red mite

[hedgerow pete]

just mucking out the chickens today and found the red mite has moved in.

I dont want any namby pamby eco , green , red mite hugging bio chemical witch craft answers!!!!

How do i kill the buggers.

i normaly wash the pens out with jayes fuild every other week, i cant blow torch due to painted surfaces, so whats a great insecticide to use.

and yes i do know how to handle full strengh chemicals propperly

 

[Lance Hutchings]

Ive been told that Red Diesel is effective Pete, (normal diesel probably just as good). Got that off of a decent source (castlefarmeggs.....co.uk
Ive had eggs that ive hatched off of him and excellent stock so pretty sure the red mite treatment will be the same

Lance

 

[Erichalfbee]

Clean out all the old bedding and brush all the corners out with a dry brush. Then use Poultry Shield liquid, which you dilute before use, 1 part concentrate to 10 parts water and put it into a pressure sprayer; working from the top down, getting into all nooks and crannies. Pay particular attention to the nooks that the chooks rest in and the roosts themselves. Allow this to dry with the doors all open.

Poultry Shield is said to take up to 48 hours from contact to killing by dehydration of the mites. When it dries continue with a powder treatment.

I use Diatom (diatomaceous earth), it works by absorbing the waxy outer layer of insects, causing them to dehydrate and die. Use a puffer to distribute the powder onto the inside walls,floor and roosts of the henhouse.

Although red mites do not live on the birds, you can use Diatom powder on the birds themselves to keep other infestations away.

I give my birds a dust occasionally and when cleaning out the henhouse I spray routinely with either Poultry shield or Total Mite Kill

Best of luck. Nasty b*****s bite people too….yuk!!!

PS my mum was brought up in Poland and she says her grandad used lime to paint the hen house twice a year and it kept the mites away.

 

[Luminos]

I don't think there's much of a choice wrt namby pamby eco green, red mite hugging bio chemical these days; not sure about witchcraft...

For the chicken coop I'm using Nettex Mite Kill Spray (not for use on the chickens themselves). Contains Permethrin and Piperonyl Butoxide. Works for up to 3 months.
Seems to be widely available in pet stores and on the internet.
Website: www.net-tex.co.uk
Hope this helps
L

 

[susbees]

Another vote for Poultry Shield. Works pretty well.

 

[Brosville]

"I dont want any namby pamby eco , green , red mite hugging bio chemical witch craft answers!!!

fairy nuff, that'll be a napalm or gelignite job then - or just 'phone the USAF and tell 'em you've got Al Quaeda in your henhouse and retire to a safe distance!

 

[Bee-Key-Pur]

We have a lot of commercial chicken and turkey farmers here and we all use Deosect, it's the best for red mite, they say for horses, but can be used for birds to, it might be hard to find at your local pet shop tho, so you may have to order online...
To apply, mix up the solution and give them a little spray under each wing and around it bum. You will have to wash out the chicken house at the same time or they will soon be back.
Brian

 

[milkermel]

diatatious earth is very effective, and available to get off the net with no problems, Its what OH advises as effective - and he is a pestie, dont be tempted to use it on the birds though, it isnt chemicals but best thing for the buggers!

 

[Frisbee]

I use a mixture of things.........

Plumbers blow torch.

Real creosote which is available in 25 litre drums for professional use only, as chickens aren't classed as pets then this can be bought. Not as smelly as diesel, but the effect is the same, it dissolves the hard shell of the mite and stays sticky for a while on perches etc.

Ant powder/spray.

Red mite are excellent at hiding in cracks and crevices. A tongue and grooved house will have them lining in the grooves. If you see them on the perches then the dark hidey holes are full and trouble is looming. If you have an older wooden house then under the felt is also a favourite place. If they haven't got places like that to hide in....i.e in a plastic house, then they will take up residence in the bedding. A serious infestation will kill birds through blood loss overnight. A dead bird who was healthy found under the perches in the morning needs to be checked for mite. If the bird has died they are often still on the body.

Red mite will live for several months in an unoccupied house, they lose their red colour and become pale brown. Sitting quietly in the house for half an hour leaning against a wall will soon have them appearing......a shower afterwards is necessay......and then of course some sort of treatment for the house. Therefore putting birds into a previously unoccupied house will give them a torturous few nights if it hasn't been treated first.

The smaller the hen house the more the birds get bothered as they literally become sitting targets.

