Definitive help for the spring - redmite

[Pushkin]

tuzo2k,

It was my husband who did the asking with regard to red mite treatment. He has no idea as to what type of powder but was told to do it the Charentaise way and douse the chickens with wood ash, which was really very helpful! He also enquired off our neighbour as to how she treats her chickens and the response was 'Red Mites. What are they? I have never heard of them and my chickens get nothing like that'.

I have obtained the necessary powder from the UK which my daughter brought over on her last visit.

Pushkin

[Timbo]

MMMmm sounds typically Charentais - "Bahhh aucune problemes...!!"

No I guess many Chickens are kept free range in France with stone outbuildings being used as a house for them so they are probably less likely to get the dreaded mite.

The wierd thing is when I was young, my parents kept chickens and in 20 odd years we never heard of or saw a mite.... Which strikes me as being odd.

[ntsmama]

2 questions:

1)would tea tree oil be an effective treatment?

2) how can i do my best to prevent red mite?

[Gillb]

Hi I'm new to this site and new to keeping hens, got my 4 girls just about 2 wks ago and loving every min so far But am worrying already about red mite, is there anything I should be doing to stop them? should I dust the girls & coup with barrier powder to try and prevent the mites? Also would be grateful of any advice about worming the girls - how often and what with? Feel completely befuddled by all the advice and information I've read but guess I'll find my own way with everything in the end. Bluebell, Iris, Snowdrop & Blossom seem happy so far even if the haven't laid any eggs yet

[Myachickenchick]

Have just finished reading what everyone had to say about red mites - help!!! Have only had my chucks for two weeks and I am terrified I will fail them, because I cannot make my mind up as to which product/method I should use.

[Pekinout]

Indorex spray for the house, (available from your vet) and frontline spot on for the birds, one drop under each wing on the skin. It's not licenced for poultry, but it works to keep them free from lice and mites.

[laura771]

pöstímàge

Hi everyone! i was surfing the web trying to find info on redmite, and I came across The Poultry Keeper Forum! and I decided to tell you all about my experiences with redmite
My self and my partner keep about 50 chickens, mixed breeds - Marans/Welsummer/Light Sussex etc and we have kept them now for about 3 years, they are housed in three sheds.
The first year, we did not get any redmite, but we did dust the birds regularly with the redmite powder. The second srping, we purchased some Hi-Lines, and, lo and behold, we got redmite (and yes, we did dust the birds before they went in with the rest)
We got redmite really, really bad! egg production went right down and we even lost about six birds in total. So, what did we do?
For a start, we completely gutted the sheds and disinfected using Poultry Shield, and then I creosoted all the sheds, using a creosote subsititute.
This improved the situation somewhat, but the redmite had still not been completely eradicated - they can live off the bird for up to 36 weeks without feeding - they will cluster up which becomes impenentrable! So, i then dusted with redmite powder all around the sheds - the ground etc and any dustbaths that the birds used. The birds were also doused with redmite spray every 5 days or so - after researching about the little blighters i found out that they can breed - egg- hatch in 7 days - this is why it is important to re-spray to break the egg cycle up.
After checking the sheds a fortnight later I discovered that the redmite had not gone! we had tried everything that we could get our hands on!
One of my friends, a keen gardner, told my me that he suffered with redmite (they attack roses) and he told me to try a spray containing BEFENTHRIN - this is good stuff! you can get it in a concerntrated form from any good garden centre/DIY place
This stuff actually KILLS the blighters! - just be careful as some mites can be resistant to it - just the ones in our sheds weren't!
The chickens have one half of the land around our house, the other half is for our use, and in our side we have a small chicken house with an attatched run which we use to put chicks in (we breed New Hampshire Reds)
This shed is currently empty and it will stay empty untill we clear the redmite out of it! I doused it yesterday with Poultry Shield and then, with Befenthrin. I am deffinately goinG to try to get my hands on Ficam W!
I am sorry about the length of this post! and i hope it may be of use to some of you!

