I went on holiday for a couple of weeks to come back and find one of my chicken houses was full of red mite! Not just on the ends of the perches but in every crack and crevice and in every corner. Red Mite are notoriously difficult to remove once they get a grip on a chicken house. When the weather is warm, red mite multiply very quickly and before you know it, you’ve got a serious infestation to deal with.
Dealing with a serious Red Mite outbreak.
So how do you deal with such a serious red mite infestation? Normally, for small numbers I would wash the house down with poultry shield and use a number of other red mite products here and there to kill off these unwanted visitors but with so many mites in the chicken house, more serious action was required. Here’s what to do:
Allow yourself a good couple of hours…
- Clean out the house, remove all loose bedding material. Strip the house down as much as you can. Remove as many parts as possible including pop holes, automatic pop hole openers and anything else that will unscrew easily.
Cleaning the chicken house to remove red mites
- If you have a felt roof, remove this – yes, unfortunately you will need to re-felt the roof. If you don’t you will find millions of red mites will still live happily under the felt.
- Using a high pressure hose / pressure washer, wash the house and parts down. Get the spray in every crack and crevice. This will take about 45 minutes if done properly. If you miss a crack, hundreds of mites could be hiding in there so it’s really important to ensure you get into everywhere possible. The spray will bounce back and soak you at times so wear old clothes and be prepared to get wet.
- Wait for the house to dry 10 to 15 minutes. Now look at it carefully – you should see red mites crawling around. These are the guys you missed that are coming out because they have been disturbed and are wet.
Spread generous amounts of Diatom on the bedding material.
- Go over the house again from top to bottom, again concentrating on the cracks.
- Repeat the above process as many times as necessary until there are very few mites coming out. The more you remove, the better. Even small populations can multiply quickly.
- Put your house back together. If you had a felt roof, leave re-felting until you are mite free for a couple of weeks. A temporary waterproof material should be used – plastic is ideal.
- Add fresh bedding material as you would after cleaning normal.
- Sprinkle a generous amount of diatom onto the bedding. The manufacturers recommend 500g per M2 which is quite a lot.
- Put a handful of diatom into your hand and rub it
Diatom should be rubbed into perches
into each perch, taking particular care around the ends and the underside. Whenyou have finished it should be white and smooth, like a gymnasts bar. Red mites have to crawl over this to get to the chickens at night.
Monitor the house for a few days, particularly on perch ends and re-apply diatom to the perches every couple of days or as soon as it starts to wear off.
If you have got into all of the cracks successfully, you should notice a drastic reduction in the number of red mite in the house – if you still find reasonable numbers, make up a spray mixture of poultry shield and spray onto these areas using a hand held plant mister.
Continue using diatom for a few weeks until there are no more signs of red mite.
 Click to see Diatom products on Wells Poultry |
You will find an article on Red Mite with lots more information on the main poultrykeeper site, there are also other posts about Red Mite in my blog – (select ‘Red Mite’ in the Tag cloud to see them) including My Top 4 Red Mite Products
If you have any other tips on controlling red mite or would like to leave a comment then please feel free to do so below.
You can buy Diatomaceous Earth from specailist poultry product suppliers – for example Wells Poultry.
I usually buy a large tub around 2KG as shown to the right but I also bought a small puffer bottle / shaker that is useful because you can refil it from the big tub making it easier to apply and less wasteful.
#1 by james cowell on August 28, 2009 - 10:22 am
what happens if you have contaminated your home. I have read they cannot reproduce without an avian hos, in which case though they may be a nuisance for a while they will die out naturally over a period of time. I have read this could be 36 weeks. Is this information correct?
#2 by Tim Daniels on August 28, 2009 - 12:46 pm
I have never heard of a home being infested with Red Mite. I would consider using a household insecticide (flea treatment) spray on the infected areas. Indorex is one available from vets. Yes, Red Mite can live off their host for 6 months – I have tested this – they stay white but still live… They usually only crawl on you and make you itch but they can also get a blood feed off other species, including us…
#3 by Caroline Fabian on September 9, 2009 - 8:17 pm
We have a mega problem – we have some chickens in coops (rare breed flighty birds) and our lovely hens who are free range and give us lovely eggs. These 10 birds roost at night in one of my stables where they can get up high and I shut the stable doors at night to keep them safe.They lay their lovely eggs for us in the manger.
Having finally realised that we have these mites (even tho we have had them crawling all over us for 10 days or so) durrh!
We have found the birds somewhere else to sleep tonight and have dusted them with red mite powder.
The coops will be dismantled and sprayed with creosole (?) tomorrow – we will not put the birds back until they are safe from the mites.
