Chickens are not naturally clean – they foul houses AND nest boxes.
It gets a good cleanout once a week.
And a top to toe super valet and repair in the Spring and Autumn.
If you are canny, the weekly cleanout takes about twenty minutes, or less!
The trick to quick and easy cleaning is to store everything that you might need within a few feet of the chicken house.
Two large barrels or a large aluminum grain box.
Mite spray, bedding, diatom powder, oyster shell, grit, newspaper
many happy hen houses just have newspaper spread on the floor.
Red Mite facts ...
<!--[if !supportLists]-->·
- do not live on humans
- Can cause dermatitis if not washed off as soon as possible.
- hate daylight
- they lay their eggs in dark nooks and crannies
- most active at night
- transmit or cause
- Rickettsial Pox, Scrub typhus, Mange, Scabies, Dermatitis, Pruritis, Tsutsugamushi disease and other diseases
- only attack domestic poultry and pigeons/wild birds
- can survive for up to 8 months between blood feeds
- about 0.7mm long with an oval body and is normally yellowish brown in colour (before feasting red afterwards).
- in warm weather they breed very fast
- can live in plastic chicken houses
|
What are red mites?
- a parasite that lives in your chicken house
- they feeds on birds whilst they sleep at night.
- They feed on all parts of the chicken including blood, feathers, skin and scales.
- infestations can result in
- poor health, low egg production, weight loss and occasionally death
<!--[if !supportLists]-->
Life Cycle of Red Mite
- feed for one and two hours each night.
- live in cracks/crevices in the coop where they deposit eggs.
- mite larvae hatch 2-3 days after being laid
- egg to adult is 7 days
- even without a food source Red Mite can survive for 8 months
<!--[if !supportLists]--> |
Spotting the signs
- reluctance of the hens to go into the house at night.
- a build up of a grey dust in the coop
- dust on the floor and in the timber joints.
<!--[if !supportLists]--> |
Red Mite eradication
- clean out the chicken coop
- consider using a blow torch, careful not to set fire to it
- you could use a steam cleaner
- or a pressure washer
- use a non toxic product – Poultry Shield
- (breaking down the mites waxy coating on contact, so they de–hydrate and die)
- thoroughly drenching the coop, and allow to dry
- you could try smearing paraffin and vasaline in the crevices
- or carbolic soap
- some say coke is also good
- follow the cleaning with Diatom Powder
- (Diatomaceous Earth fossilised highly abrasive to the mites’ waxy shell, so cuts it open, causing the mite to de-hydrate and die).
- Diatom can also be used directly onto the bird.
- Pay particular attention to perches/nest boxes/dark crevices.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->
<!--[if !supportLists]-->
<!--[if !supportLists]--> |
Red Mite Prevention
- avoid a chicken coop with a felt roof!also
- use Barrier Red Mite Powder – insect repellant
- Barrier Red Mite X Concentrate – disinfectant
- Follow with Stalosan F
- a powder disinfectant that destroys worm eggs, coccidial occysts & larvae. Anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral action, highly absorbant and will help to reduce the ammonia smell created by the chicken's droppings
- If your birds are showing signs of aneamia or are looking unwell then give Lifeguard® Tonic or Poultry Spice
- Provide your chickens with a dust bath with some added Diatom in – the chickens enjoy themselves and the Diatom protects when those red mite hop on at night!
- Although not licensed for use on poultry in the UK, Frontline or Ivermectin is also judged to be a good for lice/mite control – although these will only deal with the adult mite and should be used in conjunction with other measures.
<!--[if !supportLists]--> |