[CP]

I think your gardening friend has mistaken redmite with red spider mite. The poultry redmite sucks blood so would not be present on roses.

I agree redmite is awful once you get an infestation. We had a bad one a few years ago & it took several weeks of cleaning etc. to finally get rid of them.

Since then we have small outbreaks from time to time but we're always vigilant & treat accordingly with Poultry Shield & Diatom powder. Works for us!

Welcome to the forum by the way!

[CP]

The dreaded redmite have moved in again! We've had them on & off in small numbers ever since our big infestation a few years ago. They obviously hide away for a bit then emerge just when you think they've all gone.

OH made 2 temporary perches when we had to separate our 2 cockerels. As we didn't have the correct lengths of wood at the time he joined them in the middle with a brace underneath. Well the *@!%&** redmite were all in between the 2 pieces of wood that were screwed together! Horrible things.
Burnt those perches & made some proper nice new ones, as well as 2 new ones in a different area of the coop. This was 3 weeks ago & redmite are on them again, underneath & also in clusters sitting on a clump of diatom powder in the sockets where the perches rest!!!!!!!!! Unbelievable!

We thoroughly cleaned them out last weekend including the nestboxes where we also found some. Got some creosote (thanks Mum! ) & dabbed all the perch ends with it & around the edges of the nestboxes. Not too much as it's so smelly. It's cured at least 4 hens from being broody though!
I even had the blasted things on me after cleaning them out! (makes me feel itchy even now. )

[CP]

Redmite are still with us! We've been cleaning & spraying ever since my last post on May 22nd & we knew they were hiding out somewhere untouched by all our efforts to remove them.

Well, we finally found out where - we've had to completely demolish the wooden nestboxes as they were all hiding between the wood & the floor. Ripped them out & there were literally hundreds, probably thousands of the horrible things! Our poor girls!

We've replaced all our nestboxes with plastic ones so at least the redmite will be easy to see & easy to clean off, with no hiding places!

[shepherdess]

Sadly, this morning on a `I dont have redmite` inspection I found them.... My son and I have had a great day, first we gutted the hen house, swept it, henry hoovered it and burnt the dust bag, then we got the garden flame thrower out and nuked the whole of the inside and as much of the outside as we could, taking it in turns to man the hose pipe incase of accidents, followed by a good spray of poultry guard, going to bed it up with just a bucketful of shavings and repeat procedure every few days for the rest of the summer, oh and I was told to only put shavings in the nest boxes and empty them regularly too. All birds dusted, time for dinner... Phew!

[Big D]

I would spray the inside of the coop with a flea spray aswell. Taking particular care to get it into nooks and crannies. And also give it a good dose of Diatomwhen it has dried.
If you buy a good spray it will have a residual effect for many months.

[textilemagician]

Jeepers this is frightening me!! I bought POL's a couple of weeks ago infested (as I find out later) with red mite (I can see the eggs by the vents) but not seen red mites yet in the coop. We gave a thorough clean and dotted somefink the vet gave me on the necks and dusted the dust bath, nesting boxes and perches etc. Didn't sleep last night was contantly iching. Are you telling me I have to de flea myself (and the kids as well) I thought the itching in my hair was pshycological (can't spell that!!)I have no evidence of bites. They also have lice - last time I buy hens from that particular bloke!! He must have seen me coming with a great big novice sign on my head! C'est la vie!

[tweedy]

Red mite is a pain in the ass particulary in nestboxes but for years now i have used plastic ones, 5 gallon water containers with a hole cut in the side so much easier, you can take them out and wash them and never seen a red mite in the nest box since.........try it what you got to lose the hens seem to like them too. :grin

[CP]

We had to rip out all our wood nestboxes as they were riddled with redmite. We now have plastic boxes for them to lay eggs in. The first week they were very hesitant about using them but now they use them all the time.