Baldy bum chickens

[Sue]

Hi John - I did have red mite problems earlier this summer, but I am pretty sure I have eradicated them now. I spray washed the whole house out with PoultryShield twice, plus there is repellant powder in the litter and I dust the birds every few weeks. Now when I clean out, I am scaping every corner looking for traces of them and not seen them for weeks.

The whole flock are in full scale moult now so looking somewhat windswept and interesting. The baldy bums are still pretty bald but feathers are slowly starting to sprout. They are full of beans and laying well, so I'm just keeping an eye on them.

Sue

[deadlyart]

Hello Sue
I've had serious problems with red mite this year and wondered if something like this might be contributing to your problem. These mites hide in the woodwork of the coop during the day and they crawl out at night to feed on the chickens. They are easily missed because when you pick up the hens during the day to check them over they appear quite clear.

John

How did you cure your red mite problem please John, we have them and are managing to keep them down but cant erradicate done disinfectant sulpher candles sparys and we have resorted to nightime attacks to squash the little buggers! seams to be working but would appreciate a night off any ideas please

[John]

Hello Deadlyart
The answer is that I haven't cured the red mite problem but have only managed to contain it! I pressure wash the hen house periodically and then spray with Jeyes Fluid. I do this on a warm sunny day in the morning so the house gets a chance to dry out in the afternoon. I also spray the perches with Dethlac - this is a surface lacquer, not a space spray, for crawling insects. The hens get a good dusting of mite powder before they go back in the evening. This is controlling the problem but doesn't seem eliminate the mite.
I've seen good reports on Poultry Shield that Sue mentions so that's my next line of attack. The few places round hear that sell animal stuff don't have it so I'm going to get some by mail order.

I think that part of the problem is the design of hen houses. I used to have a home made house of 9" planks nailed together with no structural timbers inside and a steel corrugated roof. It was easy to clean out and there were few hiding places for mites. I never had problems then. My new posh hen house has lots of internal woodwork and a felt roof and the mites have become a serious problem because they have so many hiding places.

John

[Sue]

I can recommend Poultryshield. I got it mail order. It dehydrates the mites so takes a day or so, but then the house is littered with dead ones You dilute it in water and spray the house, making sure you get right into the joints. I did the repeat spray a week later to get any new hatchlings. Most of the other stuff you can buy deters mites but doesn't kill them, so I just use that as a precaution in the litter and on the birds.

My hen house is homemade but I got rid of my original felt roof and replaced with with corrugated Onduline roofing. Felt provides the perfect mite habitat and you can't get under it to spray.

Like I said - been watching like a hawk and have not seen any mites for weeks now.

Sue