before they do.

Never heard that they glow in the dark - must look. BTW, did you know uncooked prawns do. This last fact had a whole load of people shut into my downstairs loo once at a party, checking. Or at least, that's what they said they were doing 

[plt102]

I treat preventitively with diatomatous earth. A liberal dusting every time I clean out and a bit in their dust bath. We used to get red mite all the time but haven't seen any (touch wood) since I've been doing this. 

[chrismahon]

Tape bits of drinking straw under the perches Suziequeue. The mite will hide in there and holding the straw up to the light and looking down it in the morning you will see them -if you have any. Alternatively wipe the corners of the coop and the junction of the perches with kitchen roll. Red streaks are squished red mite. Diatomatious earth ( crushed sea shells which are very sharp) can be sprinkled in the corners to discourage red mite. I don't use that. All our coops are lightly painted inside with 50:50 creosote (the original stuff) and paraffin every year.

[plumseverywhere]

I used DE this year and still had a problem with red mite    We had DE in the nest boxes, in their dust baths, in all the corners. I even sprinkled it down the grooves where the dividers go for the nest boxes to no avail.
I do think that the creosote solution is the way to go.
For Xmas I've asked for a new shed as my larger coop is falling apart anyway and was never properly easy to clean out. Will keep the smaller shed and give it a good creosoting once we have the larger one that all 13 can be put in while little one dries.
Am sure this year has an ultra resistant and persistant strain of red mite and goat lice though, been much harder to get shot of than normal.   

[Little Nell]

Feeling itchy all over!

[Declan]

Just on the subject of red mite- where do they come from? I once heard that they come from wild birds but i've put fine netting over my pen and for long enough i didn't have any- then at the weekend ive noticed a good few under the perches. Ive also been taking the prevention is better than cure approach, dusting the birds, spraying the coop and still they've come back.
 
I have had a thought- it takes a good long while for the coop to dry out in this damp weather. I was thinking of converting a calf hutch into a coop. AS it is moulded in one piece i thought there was nowhere for the beggars to hide. Put in a fine weldmesh floor and i was going to screw in the perches but put big blobs of silicone on the ends before i screwed in in tight so that there was no void at the end of the perch- Easily moved round too.
Any comments?

[Buffy the eggs layer]

I creosote my pens inside and out and use diatom in the bird bath from time to time.
If you only have once coop, creosote it in the morning and then let the birds all go to roost in it at night.
Once they all in. close the pop hole and take them out a bird at a time, treat with DE and place them in a box in a safe place overnight. Keep doing this for a week or so until the creosote has dried out then burn the cardoard boxes.