What i wanted to ask was – what do we do about the stable -it is brick and is connected to 3 others, which have my goats , pigs and the end one is used as a feed store for my hay and feeds etc…
How do i clear them.. is it possible and …..
Will they be crawling all over my goats.. also I have geese… will they have them too. What should i treat them with.
Sorry its longwinded but i want rid of these horrible creatures asap and will do whatever it takes.
Thanks
#4 by Tim Daniels on September 9, 2009 - 9:04 pm
The new ‘Creosote substitute’ will not work… Red Mites are very hard to get rid of. See our Red Mite Article on the main site for some ideas – but basically I would try to pressure wash the cracks and crevices out first – or use a steamer like you use on wallpaper. Look for them – they are usually found near to where birds roost as the mites feed at night in cracks – look for grey / dust coming from cracks as well as the mites and concentrate your efforts around these areas. They will be localised to where the poultry are at night and maybe in the nest boxes too. They normally only bite poultry so your goats should (hopefully) be ok. They can have a blood feed from other species though sometimes. Ducks and Geese don’t usually get them because they don’t sit in one place at night and their feathering is tighter and they don’t roost but I would check their sleeping quarters all the same. If you want any more help, feel free to pop into our poultry forum where there are lots of people who have had these nasties. Good Luck.
#5 by Caroline Fabian on September 13, 2009 - 8:59 pm
Update:
Ive washed houses with jet wash and soaked with Jeyes – then have soaked several times with strong Poultryshield.
Powdered as much as i could, powdered chickens, sprayed chickens with Frontline – new wood shavings, put them all to bed.. only to discover they are still there – not as many but enough to do some damage.. so have resprayed every day… I cant think of anything more to do – ill keep spraying until i dont see anymore and then.. ill keep spraying just to make sure
Thanks for your help
#6 by Tim on September 14, 2009 - 1:33 pm
Diatom takes a while to work – if you powder the perches, rubbing into the perches daily or as often as required, the mites have to crawl through it to get to the birds. After a while (a week or so) I found the odd mite sat in diatom along a perch, tapping off, it is dead and doesn’t crawl.
It does take a while for a heavy infestation – keep the diatom going. Spraying poultryshied is fine but remember it is a contact spray so must come into contact with the mites.
Another thing to remember is eggs will hatch after a week – so new (very small) red mites will be present for a while.
Mites can survive a long time without a feed – but while the chickens are there, they will still try to feed and should eventually meet their match with the diatom.
Good Luck.
#7 by Mandy on September 21, 2009 - 8:58 pm
My chickens keep getting mites, We have power washed down the house, nesting box etc sprayed everything with poultrysheild everyother day & every eve powder with diatom everything including chickens & they still keep coming back.. Can anyone tell me what else I can try & why do they keep getting them??
#8 by Tim Daniels on September 22, 2009 - 7:49 am
It does take time. I have checked this house several times over the last week and finally they seem to have gone.
You must ensure there is no infestation left that hasn’t been pressure washed – eg under felt roof. Washing down then waiting for the house to dry will bring more out – they will be crawling around – re-wash until there are very few left – this can take a couple of hours to do properly.
The diatom must be re-applied to the perches regularly. You must be generous with it – they say 500g per M squared on the tub. Some tubs are only this size. I buy in 5Kg tubs as in the long run it’s cheaper.
It will take a few weeks but you must keep checking at night and look where they are now going (you often find a small clump of them in a diatom free area) and look to see if they are still on the underside of the perches. Don’t give them a diatom free path to your hens – keep the perches well dusted and slowly the remaining few will die off.
There are other things you can try – take a look at the RED MITE article on the PK homepage for other ideas.
Good Luck!
#9 by Carol on September 27, 2009 - 6:31 am
I have just treated a chicken house with Creotreat, an oil based wood preserver, in order to get rid of a heavy infestation of red mite. It worked a treat!! Having painted into all the cracks mite emerged and died within a couple of minutes – was surprised how many there were! Also painted the ceiling rather that remove the felt – found this has worked before. Thanks for the tip on Diatom Tim! Have used this product before and not found it to have the clout required. Also keeping goats and pigs I have found some goats and young pigs are susceptible to chicken mite, esp. when housed in winter quarters where chickens also roost. I use ivermectin inj. Crovect, and Battles mite powder. My main building is approx 100 feet long, not a small task when cleaning and getting rid of mite, also traditionally constructed with straw insulated roof LOL! Working on it and vigilant ;0)
Since finding the red mite in a small out building, and treating it, I have been itching like Billio!! Changed clothing and showered, will not go away, no sign of mite. Would add, this is the first time I have had red mite in my birds for over 50 years, change in weather is bringing about seldom seen infestations together with those not common to the UK. Kind regards – enjoy your birds folks!
#10 by Leigh on September 30, 2009 - 11:11 pm
Thanks so much for all this. Am just experiencing first red mite infestation, which I am ashamed to say has taken me over a week to recognise. The mites are crawling all over the place – have just been out to wipe everything down (it’s an egloo), change bedding, and smother the edges of the nesting box with vaseline. Am planning Armageddon for the little buggers in the morning.
#11 by Gill Davis on October 5, 2009 - 10:00 am
Thanks for all the info. I have just read about Smite has anyone tried it? Also when the coop is power washed – don’t the red mites just live on the ground and then reinhabit the coop?
#12 by Leigh on October 5, 2009 - 7:32 pm
Update: have, so far, managed to eradicate the mites from the chicken house (an Eglu), using a combination of Barrier Red Mite Concentrate at 20:1 (a natural mix of essential oils – completely safe), followed by Vaseline everywhere, followed by a heavy dusting of diatom – particularly on the perch ends and in the nesting box, but everywhere else too. I also moved the house about fifteen feet from its previous site. Only six mites spotted on the first evening after cleaning, and only one seen on the five nights since. Am planning a second thorough clean-out tomorrow, and every five days for at least three weeks.
Two notes about red mites and Eglus:
1. There seems to be some defect in the moulding process, meaning that many of the surfaces, when closely inspected, can be seen to be pitted with mite-sized holes. I smeared Vaseline over these having spotted some little red blobs hiding in them.
2. The main parts of the Eglu are hollow, with nice big holes (~10mm) through into the cavities, including one that can only be accessed by unscrewing the whole thing and taking it apart – what the manufacturers were thinking, I just don’t know. There is no way of accessing these cavities, and no way of knowing what’s lurking inside. Dumb design, or what? I filled the holes with Vaseline, after squirting in a (un)healthy dose of Red Mite Concentrate.
My only major problem now is that the mites are in the house (my house), and are biting me at night. Have also treated the bedroom as though it were a chicken coup, but it’s not working yet (chicken coups don’t have mattresses, pillows and carpets…). Any further advice gratefully received.
(Sorry for such a long comment)
#13 by admin on October 6, 2009 - 10:40 am
Gill – No, many of them get displaced a long way from the house in the spray – You can check there are none crawling up the legs of the house as it dries – I haven’t seen them doing this but if you find some are, you can put vassalene around the legs as a barrier.
Leigh – I have never heard of a house being infested. What I have found is they will crawl on you (and itch like crazy) but once you have a shower, they are washed off and do not bite you. They can live for 6 to 8 months without a feed but unless they feed cannot multiply so lie dormant – this should mean that any carried into your house may live for a while but have nothing to feed from and other than crawling on you and itching should can’t feed from you so do not bite. I would check they are actually red mites in your house.
Whatever it is that is biting you could be killed off by using a house flea spray from your vets – there are several available that are too strong to sell over the counter so have to be sold by vets – they are not cheap – £14 or so for a can – follow their instructions but usually if you spray this over the carpets, around the edges, cracks and so on and leave the room, door closed for a while it kills fleas, mites, ticks and so on.
#14 by Amanda on October 7, 2009 - 7:40 pm
Totally amazed. Once i knew what to look for there were millions. I did as you suggested and striped the coop down taking off as much as i could. There were millions, i steam cleaned the hut. After 4 hours they were still pouring out in black rivers. In all the cracks in the tongue and grove. Just wished I knew what i know now, I wouldn’t buy such a well made hut. We smoke bombed the hut, and still found that some had survived. I have put vasaline in all the screw heads, crackes, joins and any rough wood. I used the diaton over all
the bedding and purches. Each hen has also had a dust bath in the powder. Not sure if i’ve got rid of them all but, i’m on the way. The hens are now laying twice what they did before in just a few days. I would recommend washing all clothes straight away and showering, because the mites get everywhere.
I also sprayed the whole hut with poultry spray.
#15 by Tim Daniels on October 8, 2009 - 6:19 am
Keep up the diatom Amanda! – you will really be amazed if you look in a few nights to find there are still some crawling on the perches…that’s what usually happens even though most of us clean very thouroughly. If you rub down the perches every few days for the next few weeks and keep diatom dusted around you should really get rid of them. Now the weather is cooling, they will go dormant so be wary next summer when it warms up again as even a small clump of mites will become thousands in a week!
Sounds like you had a big infestation! Hope you didn’t have a felt roof or it’s off with the felt!
