PoultryTalk.com

Redmites, it's that time of year when the little darlings are rife again, how do you treat for redmites, and how do you prevent them coming back?
How do you think they get into your sheds/hen housing? on wild birds? from trees/hedging?
Do you think we need better treatments which work and are cost effective?
Any ideas, and information have your say!
Thanks.

got my eyes open for the little blighters - I use the powder & liquid but I am sure there must be less"harsh" stuff about . I poke about into every nook and craney of the huts . Looking forward to reading some bright ideas

I only have a small coop and use a new paint brush dipped in mite powder,its simple to go round all the corners and the brisles go in any cracks or gaps.

Good idea Gambler- save me wearing the "Darth Vader" face mask

If you're using the Diatom powder you can get plastic bellows which will puff everywhere, but best to have the birds out of the coop when you do it. If you're spraying don't forget to do the outside of the coop.
Wild birds usually spread it, but once you have a problem it will keep rearing its ugly head , if you can spot it early it can be controlled. Deosect can be sprayed on the birds as well as doing the house. Don't forget the mite can live for 36 weeks without a blood feed and go from egg to adult in 7 days. Red mite only lay eggs when they've had a blood feed. It is easy to spread the mite to different locations on your clothing. I have 23 coops and runs, two 24ft sheds and one 6ft shed and I've been fighting the damn things in all locations for 2 weeks now and I think I've spread it unknowingly on my clothes to locations that had been clear. Creosote is probably the best and most effective way off getting rid of them, but the birds need to be kept out for at least 10 days. We're about to start doing all the coops, having bought new ones to rehouse the birds (good excuse so I can have more birds eventually!!).

hi, I manufacture plastic nest boxes - theres no where for the red mite to hide. They are so durable and they can be hosed down in seconds - Dan www.plasticnestboxes.co.uk

Are you sure, Dan. How about the bottom of the box. I've had red mite that hide under the water drinkers and on the seams AND on the rims just above the water level. I used plastic nest boxes, happily thinking nowhere for them to hide and when I lifted them to clean out - thousands clumped together on the bottom - I now dust them with diatom powder on the bottom and guess what - they clumped on the powder, diatom crystals made into a paste with water is best but not on a surface the chickens can peck at as its non food grade ...... I was also told red mite didn't like metal - that's a fallacy. I was also told red mite didn't like newspaper, so I bought some bales of shredded paper (used for horse bedding) and used it for chuck bedding after spraying the coops - that's another fallacy, they loved it.
The only things that gets rid of them is creosote or continued spraying with the appropriate spray every week or so until they're nowhere to be seen.

I have to agree with Meg, the old fashioned proper creosote is the only thing which i have found to work, in all the years i have kept poultry, going back to before creosote was banned for use by the general public, when you could buy it from DIY and garden stores, when everyone who had chickens used it twice a year as a routine, no one had redmite, now most folks can't get it, redmite is rife!
Luckily, i can still get it, and if you search around, at local country fairs, and shows, you too can get hold of it, it's only at general stores, who have to have a chemical licence to sell it where they ask for a registered VAT business number that will give you a hard time. Using it is common sense, i actually as a young girl working at stables, fell into a vat of creosote, and i'm still alive! It's the water ways, ponds and rivers which really are effected by the mis-use, as it's deadly to fish and wildlife. Not saying it's not dangerous, it is a carconegenic chemical, so it can be deadly. But, if you're careful and dispose of it properly,use gloves, and a mask, don't spray when it's windy etc. and wash it off any exposed skin ASAP, it's the most effective way of controling redmites, and northern fowl mites for that matter!
As long as it's dry, and the fumes are not as strong, we put the birds back in, it takes alot longer in the winter months, but lovely hot summer days it takes about 3-5 days and it's safe.

JubesX

I have 5 gallons which i have saved for the stables - did not use it on the hen house but if thats what it takes (with care) thats what I will do - I have two hen houses one I use for winter in the veggie garden and one for the summer in the apple orchard - so I can treat the huts when the birds have no access - should cut down on any safety problems

I tend to agree that old fashioned creosote is one of the best treatments but I have been experimenting with different treatments on coops and found some better than others.

I got rid of a particularly bad infestation last summer from one house using diatom and a pressure washer. It took 3 to 4 weeks to see no more signs of them and I was pretty persistant. Firstly, I pressure washed all cracks, washing them out, then waited an hour or so - the mites were now disturbed and crawling around - then I repeated the washing a few more times, each time waiting a while in between. Once there was little activity, I let the coop dry and then used Diatom. I rubbed this in to the perches top and bottom every few days - so it was like a gymnasts bar... They crawl through it but after 48 hours or so, it does dry them out.

This summer, I am currently running 3 separate tests on 6 different coops - Dilute Bleach, Jeyes Fluid and Poultry Shield. The results will be on my blog at the end of the summer but so far, they are all looking promising. All are finished off with diatom on the perches.

