Smallholders Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: mite emergencie  (Read 3556 times)

demonfarmer2630

  • Joined May 2011
  • kennoway
  • soor plooms
mite emergencie
« on: February 01, 2014, 09:07:09 pm »
I had 3 of my hens inside a few days ago and since I have found a large quantities of noted in the room I kept them in I have tried using mite powder and sprays but if had no luck I am going to get a pile of sand for them to bath in dose anyone have any home remedies or any advice I have cleaned and scrubbed every inch of there house and them please I need help asap

shygirl

  • Joined May 2013
Re: mite emergencie
« Reply #1 on: February 01, 2014, 10:49:56 pm »
red lice?
are you using real lice powders and sprays? and not herbal versions?
we got good stuff from our farm shop 9barrierh and something else i cant mind out but it needed diluting) and it seemed to work, you also have to use in regularly til its under control and really clean the nooks and crannies. some coops have more crevices than others.
powder the vent of the bird aswell as all over. there is stuff for the birds and different stuff for the house.
 :fc:

demonfarmer2630

  • Joined May 2011
  • kennoway
  • soor plooms
Re: mite emergencie
« Reply #2 on: February 01, 2014, 10:56:44 pm »
The mites are white and I only use chemical mite powder and spray

HesterF

  • Joined Jul 2012
  • Kent
  • HesterF
Re: mite emergencie
« Reply #3 on: February 01, 2014, 10:58:11 pm »
Weird time of year for a mite emergency - you are unlucky! Maybe they're not red mite? I don't think sand will do a lot. If you want to spray, you have to make sure the spray has an active ingredient in it - permethrin is what you're looking for. Make sure you apply at the ends of perches and round the edges of the roof. Other things that will help:

- Diatomaceous earth (Diatom). This is better as a preventative than a treatment because it affects their reproduction life cycle so you can't use it as an only treatment at this stage but after you have tried to kill of the little blighters, sprinkle it liberally around under the bedding in the nestboxes, on the floor of the house, at the ends of the perches and in dust baths.
- If there's any chance the mites are not red but something living on the birds (e.g. northern fowl mite) which they could well be if they brought them inside with them, you can treat the birds as well. I've used my cat drops on broodies which seem to have worked.
- If they are red mite, they like to live under felt roofs so it's worth replacing those with onduline (once it's drier?)
- If the mite are still bad in the house after spraying, creosote (the original, available in professional quantities) kills all known mites dead. But is also harmful to birds so you need to be able to put them somewhere else for three weeks or so (maybe longer at this time of year when it'll dry slowly - I applied in high summer)

shygirl

  • Joined May 2013
Re: mite emergencie
« Reply #4 on: February 01, 2014, 11:06:36 pm »
iv only seen red mites so cant help, but good luck.

chrismahon

  • Joined Dec 2011
  • Gascony, France
Re: mite emergencie
« Reply #5 on: February 02, 2014, 09:05:36 am »
Difficult one to guess at Demonfarmer but I'll have a go.


Red mite are usually in the coop, but they are red when fed. They will travel on the birds in very small numbers and when found there they will be red. But if they are from hatched eggs they would appear white or pale brown until they get a feed. They could be from eggs, but they take about a week from being laid in cracks and crevices  to hatching. I don't know where your hens are now, but if they came from a coop outside it will be total infested. To get them off the birds try the Barrier red mite powder -won't kill them but just gets them off so that the birds don't carry them back into any new or treated coop. The mite are about the size of a pinhead and killing them can range from simple diatom or potash (which you can add to the soil bath areas), through some simple chemicals like Smite or Nettex Mite Kill, creosote of the coop, to a biocide like Elector which you spray everywhere and is very effective for one year only. Before any of that I would get a steam cleaner with a fine jet and run that around. That is our first approach-it reduces the number dramatically.


Northern Fowl Mite live and feed under the skin of the birds, usually around the vent but certainly not always. They are microscopic and rarely large enough to see. A very damaging pest killed effectively by spraying the areas with Frontline at 0.5 -1.5mL per Kg. Any more and not only are you wasting it but you may kill the bird. It stays in the skin for many months in the sprayed areas so future attacks will probably be in totally different areas on the bird.


Lice take many forms and range from a few 2mm long to about 6mm in my experience. They only live on the birds so get them off and they die. A simple application of Barrier Louse powder works every time. Make sure of the wind direction when applying as you don't want to get it in their eyes.


So my guess Demonfarmer is that they are red mite hatched from eggs actually dropped off the birds, something I have never seen before. However it may be some pest that I have never encountered before, so good luck.

cans

  • Joined May 2013
Re: mite emergencie
« Reply #6 on: February 02, 2014, 09:36:09 am »
If they are the normal run of the mill white beasties seen running around their backend, then try Johnstons ? Mite spray for birds. ( a blue can and has a picture of pigeons/budgies on it if I remember rightly)  Pets at home should have it.  We used this on our birds and it got rid.

Clansman

  • Joined Jul 2013
  • Ayrshire
Re: mite emergencie
« Reply #7 on: February 03, 2014, 02:04:18 pm »
I use cheap ant powder rubbed into the feathers works well.

Its probably advisable not to eat the eggs for a few weeks after use as its not been approved for poultry use.

I just eat the eggs as normal when i use it and so far i only have two heads and three legs  :thumbsup:

demonfarmer2630

  • Joined May 2011
  • kennoway
  • soor plooms
Re: mite emergencie
« Reply #8 on: February 03, 2014, 05:51:23 pm »
See some people say cigeret smoke works and to try burning a few cigerets that the smoke will kill bugs and help protect the house and I have used tabaco before for birds nests but not tryed this before was thinking of trying it out

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: mite emergencie
« Reply #9 on: February 03, 2014, 07:06:07 pm »
A few drops of ivermectin (not licensed for poultry) works if you put it on the back of the neck.  Egg withdrawal is 7 days.

I once had a cockerel with some dried muck on the soft feathers around his rear and when I went to remove it it was a ball of red mite!  I simply cut off the whole thing (and burned it).  The coop was completely clean though.

Clansman

  • Joined Jul 2013
  • Ayrshire
Re: mite emergencie
« Reply #10 on: February 04, 2014, 09:40:13 am »
See some people say cigeret smoke works and to try burning a few cigerets that the smoke will kill bugs and help protect the house and I have used tabaco before for birds nests but not tryed this before was thinking of trying it out

I really can't see cigarette smoke being effective whatsoever.

I've seen chicken sheds being heavily smoked with a proper smoker before and it not having any effect on mites.

I use proper creosote on all the internal joints of the coop, nest boxes, perches, roof joints, panel joints etc and never have problem with mites.

If birds come in with mites, a good rub down with the ant powder sorts them out.

shygirl

  • Joined May 2013
Re: mite emergencie
« Reply #11 on: February 04, 2014, 09:54:39 am »

I once had a cockerel with some dried muck on the soft feathers around his rear and when I went to remove it it was a ball of red mite!  I simply cut off the whole thing (and burned it).  The coop was completely clean though.

iv never seen a single mite in our coops but i have had them running up my arms when plucking a bird.  :o

 

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