The Poultry Keeper

Lisa · Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 6:57 pm Post subject: red mite help

Bother.... we seem to have our first attack of the nasty little red devils Sad

Birds seem (so far) unaffected - found tiny little grey creepy crawlies on us after being in the shed Shocked

Will do the "wipe the perch" test tonight after they've gone to bed, but I can't think what else it can be Confused

Want to try to use as few chemicals as possible. So far the plan is:

1) tonight, as a 1st aid measure, mix up some insecticidal aromatherapy oils and put over their perch

2) tomorrow, totally clean out the shed

3) steam clean it or blow torch it

4) put down DE to kill any remaining little blighters

Questions are:

Any experience re the effectiveness of steam cleaning V blow torching, or would either work as well?

I've never seen any DE for sale locally (Milton Keynes area). Any idea where I can buy it? Don't mind a bit of a drive if I can get it tomorrow... Or what's the best / quickest place to get it online?

Thanks for any help.

nigel · Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 8:28 pm Post subject:

I always put the blowtorch over all the joints of our coops each weekend when I cleaned them violent3

I don't know if that or good fortune was the reason, but I never had red mite. As we had no electricity it was the only option. For me I'd say it worked, the only downside it that after a while you end up with scorch marks, but my chickens obviously had no taste in interior decor as they never complained

Lisa · Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 9:00 pm Post subject:

Do you think a steam cleaner would be as effective as a blow torch?

Got to buy one or the other tomorrow, before my cleanfest, but can think of more uses round the house for a steam cleaner afterwards Wink

nigel · Posted: Sat Jul 29, 2006 5:20 am Post subject:

My guess would be that it would do a similar job, just without the scorch marks. I know some people have mentioned using them in the past.

Lisa · Posted: Sat Jul 29, 2006 5:51 am Post subject:

Thanks Nigel - I think I'll feel a little safer with a steam cleaner Laughing

CP · Posted: Sat Jul 29, 2006 4:43 pm Post subject:

If you haven't got either, the steam cleaner would be the best option as it's one you're most likely to use elsewhere. Wink

Did you find somewhere to get the Diatom from? Confused

Lisa · Posted: Sat Jul 29, 2006 5:07 pm Post subject:

Couldn't find any diatom locally, but the red mite powder I could get locally said it was made from 100% natural ingredients and could be used in organic systems, so I'm happy with that. Though its to go on the birds, rather than the house....

Any idea where's the best place to get diatom online?

Lisa · Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 5:46 am Post subject:

Well... I love our new steam cleaner (and it'll be great round the house) but it gets the thumbs down for killing red mite. I'm sure it cleaned all the joints in the shed lovely (though it took aaaaaaaaaaaaaages) but when it came to the places where I could actually see red mite it wasn't such a success. If I went in really close with the jet of steam it was too powerful a jet just seemed to blast them out of the way without killing them all. And if I held the jet further away the little blighters (or at least some of them) carried on moving.

Not the success I hoped it would be, but at least I know now...

nigel · Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 6:02 am Post subject:

Sorry about that Lisa Sad

Lisa · Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 6:12 am Post subject:

No problem Nigel - I'm happy I tried it Smile

And given my past experience of using a blow torch it was definitely the safer option Wink

CP · Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 9:24 am Post subject:

Maybe the little blighters drowned Lisa! Laughing

(hope so.

)

We used a heat gun, the kind you use for stripping paint, as we didn't have a blow torch either. It did blow them away a bit, but if you aimed it at them from a little distance then went in slowly, they seemed to fry quite admirably! Twisted Evil

It took us approximately 3 weeks of constantly cleaning to remove them completely! Shocked

Interhatch sell Diatom, unfortunately not online though. We got ours, a huge 20kg bag (!) from a link that George put on here ages ago. It took ages to arrive but will last us a very long time. Very Happy

It was very cheap, too.
I haven't got their details at the moment as the email was lost when my hard drive died. I'll try to find the paperwork for you as I'm sure they sold smaller amounts as well. Wink

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

I'd forgotten about that link, chicken palace. I got it from that link too ~ I couldn't even remember who I got it from hence not offering any advice, thanks for the memory jog.
Here's the address that George gave us. http://www.d-earth.co.uk/

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

Sorry that link isn't as helpful as it used to be. So I'm still searching for you. Although you can contact them by phone or email.
Doris got some from SPK ~ http://www.sprcentre.co.uk/

Lisa · Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 3:58 pm Post subject:

Ah, that's useful summayah! Although it would normally be quite a drive, I was thinking of going to the West Dean gardens Chilli Fiesta this coming Saturday, so I'll be in the area and not too far from SPR. Will probably be as quick as ordering anything online now. Right, that's my Diatom sorted!

Thank you!! Very Happy

(Hmmm... looks a good place - wonder what else I'll come away with Rolling Eyes

)

Lisa · Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 4:03 pm Post subject: