Mites or Lice - who knows, but want to be rid of them

[Verinda]

I had a recent outbreak of mites, at least I think they were mites. I found them in the henhouse but I also noticed them as little specky white things walking on the outside of the hens feathers. I scrubbed the henhouse and lime washed the inside, I burnt the bedding and dusted everywhere including the hens of course and they seem to be gone, for the moment anyway.

Gorsty I hope you are soon successful in getting rid of your outbreak!

[BUFFS]

[QUOTE=Gorsty;1268680]Hello again folks - the microscope revealed that they are the dreaded red mite in various stages of development I think.

I have resprayed the house with Poultry Shield and dired it out and have now covered the house floor in louse power but don't intend to let the girls inside for the next few days. Have ordered up some Diatom and have even been looking at a new house for them as a temporary residence - I get the feeling that this is going to be a very long battle.

Question - if red mites live in the house and not the girls though, what are the little specky things that I can on their feathers - will the Frontline or louse powder deal with those??

xxxxxxx[/QUOT

the puppy shampoo is very gentle but very effective(and a fraction of the cost and not full of strong chemicals, just rinse very well)..good luck..

[Stubby55]

Mites or Lice.

We've had this problem. Ours was red mites...you can tell this by wiping the bottom of the perches with a piece of kitchen towel...if it comes away all red then it's mites. One of our girls became very anemic as she was broody and wouldn't get off the nest (we lifted her every day and kept her out of the coop for a few hours at a time). We sprayed, dusted, and sprayed and then dusted some more. Finally we invested in a new coop (our laydees are free range so only use it to roost). They spent their first night in their new dormitory last night. Today I've been dismantling the old coop to take to the local tip. Inbetween the tongue and groove, under the framework joints, everywhere I could see, there were clusters of mites, some dead, many not! We are now going to be extra vigilant and spray/dust every week. We also fed our Gracie (Miss Anemic) cooked meat and scrambled eggs (not from our girls cos that would be cannibalism!!) This really helped to get her back to full health.