The Poultry Keeper

andym01480 · Joined: 29 Aug 2005 Posts: 131 Location: King's Lynn

Help

Found some red mites lurking in the coop - given it total cleanout and sprayed with 10% Poultry Shield until run off.

What do I need to do now?

What about the chooks?

One has been broody for a while so has been in the coop most of the time. Her comb is looking a bit floppy and less ruby red today. Is that a sign of anything?

Shes wondering around happily and they all go in the coop at night happily....

George · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 5661 Location: London

If you have some Diatom, you could sprinkle that around and also onto your chooks

Hope you've got them all Wink

CP · Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 3:58 pm Post subject:

A broody will naturally lose colour in her comb as she won't be laying any eggs.

Hope you get all the red mite as they are absolute b*****s!
You can use a blow torch (carefully!) especially at the perch ends & all cracks & crevices. Diatom worked for us in the end after daily clean outs for about 3 weeks! Shocked

But we did have a bad infestation - hopefully you have found yours before they get established. Wink

andym01480 · Joined: 29 Aug 2005 Posts: 131 Location: King's Lynn

Thanks for the replies.

Put Dioatom all over the coop bedding and rubbed it in the broody, who now I've got some hatching Aracauna eggs on her nest box, is outside. Doh!

Will report back later.

It's nice to be back and getting help!

chrisk · Joined: 12 Feb 2006 Posts: 13 Location: Derbyshire

Hi. We bought a really cheep chick shed which was loaded with red mite - plus the birds that came with it. We used diatom powder to great effect BUT a word of warning. We didnt get any proper instructions about doseage and overdid it a bit which caused breathing probs. (All sorted now with no casulties) You can put a bit in their dust baths too for ongoing protection. Now we wouldnt be without it Smile

its effective on scaly leg too.

andym01480 · Joined: 29 Aug 2005 Posts: 131 Location: King's Lynn

Reporting back! Thanks for the info.

Grace is happily sitting on the Aurucana eggs Day 6!

All red mites dead, by the looks of it!

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

Well done on getting rid of the red peril, Andy, and good luck on your hatching

CP · Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 5:23 pm Post subject:

Well done, but watch out for their return! Shocked

Sue B · Joined: 18 Oct 2005 Posts: 383 Location: Lincolnshire

At the risk of sounding naive on the red mite issue Confused

Would I know if I had an infestation eg; would it appear something was wrong, or do I need to look for them?

Mikey · Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 8:46 am Post subject:

It would depend on how bad the infestation is. if it's not too bad, then you wouldn't notice anything wrong with the birds. Best thing to do is to rub a piece of white tissue across their perch, then inspect it for any tiny red dots of blood. as a precaution, we disinfect once a month and add red mite powder to their dustbaths and nesting material weekly