[Marches Farmer]

If the henhouse is made of thicker wood it gives them more cover from any anti-mite treatment.  We have a farm pond and the only way I've ever found to kill them was to weight the house with a breezeblock, tie a rope on the house and submerge the whole thing for a couple of days.  Needs drying out for a couple of weeks but works every time.  First dig your pond .....  Have, in the past, cleaned, power-washed, heat-gunned and dusted a house then left it empty outside for a year - and still found red mite in it!

[colliewoman]

total mite kill, marvelous stuff!


I made it up and drowned the place with a garden sprayer, but be warned..... I forgot to wear a mask and had the mother of all nose bleeds afterwards  
Fingers crossed I haven't seen em since, but I reckon that's cos I bought gallons of the stuff!

[chrismahon]

Problem with spraying anything on wooden chicken coops is, unless you turn then upside down you can't kill the eggs laid in the 'tongue-and-groove' joint Colliewoman. So really you are only limiting their numbers not killing them.


We took ours apart and turned the panels upside down to administer creosote/ paraffin mix. You wouldn't believe how many came out of the grooves. They had already been 'total mite kill'ed and 'Smite'd plus steam cleaned. Anything less than creosote is only delaying the problem. Oh, and Elector.

[northfifeduckling]

Diatomaceous earth as a paste turns into a hardened clay when dry, so I suppose it stops the nasties come out of the cracks. 

[colliewoman]

Problem with spraying anything on wooden chicken coops is, unless you turn then upside down you can't kill the eggs laid in the 'tongue-and-groove' joint Colliewoman. So really you are only limiting their numbers not killing them.



We took ours apart and turned the panels upside down to administer creosote/ paraffin mix. You wouldn't believe how many came out of the grooves. They had already been 'total mite kill'ed and 'Smite'd plus steam cleaned. Anything less than creosote is only delaying the problem. Oh, and Elector.

That's why I use caravans for chicken houses, no tongue and groove   Does Creosote get into the joints? I would assume, probably wrongly that if other liquids don't get in there neither would that (and will admit to being one of the very few people that DETEST the stuff! The smell makes me retch, shame as It is so damn useful!)

[Marches Farmer]

I've taken to making my own larger ones (too big to sink in the pond) from ply.  If they get red mite I can simply disassemble them and creosote the parts.  I think the best solution to red mite in T&G or roofing felt is a big bonfire.  I tried one of those recycled plastic ones this year but decided it was for summer use only.  Even with vents fully open, a line of holes drilled along the front and loads of dry bedding the whole thing ran with condensation and the bedding was soaked within a few days.

[mwncigirl]

We did take the houses apart to creosote and think it did a pretty good job. It seemed for a few months we'd got rid of them. But i reckon, it only takes a few remaining and some warm damp weather for the colonies to build up again.

[chrismahon]

But did you turn the panels upside down to creosote them Mwncigirl ? You need to dust the birds the evening before they leave the coop to make sure all the red mite get off them in the morning. The powder doesn't kill them, just discourages them. Otherwise they carry some into their temporary house. We bought hybrids from Merrydale I think? One had red mite in her plumage. Fortunately dusting and 2 week quarantine is automatic for us.

[sabrina]

We turned one of the stables into a house for our chickens. The only wood is their perches so have not had  red mite problem. As the stables are inside the barn in this weather chickens are quite content scraping about in the fresh straw and they eat any insects they find on the walls. years ago I had a shed for the chickens and in the end we burnt it as the mites were always there.

[mwncigirl]

Yep, we took houses apart and turned upside down and inside out. I reckon the chooks must have taken them with them, even though they were treated too. We re-dusted chooks last week, so hoping this snow might help as they won't like being on the chooks, and should freeze in the house?!

[Marches Farmer]

Always meant to try a "swing" type perch - two metal rods attached to the ceiling, hole at each end of a piece of half-round with a bolt above and below the wood to keep it rigid. Maybe a good thick layer of grease at the top of the poles to stop red mite crawling down.  Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide?

[bricktop]

Bleach - diluted and applied using a pressure sprayer of some description ( I have used a simple hand sprayer and bigger). Wear a protective mask and douse the house, make the dilution as strong as you can stand. If your eyes are not stinging it isnt strong enough - I have not seen mite for ages? MB

[chrismahon]

Elector will give you a year of respite Mwncigirl. Then you will have to alternate yearly between conventional treatment and Elector. We tried it two years in a row and second year it had absolutely no effect as the mites had evolved immunity to it. This is what the DEFRA vet had said would happen.

[Daisys Mum]

What is Elector and where can I get some ?

[chrismahon]

Elector is a Commercial Biocide Daisys Mum. It is the equivalent in human terms of nerve gas. Serious stuff and about £70 for the smallest bottle. Sorry but all our receipts are in the UK still. Search the net. It has to be mail order.