The Poultry Keeper

coolhen · Joined: 20 Mar 2006 Posts: 4

hi iam new to poultry keeping
just like to now about red mites
can you kill them if you steam clean the chicken house
in stead of Chemicals
i don `t have them just a thought Question

summayah · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton

Hello coolhen and welcome to the forum. I believe that you can steam clean the house thoroughly in all the cracks etc and it gets rid of them. I don't know how often you have to do it though. Hopefully someone else will be along with that information.
What chickens do you have, or hope to have?

Knobby · Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 11:19 pm Post subject:

I dont know about Steam Cleaning.....but if you dont want to use chemicals, you could always use a blow torch and burn the little devils !!!!

CP · Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 1:12 am Post subject:

I have read that steam cleaning will get rid of them, also blow torching them! No idea how many times it would take though. Confused

If you are looking for a non chemical remover then try diatom. It's what got rid of ours in the end. Wink

They are extremely difficult to eradicate, so be warned!

poultry poofs · Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 1:27 am Post subject:

We tried steam cleaning, pressure washing,blowtorching,spraying with red mite insecticide and still they came.Only things we found that kill them are poultry shield,Diatomous earth, creosote(by treating the houses with it) and beleive it or not Cold Start.
The mites live in the cracks and crevices in the wood so remain protected from any attacks so you need to get them while they are there as they can do a lot of damage to your hens when they get to a bad infestation
usually within a week without treatment in the right conditions.They crawl out at night onto the birds and feed.A bad infestation can make birds anaemic and susceptible to infections
Using Cedar wood for housing is good as the mites cant tolerate the resin.If you use cedar wood shavings or sawdust too in the houses it helps control them.

CP · Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 1:49 am Post subject:

Yep, we tried just about everything too - took 3 weeks of intensive cleaning & spraying to rid the house of them. Mad

fenwoman · Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 2:32 pm Post subject:

I had a dreadful time last year with the horrible things. Weekly inspections and spraying with Duramitex as soon as I smelled or saw them was the only way I managed to keep them under control. I found that using frontline on the birds seemed to help them too . Incidentally I have just found a French veterinary supplies website and bought 500 ml of frontline spray for only £31 delivered as opposed to the £49 my vet wanted. It is a good site and there is an English version too. Will suply the details to anyone interested.

coolhen · Joined: 20 Mar 2006 Posts: 4

hi all thank you for the info
i have silver lace cock wyandotte
gold lace wyandotte hen
welsummer hen
and two maran i think not sure of sex one gray and white one black and white Very Happy

CP · Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 6:53 pm Post subject:

fenwoman · Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 8:06 pm Post subject:

Yes you do CP but if you are on good terms with the vet as I am since I throw shedloads of dosh his way every month Wink

I simply go in and ask for it and he sells it to me. Or he would if I was willing to pay his ridiculous prices. Everywhere else in the world frontline is not a prescription drug. It can be bought over the counter. I ordered from a French pet supplies site this time, but equally my brother would send it to me or I would ask one of my travelling friends to get me some the next time they were in Europe.

di · Joined: 14 May 2006 Posts: 1

Hi Fenwoman,
Can you supply the french website where you got your frontline?
Thanks

summayah · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton

Fenwoman is no longer a member of the board.
Maybe you could try a google with 'frontline' and 'france' in the search line