You can read a blog about last years efforts with the diatom / pressure washer here: How to Get Rid of Red Mite

The trouble with Poultry sheild is, all it contains is a detergent, the same as dishwasher powder/liquid! And for the price works out really expensive! Jeyes fluid is amazing, not tried it with redmites, so would like to know your findings on that, bleach, well, it kills most other things, the only thing that worries me is that apart from creosote, things don't seem to last or work for long periods, you seem to just finish treating with stuff, and the little blighters come back, creosote works for six months at a time, so in my book works out less time consuming, and more cost effective! We haven't had a single mite around since we started using it, alongside frontline spray on the birds, but that's another topic of the week i think!!

JubesX

There's a new product called Ficam W. Its in 15 gm sachets, mixes with water to make 5 litres and costs around £5 (which is cheaper than many of the products). I'm waiting for some to arrive and I'll post results. It also has a 2 to 3 week residual phase which means any that get missed pick up the insecticide and die.
I got best results with Duramitex but that's now banned as its organophosphorous. I've also got some German stuff coming which I've used in the past and is very effective but it's not licensed over here. But I can get it supplied as a smallholder because of the number of chickens I keep (too many hubby says).
Having spoken to a supplier of poultry supplies, I was told that the mites CAN be carried on clothing to infect clean premises and also that they will sometimes live on the bird where they can drain 5% of blood in one night from one hen.
I've now bought some new coops which will be treated with the new stuff before the birds go in (you only have to wait until it dries before putting birds in), the birds will be droppered with Eastitox or Easimec and then the old coops stripped, creosoted and refelted ( and the runs). No holiday again this year.

Hi everyone, new member here. Just battled an infestation of mites - which I thought I had got on top of. Seem to be having success with diluted Jeyes Fluid. Only have 3 hens and small coop with run + garden. Stripped coop - removed felted roof etc and gave a jet wash with hose. Sprayed coop with Jeyes getting into all the crevices (hopefully). Keeping a spray gun of Jeyes handy and checking regularly - any sign of movement and they get zapped again. They come out at night, so handy to take a torch when its dark and have a look for any survivors. Still finding odd ones, but continuing with the spray. How is everyone else doing? Heather - from Chicken Lovers Meeting Place - f/b

btw Jeyes fluid contains Creosol (like creosote)

I've been battling them this summer, big time. The main problem was me not recognising that I had a problem - I've never seen red mite before so didn't realise that the dusty/earthy stuff in the house was alive until it was way out of hand. And I pride myself on how clean I keep the house - but pride before a fall. I steamed, scrubbed and sprayed for more than 6 hours. Dusted all round, and dusted the chickens. Then ran a piece of kitchen roll along the perch after dark 2 days later. Result? Bloody paper covered in mites - disgusting. Steamed, sprayed and dusted (house and chickens) again the following day. It was much better, but they were obviously still there. They're tenacious little so-and-so's aren't they? Now, the whole house has been painted with creosote (the old-fashioned toxic stuff) and dusted. I need to go out again after dark to see how its going. But I've been told to re-paint the floor and base of the hen house with creosote every 6 weeks. If it keeps them away, it'll be worth the effort.

Diatomaceous Earth is definately effective - as an ongoing treatment/preventative - on hens (and other animals) and in their bedding and puffed around the housing. Have found a page/group on FB called Chicken Chat and there was a recipe for home made treatment which lots are saying kills the mites and keeps them away - going to give it a go. Recipe is: 15ml citronella oil (available from chemists - Asda chemist sells it cheaply apparently) 2 tablespoons methelated spirit - 1 tablespoon of washing up liquid - 4 tablespoons vinegar - 1 mug of strong black cold tea - top up to 1.5 - 2 lts with water and use as a spray to eradicate mites and then keep them away - spray coop inside and out and flooring. Can even put a little under each wing of the bird to clean them too. Says has been free of mites for the last 6 years since using this treatment! Got to be worth a go hasnt it??

btw once you are on top of the mites re Creosote - should last at least 6 months! Farmers use it spring and autumn in the past

Just one word of caution with that mixture - some chickens react badly to citronella. We used bedding with citronella, and one of our chooks got a chest infection. I was told it might be down to the bedding, so I changed it and bought new, and nursed the chook back to health. I didn't really think it was anything to do with the citronella, and so didn't worry when my husband used some more of it about six months later. Bad mistake - I lost the hen, I couldn't get her over this bad bout. Painful lesson learned.

i was looking for Duramitex and was offered harka-mitex its an insecticide for pigeon loft.
its a 140ml bottle but it dilutes to do a lot more i think we worked out it would do my shed 7ftx3 for about £7 iv got to try it out yet but will let you know as i know got them bad but not in from work till to late to do it

Theres plenty of info available on the net now regarding mites and methods of removal. see http://www.smite-a-mite.com/Smite-Professional/about-mite.html and http://www.smite-a-mite.com/Smite-Professional/mite-control.html for a none pesticide method of removal. There is also Ficam W for those wanting to use pesticied but this method used continually will eventually result in pesticide resistant mite, especially with such a short breeding cycle. Atb Tony