[AnnaB]

Not had these before but our hen houses were crawling with them when I cleaned them out.   I've read that we need to creosote the houses, but also this has to be the real stuff not B&Q shed paint or whatever.  Is this right ?  How long do I need to leave before the birds can go back ?  It stinks so can't be too good for a while ?  What do I get to dust to the birds with ?

Thanks

[Anke]

You can (or used to a couple of years or so back) be able to get "real" creosote from fencing supplies, not sure if this is still possible.

We have found that once you have treated the house a couple of times red mite is not seen again. It needs to be dry before chooks can go back inside.

[Stereo]

If you are going to use the real stuff, you don't want birds back in there for some weeks. They are prone to respitory issues as it is.  My advice is to get a big tub of poultry shield (concentrated). Big clean out and go at it with a back pack sprayer in hot weather. Then dust regularly with DE. If you must go with harsh chemicals, you need to remove the birds for a while. 

[chrismahon]

Whilst we do use original creosote (not the new creocote) it is only when a coop is being stripped for refurbishment and the birds are being housed elsewhere for several weeks. We find it much easier to treat an infestation with a hand held steamer with a fine jet which allows penetration in all the tiny gaps particularly the weatherboarding joints. We then creosote only the perch ends which traps mites leaving the birds. Every morning any mites on the perches are killed and after about a week we stop finding them. We haven't found anything that effectively gets red mite off the chickens immediately.

[Jon Feather]

We had a massive infestation about 12 years ago after buying in 40 birds.  The vet proscribed Deosect which did the job.  We haven't really had a problem since with the 2,000 or so birds we have had since.  It wasn't cheap but it works.

[Marches Farmer]

I wouldn't put birds back for at least three weeks after creosoting. The best solution I've found for a thoroughly  infested coop is burning it.

[Jon Feather]

Hmm!  Each to their own....but I wouldn't be burning a house because of mites.  Deosect will kill them all.  It is expensive but not as expensive as buying a new house.

[Clansman]

http://www.creosotesales.co.uk/products-page/

[Kimbo]

I use liberal quantities of poultry shield, and Smite and generic DE and that regime has worked well for my birds but didn't someone a while ago swear by ant powder? Maybe Clansman? Ant powder is a lot cheaper than food quality DE.

Although I haven't tried it yet ( as no need has arisen) I also really like the steaming idea.

[chrismahon]

I have to strongly advise against using ant powder. We tried it once in a bantam coop and them flapping about and inhaling the dust resulted in what appeared as a complete collapse of the immune system. We lost two of the three hens very quickly and despite removing all traces of the powder immediately, the third was ill for months.


As described earlier, steaming and trapping on the perches works extremely well. We had 5 coops with red mite at the beginning of Spring and all remain clear. A side effect of not using chemicals is the ants. They will sniff out red mite and enter the coops to eat them. They are the first sign you have red mite, long before traces are visible. The chemicals kill ants a lot faster than red mite unfortunately. We had three of the 5 coops with ants in, helping us out. They can't reach them all though because ants can't squeeze into the very small gaps mite can hide in, but the steamer can.

[Clansman]

I use liberal quantities of poultry shield, and Smite and generic DE and that regime has worked well for my birds but didn't someone a while ago swear by ant powder? Maybe Clansman? Ant powder is a lot cheaper than food quality DE.

Although I haven't tried it yet ( as no need has arisen) I also really like the steaming idea.

Yep been using ant powder on birds and houses for many years without any problems.

It does contain Pyrethrin which is toxic to cats but other than that no issues with it.

Combined with creosote on the houses, joints, perch ends etc I never have any problems with mites.

[vfr400boy]

I had a prob in spring in one of my houses , I got some duromightx from a pigeon man a little goses a long way

[AnnaB]

Thanks everyone, I've ordered poultry shield.  What is DE ?

The house is from Flyte so Fancy and not cheap, the burning solution doesn't appeal 

Might have a steamer somewhere too ....will the wallpaper stripping one work ?

[mojocafa]

Diatomaceous earth, fab stuff

[AnnaB]

OK thanks ordered that too because the poultry stuff seller seemed to think it was a good idea.