Ok, this is getting REALLY terrible. We don’t reckon they are red mites, but we have seen a few red mites on the fence. They are tiny small grey/brown mites and there are hundreds! We used red mite powder on the birds, after giving them a wash in the sink. We also did the whole inside of the coop with poultry guard and still there are loads. Dad went and locked the coop last night, bought in the last egg and he was completely covered in them! PLEASE HELP!
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Hi,
I don’t reckon these are red mite either. As you have said, your dad was covered in them.
Red mite live in the buildings and only come out when it is dark to feed off the chickens blood, you don’t see them during the daylight hours.
So what you have here are chicken fleas, a very different species to the red mite.There is no use using red mite powder as this has no effect as your dad has found out. You must use a louse powder instead.Dust the birds with this and cover the inside of the chicken shed compleatly from top to bottom, wear a suitable mask when you do this also. This powder with kill the fleas.
You should never place red mite powder on the birds unless it states it on the packet.
Get some insect killer…
Remove the chicken and all beddings. Burn the beddings. Cover the coop so that no air can escape. Use a huge plastic sheet. Then get Fumite Mini and smoke the coop. Follow the instructions.
If you have a wooden floor they will live in that so you mite(pardon the pun) want to consider a different material.
Hey, that’s what I’ve been doing all day. I don’t reckon I have red mites either, but there is some grey bug crawling about. I did it the hard way; scrubbing brush, hot water and poultry disinfectant with the whole coop, and went it to the other side of the garden. Then sprinkled red mite powder on the new bedding and the hens.
You could try flea treatment too, the ones for dogs and cats are safe for chickens. And also, garlic in their water is supposed to be very excellent, I haven’t tried it yet, it’s on my list to do, but you just grind up half a clove and add it to the water, most blood-sucking things despise the smell of it.
Oh yeah, and felt roofs! Nobody told me not to have felt, but the creepy-crawlies live under there and you’ll be constantly pulling it up and putting it down again to get rid of the nasties, you’ll be better off replacing the roof if you have felt.
When it gets to the stage that the eggs are covered in the small beggars they have reached perilous numbers.Perilous to your hens I mean as they can die of anaemia from all the blood they suck.
Red mite are tiny and grey. You can feel them crawling in your hair and on your hands but can hardly see them.
I have suffered red mite to that level but now I know the tricks the kill them.You don’t need special expensive red mite treatment.The following works much better and one treatment should do the trick.
Get some Pigeon Spray for the hens and Flea spray for the coop.
In the morning get the hens out of the coop and spray the underside of the perches and then everywhere else inside.Wear a mask! Shut all the windows and doors for at least an hour.The longer the better.Make sure all food and water is well clear of the coop before you spray.
Now get the hens and spray under each wing, round their bottoms and a blast on the chest.Part the feathers.You will need two people to do this but I usually struggle on my own! No one I know likes creepy crawlies.
And thats all you need to do for any kind of mites or fleas.
Pleased spraying.
I found this site useful to keep the chickens clean
http://funzblog.com/chickencoop.php
Red mite live in the coop and not on the bird and are red in appearance. It sounds more like lice.
1. Dust your chickens in louse powder.
2. Give your coop another excellent clean out and use Poultry Shield.
3. Use wood shavings or hemcore/aubiose for nest box bedding. If you use straw/hay you’re providing ideal conditions for parasites to reside and multiply as the straw is hollow inside and provides the parasites a safe haven.
4. Ensure the chickens have somewhere to have a dustbath. This is how they keep themselves clean and keep parasites under control.
5. Add poultry tonic or Avipro to the chickens drink as this will help them to recover.
Hope this helps and excellent luck!