Reds under the Bed!!!

[Suechooks]

THEY'RE BACK
Did my normal morning "under the perch" check this morning after letting the girls out and there they were - red mite again. There was nothing yesterday.
I creocoted at the end of last year so guess this is a new influx.
There were only a few at the end of the perch but they were well fed!
Onward and upward - let battle commence

[walldanzig]

I felt itchy reading this

[Suechooks]

Me too! I've been eating my breakfast itching all over!
Going back to the lottie to creocote the perch ends and dust the chooks and spray both coops with Poultry Shield and scatter the diatom!

[Nicos]

Yikes!!!

Well spotted!

[frias]

Have you tried Smite? First year I had the girls, there was no sign of red mite. Second year I found a few, mainly because I'm able to check the coop late at night and run my fingers along the perches. I've been using Diatoms and cleaning coop out with ***** fluid but was bit worried about the fumes. Since using Smite I haven't seen any. (Hope that's not famous last words!)

[Suechooks]

Yes Avril I do use Smite. Its in my daily spray from now on! I also use Poultry Shield, Diatom, *****, Red mite powder.........oh yes and Creocote! The annoying thing is the hut I found it in this morning never got it last year! All the huts were creocoted last summer but I have too many at the moment to be able to do them all again at the moment. Have another run to finish then I might be able to regroup them temporarily and redo the creocote. I did the ends of the perches this morning and left them in the sun to dry quickly. Just hoping I've caught it in time. Its WAR from now on!

[frias]

I thought I had it sorted with Smite. Seems as if nothing will keep these blighters away. Back to my midnight wanderings it is then.

[frias]

Famous last words it was too! Couple of night ago I was really late going to bed and did my usual check on the girls. RED MITE. Anyway OH removed perches and they were blowtorched then sprayed with ***** fluid, then Smite. The whole coop was treated the same inside and out. (Would like to try Creocote too but haven't got anywhere else to put the girls.) Decided not to use shavings in the coop, just newspaper so not so many places to hide. Have just been and checked and killed about 20, which means there's a lot more I'm sure. The blighters are just walking through the Diatoms I sprinkled on the newspaper too! My neighbours must think I'm bonkers outside at midnight apologising to the girls for not managing to rid them of these parasites. The thing is, if I didn't check so late at night I wouldn't have a clue as there's no sign of them during the day or even at 10pm. They're waiting till later to come out of hiding.

[Suechooks]

Little s88s! You just can't relax with them can you! I'm constantly spraying down behind perch rests and any added bits of wood since I found them last year behind the perch rests put on by the manufacturer!
The diatom abrades the outer casing so probably takes a short time to kill them as its not a chemical killer.
Keep up the good work

[RichmondHens]

We've got them too. Just in our oldest house though, all the others are sealed well with silicone, there is nowhere for them to hide. At the moment the colony is limited to a couple of patches the size of a 5p which I squish. I had a broody sitting in the nestbox so was reluctant to creosote but now she's off we'll be getting the paintbrush out again.

[frias]

I think having a broody doesn't help. Mine got off the nest yesterday after sitting for a month. Lots of dead bodies this morning. (Mites not broodies)They are just so tiny though. Have to use a magnifying glass to check. These seem to be lone rangers as I haven't actually found a colony. Don't know where they hide during the day.

[Suechooks]

I had lots in the joins of the nest boxes which were made of plywood and also on the joists where the boxes touched the side of the hut. That was last year before the creocote onslaught which I almost poured into any spaces! They can hide in the grooves of the tongue and groove too! Like RH I'm making any new coops with ply and silicone sealer! Also ditched the wood nest boxes and use cardboard boxes which get chucked at weekly "bottoming out" or sooner if necessary!

[SuzyB]

Ive found mites too, damn things - broody isnt very happy about the cleaning regime going on around her, but worried that she's a sitting target. Soon as she's done, I'm investing in a new house that will be creocoted before its put together!