[nic99]

We attempted to rid our big hen house (a 6 x 4 wooden shed) of red mite this weekend and pretty soon realised we were onto a losing battle. Tried fumigators the previous weekend, they did absolutely nothing. So this weekend sprayed the entire thing with diesel. As predicted, they hate diesel and came crawling out of the woodwork in their millions (literally). The hens have been shut out of the coop for at least the last 6 weeks so all the mites are now white and minutely small. After we had sprayed it, inside and out, large parts of the shed looked like they were covered in dust from all the tiny little mites that had come out of the wood. They weren't just in the cracks and crevices, they were everywhere, living inside the planks of wood themselves. We then took a blowtorch, set the whole thing alight and let it burn for a few minutes before putting the fire out with a hose pipe (before it burned long enough to do serious damage). The fireball raging through the roof was incredible, loads of smoke, the roofing felt started melting, we were worried we wouldn't be able to put it out again, surely nothing could still be living in there?! Wrong. Waited a few minutes after the fire was out and took another look to see more and more of them still piling out the woodwork in the roof. Unbelievable! I am convinced these creatures are invincible.
So we have decided to give up, there is no way we are ever going to be rid of them, so next weekend we will be burning the whole thing to the ground and will start again with a new shed. Going to get a 6 x 4 plastic one this time and drill lots of ventilation holes into it.
I HATE YOU RED MITE!

[Fleecewife]

Sounds as if they were lurking in the roofing felt.
 
We burnt a hen shed to the ground once - very satisfying     But the mites will always come back and find somewhere to hide.
We maintain ours now with frequently going over with the weed wand - like a blowtorch on a stick but less likely to set the whole place on fire, then we creosote a few times a year, and dust both the hens and the house with diatomaceous earth and wood ashes.  As far as I can tell the DE is just a well marketed form of chalk or limestone and I wasn't expecting it to work, but freshly applied frequently it does seem to work.
You need to break the cycle of the mites.  When we have had an infestation we have done the weedwand routine for several days in a row to get the newly hatched ones.  It's a palaver but pays off in the long run.
 
 
We have 3 garden shed type hen houses but not as many hens as we used to have, so they can all fit into one house.  What I have noticed is that they will rotate which house they use from time to time, so if they have moved out then we give that shed a thorough cleaning and creosote it.  Once they are ready they will move on to the next one.  Although they are bound to take a few mites with them, it does seem to keep the numbers down.
Our hens also have access to wood ash dust baths as well as dry soil, so they can deal with any parasites themselves to some extent.

[devonlad]

the only time we had an absolute infestation we ended up completely dismantling the whole thing and blowtorching/creosoting every inch and every nook and cranny- we removed all the felt and uncovered a seething mass which sounded like the best bubble wrap ever once the blowtorch got on it. since then we creosote a couple of times a year always making sure we do it first before the temperature gets anywhere near high enough for the little critters to start multiplying and so far  :fc:no repeat- this summer was the first summer for  a couple of years that temp was high enough for long enough to do real damage but seems ok at moment- i know that every creature has a role in the grand scheme of things- could someone remind me what the red mites role is- other than to be a blooming nuisance

[plumseverywhere]

I creosoted one of our sheds yesterday - I loved watching them come scurrying out and slowing dying, hated things!!

[mentalmilly]

I creosoted the main hen house and so far the mites are gone.  Whitewashed the other house, total waste of time, you cant penetrate the wood as well as creosote. If you miss a tiny bit of wood the little wotsits survive.  Going to creosote on to of the white wash that should scare the b-----rs. Will creosote in future, think l am getting hooked on creosoting and the smell. Any cure for that?

[mojocafa]

Hi nic

A complete change of subject, how was your hatching eggs? Mine very disappointing only 2 hatched out of 12
Mojo

[Kitchen Cottage]

creosoted the broody runs, washed the hens and they are in there.

the other hens are in a rabbit hutch.

This weekend I'll creosote one other hutch.... then i am going to take the roof and floor off of miteageddon and start with that.... its more of a winter task but I am damn sure it killed one of my poor chicks...

The mites will not win!!!

[Fleecewife]

i know that every creature has a role in the grand scheme of things- could someone remind me what the red mites role is- other than to be a blooming nuisance

It's to bring out the best in us all      or rather, bad language and murderous intent 

[AndynJ]

Interesting, never heard of an wood ash bath before, I 'll sort that out in the morning then. I usually clean the chickens out, I bag everything put the bags down the field out of the way for 6 months before it goes on veggie patch got home the other day my wife had cleaned them out, poo & hay scattered across their run and then all over the old veg bed and the compost bin  so yep we will have red mite frenzy next week.
Can you still get predators and are they any good in the winter ?

[HesterF]

I believe wood ash is very similar to diatomaceous (spelling?)  earth - it's such a fine dust it covers the red mite and smothers them/breaks their breeding cycle. So great as a long term preventative - I know the theory, just haven't acted on it (yet).

H

[darkbrowneggs]

Apparently you can sprinkle ant powder in the wood ash as well, though I have to say although they had access to on they always preferred to make their own in the dry (but slightly damp) soil.


The diatomaceous (yes spell check can't spell it either)  earth works because it is composed of beetle shells which are intensley hard and brittle and hence very very fine.  The grittiness get into the joints in the exoskeleton and punctures it so your foes just leak to death.

[Womble]

 
If it helps, we had good success once by making a sort of mud out of DE and water, then painted it on all over the inside of the shed, quite thickly. Once it dried, it became dusty again, and did seem to do the trick in getting rid of the mites.

[plumseverywhere]

I've just creosoted the inside of our larger shed - I came out crawling in the things. Really hot bath and when I looked in the water, there were hundreds - oh yuk!!

[in the hills]

How long do the hens have to stay out of the house after using creosote? ...... might have to resort to it. 


Never had red mite like this year .... finding it hard to control them.


Wondering if their reproductive rate slows down in the winter .... they must have a weak point at some point in their cycle. 

[plumseverywhere]

not sure how long - was going to leave these in the spare house a couple of weeks at least. The smell is so strong, once that's gone I guess?