chicks and red mite - only 4 weeks old

[tlck9]

HI All

My chicks and her broody mum are in a coop/run by themselves, however I have a red mite infestasion on my other coop and I've found the odd one in the broody coop today.

I have moved them out today while I disinfect it but they will have to go back in tonight

What can I use with chicks so young?

Any help appreciated

[Floyd]

Hi tick,

I'd be willing to bet that if you've found the odd mite or two in the broody coop then there will be far more hiding away I had my first encounter with the buggers this week and it's staggering just how many can hide away unseen....literally thousands! I'd be wary of using chemicals around the chicks personally (although more experienced heads on here may know more about such things than I). I used a spray bottle containing vinegar, washing up liquid and boiling water....it drove the mites from their hidey holes in alarm numbers and I then hit them with the blowtorch to finish them off! This had to be repeated over and over again, took about 4 hours in all after which I drowned the coop with creocote...probably not an option you want to use with young chicks. Can't you house the broody and young overnight in a cardboard box indoors whilst you properly treat the coop?

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

[tlck9]

Hi tick,


Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Dont I know it, we hacked off the roof topper from the main coop couldnt seem to get rid of the mites, to find the whole underside covered in them. I think I have got to the other coop early, but then thats what I thought about the other one.

I have a spare coop coming next week, but I've got a neighbour looking after them for a couple of days, so a box at home isnt an option.

Be back up there tonight cleaning again...took me 3 hours yesterday and another 3 this morning before work....early start!!!

[kirsty b]

I use poultry shield to clean my coop. It's an insecticidal disinfectant, and according to the bumpf on the bottle it's safe to let birds back in as soon as its dry. I'd double check with chicks too. Another product that is non chemical is diomateceous powder. You can put it n the bird directly as well as in the bedding. It is teeny weeny skeletons of long deceased creatures and works by piercing the exoskeletons of the mites causing them to die. Might be that's combination of treatments will work. The warm weather this year has meant excellent conditions for mites to breed, but not so good for chicken keepers x

[Glutton4...]

Get some Diatom, matey - it's a completely natural powder, just puff it everywhere - house and chooks and chicks and all.

[tlck9]

Get some Diatom, matey - it's a completely natural powder, just puff it everywhere - house and chooks and chicks and all.

Got Diatom Parasite Powder big tub (not that I was expecting red mite) big 5kg of the stuff, just worried about getting it on the chicks...but hey ho will give them a blast!.

Although I think my mites enjoy the diatom, i think they eat it! I'm using total mite kill concentrate that I mix up - seems to kill them as I'm washing dead ones out of the cracks

Is poultry shield better?

I've put nettex floor sanitise around the floor as well, but I dont know if that kills mite or just worms

Just my little ones I was worried about...if I can get through the next two days, till I get the new coop I can blitz them with the total mite kill I have and then gloss white the interior - with the other house I can leave it for a couple of weeks before popping them back in - at least any odour will have gone from the paint by then

[kathyd]

I used total mite kill on my coop, and they were back within a few days... I also use diamataceous earth, and that didn't keep them away either, although I possibly wasn't using enough. Could you put the hen and chicks into a big plastic box rather than a wooden coop, stand it on top of a thick layer of diatom? No hiding places in moulded plastic...

I'd creocote all wooden coops to be honest, as Richmond Hens always recommends on here - it's the only thing that seems to work for any length of time. Even after cleaning ours out, I could see escaped mites scurrying away on the floor and into the grass in the garden. I still find them in the outbuilding where the birds are housed, but am hoping that provided the coop itself is properly treated and mite-proof, they'll be OK. You'd need to leave it at least a week though before even considering putting chicks into it, and that's just my guess... I have no idea at what age you can start dusting birds with a pyrethrum based mite powder either - might be worth checking with your vet, and dusting them in addition to your other precautiouns?

I do feel for you, let us know how you get along?

[Scarlet]

Summer months are when the mites are multiplying fast with sitting broodies getting worst hit.
I think you've done all you can at the moment, a really good clean out and powder should work. Although you need to keep on top of it for a few days until their numbers have gone down. Not so easy if youre going away
I'd also put them in a large plastic litter tray as KathyD has suggested with the bedding powdered. Red mites will kill the chicks, so i'd take the chances with the powder.

[RichmondHens]

Diatom is perfectly safe on tiny chicks. Red mite will kill them very quickly so you need to dust very liberally everywhere. With very small chicks liberally dusting just the hen will ensure protection for the chicks. When the chicks have feathered up a bit (like yours) you can dust them individually all over.
Many people complain that dusting is not effective, but it is. You just have to do it properly and regularly. A teeny puff now and again is insufficient. You need to use loads everywhere - on each and every bird rubbed into the skin, a thick layer in the nest box underneath the bedding material, and lots puffed into all the corners of the main roosting area and round the ends of perches.