Frisbee

 

[hedgerow pete]

the shed as it were , was rebuilt durring the spring with a solid floor and smooth sides. I got rid of all the nooks and cranies and painted the inside of the shed with many layers of gloss paint in pale blue so i could see them better.

the shed gets washed out twice a month with jayes fluid to clean it out properly.

bedding changed weekly .

dont realy want to use a blow torch as per before nor can i use red diesel or ceosote any more as its painted, tho i used to use loads of it before in the old shed and i love the stuff myself

i will research the Deosect stuff to see what it is like, the diatatious earth has been used before and is off the menu , i did love the idea of nippon powder from Frissbee as that sounds like a proper farmers trick to me

Nettex Mite Kill Spray , now that sounds like the stuff, i have used enough permetharine to kill off several planets worth of bugs so i should be ok with that.

it has also been suggested to me to wrap double sided tape or splatter grease around the ends and the first couple of inchs of the roost bars with the idea that like a grease band the little sods get stuck in it on the way to the chucks, any one heard of that ????

 

[theeggman]

Pete,
Most of the chemicals that worked have been taken off the market.
Before we retired we were using Oxyfly, originally a fly killer but now licensed for red mite. It's not cheap but does have residual effect. It's only for spraying the house not the birds. Should be available from farmer suppliers.
Tim

 

[susbees]

As a farmer I can get real creosote and it's really good for red mite. BUT the house needs to be left to air for a long time afterwards.

Just thought I'd say....thymol honey's a dream compared with the prospect of creosote tainted eggs....

....and Poultry Shield'd work fine on the painted stuff. It's a clear liquid and dries quite quickly.

 

[Worldsend]

Chicken sheds that are painted on the inside -thats very posh

Creosote is the best -but not helpful in your situation

Ive just moved mine into a metal shed with an inner wood lining- I may have to powerwash and creosote

Many locals report heavy red mite this summer

 

[Frisbee]

The red mite has been awful this year.

Pete....Wilko's ant powder at 99p for a big tub has the same effect as expensive Nippon....it also has the same insecticide as the named brand red mite killers but is £9 cheaper.

If you really have no nooks and cranny's why don't you make yourself some? Red mite love fresh wood. Screw two lengths of batten together and disguard casually near the chicken roosts, or even attach carefully to the perches. Check every week , open them up and see who is living there and clean them out.

Frisbee

P.S. I don't creosote the nest boxes, they don't need it unless the chickens have taken to roosting in there at night (which should be discouraged) so no need to air out the house, the eggs don't get tainted. I only creosote where the mite lives.

P.P.S. Yes grease bands on the perch ends will work, the mite crawl from their hidey holes along the perches, anything which stops them is good. Only thing is, it will only work as long as it is sticky, so needs renewing very regularly....like every week, dead mites, chicken dander and dust will all stick to them and they end up being non sticky

 

[porterswoods]

Hi pete

I use Ficam W when there are no hens present and then treat with Hemexsan powder which is a diatom.

have some hemexsan for £15 a bag if your intrested, you can see how it works aswell as i have treated a building that houses 12000 hens and it is effective. Bear in mind that your coop should be as mite free as possible before applying it.

If the hens are present then I use elanco elector, from bowden and knights. It cost £90 per 230ml but that is enough to do a house for 6000 hens. It is safe for the hens and you don't need to remove eggs before application, so it is safe for you. The plus side is it has a residual effect for 12 weeks and i have found it pretty effective.

You should be careful when using insecticides on red mite because they can become ressistant pretty quickly due to the short cycle of the mite. I suggest you treat every 3 days for 2 weeks to get the mites that are still to hatch. Then use a different product to treat when they reappear.

 

[porterswoods]

Just to add that grease does work but it is better to rid the house altogether as they will get to a level where they will irritate you when you go inside.

 

[Quatermain]

1/2 bleach 1/2 vinegar solution sprayed on hen house does the trick

 

[hedgerow pete]

thanks for all the tips and ideas, i will have ago this week to knock the mite for six

 

[hughjamton]

I've never found blowtorching that effective. I've used one on my coop several times, the wood is black from scorching, a few seconds later more mites appear out of the crevices. I suppose it will get the numbers down though ready for treatment.
I once tried two profesional flea, tick and mite smoke bombs, one six days after the other. These were big enough to do a three bedroom property each, my coop is about a square metre, 4 hens. I think the mites thought it was a sauna, didn't seem to touch them!
If you've got a felt roof it won't matter what you use, they'll be back unless you strip the felt and treat at the same time. I'm still trying to find an alternative one piece roof that will pass inspection by swmbo..
Creosote is very effective but you say you can't use that, my brother in law swears by lighter fluid.
There's always a danger that they get picked up again by the hens from wild birds shortly after treatment and then your back to square one.
I got rid of them in the end with creosote, but I monitor with vaseline on the ends of the perch and occasionaly I've had the odd appearance. As soon as I see any evidence I treat the birds with spot-on for rabbits/guinea pigs etc.
This stops them getting a foothold and pretty soon there's no more trace.
Spot-on is also very effective for scaly leg.
This is reccomended by several chicken forums so is widely used.

 

[jimbeekeeper]

Just come in from jetwashing the house out, and very surprised and almost zero mites in the house.

But like the hives, loads of earwigs.