#16 by Larry on February 9, 2010 - 12:51 pm
Hello from Canada, My wife and I help my parent to run a large organic free range egg farm with over 1000 hens. We have mites and have come to understand you can’t completely get rid of them not on our size too many barns (4). We have found that 1 cup of sugar, along with 1 cup food grade 35% Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) mixed and sprayed as a light wash on every surface of the barns and equipment will kill mites on contact, but not eggs so you have to spray every 3 days. The sugar makes everything sticky so you then take a hand duster and dust every surface with diatom. We also put peatmoss mixed with diatom in large tubs as dusting bowls. Again we do this every 3 days if there is a breakout and if the mites are under controll every week. Hope this helps.
#17 by Tim Daniels on February 9, 2010 - 1:32 pm
That’s a useful tip, thank you. Diatom really does seem to work, it’s just not a fast ‘knock down’ and takes a while I’ve found.
#18 by Shala on June 5, 2010 - 7:47 pm
Unfortunately, I found red mites this morning while changing the bedding in the nesting boxes. I’ve cleaned them out and dusted them with Sevin 5%. I’ve read that I can also dust the chickens with this also, which I plan to do. My question is… can you still consume the eggs if Sevin 5% is used?
#19 by Tim Daniels on June 7, 2010 - 9:21 am
I’m afraid I have no experience using Sevin 5%. I would imagine the pack would state that you must not consume eggs if it was a problem… There may also be a safety data sheet available from the manufacturer.
#20 by ellie on June 14, 2010 - 8:32 pm
Hi all
been really useful to read all the tips on red mite – a problem i’m currently grappling with. I’ve disinfected the whole house with mite killer and I’ll definitely get old of some diatom. I just have a question that’s probably a bit silly, but how do you properly dust your hens with red mite powder? I tried earlier and it ended up being some kind of slapstick farce! One of them is quite happy to be held and given a liberal dusting but the other 2 didn’t like it AT all and only let me do their backs before flapping like crazy and escaping leaving me looking like a snowman covered in powder! I wanted to get some on their chests as I’ve noticed them pecking themselves a lot there but can’t get it there. In the end I gave up and put some in the dirt they use for dust baths hoping that’ll get to the spot eventually!
#21 by Tim Daniels on June 15, 2010 - 6:42 am
I have just dusted down my chickens for red mite / lice with powder – it can be tricky to keep them still and I would suggest someone holds them while you do it. I sit on a step and place the hen on my lap, with her legs / feet firmly between my legs. You do have to grip them quite hard or they will pull away. Next, place one hand on top of her wings and let her calm down. You should then be able to sprinkle powder on the neck and back and then, rub it in. Lift the feathers if you can when sprinkling the powder. Next, lift a wing, then the other and dust under the wings and down the side. Finally, turn the hen onto her side holding her legs with one hand. Keep her wings tucked into your lap and then dust the breast, bottom area.
If you have a helper, they can cover her head / eyes with their hands to calm the bird and stop powder going near the eyes when you dust the neck. Good Luck!
#22 by ruth h on June 29, 2010 - 9:51 am
i have been battleing with red mite for five days, this website has been a great help along the way. I tried several things on my own before i found this web page. I first decided to try baby oil! i squirted baby oil in all the cracks of the houses and waited a few mins, all of a sudden thousands of mites appeared and i poured boiling water on them killing them instantly. next approach was a pet shop bought mite powder wich worked but not really affective, i put a small bowl of water inside the house at night and in the morning there were thousands of mites dead in the bowl. third approach was a water jet spray with bleach i blasted all the houses waited fot them to dry and then covered them with diatom, i also covered the birds and put some in their food, i looked the next day and could only see around 10 mites altogether. i then bought mini fortefog fummer (miniture fumigators the size of a coke can) from ebay. u lite them n throw them into the houses and they kill everything even in the cracks. my war with the red mites is over for now and i won. all i need to do now is keep appyling poultry shield and diatom to prevent further infestation. i lost 2 beatiful pollands to these mites and i sure as hell wasnt gonna loose anymore. It is awful wen they crawling over u, they cant bite us but they can bite our chickens and it is a horrible excistance for them to have these creatures invading their lives. ther best thing to do for your birds is never give up keep fighting, although its unpleasant, they cant hurt us but they can kill our poor birds
keep up the fight.
#23 by Graeme on July 4, 2010 - 9:25 pm
Reply to Ellie, the easiest way to powder your chickens is to hold both their legs firmly in one hand then turn them over to hang upside,at this point they will flap so hold them at arms length so as not to damage thier wings,the flapping will stop after a few seconds and your bird lay there quietly with her wings out and her feathers loose from her body, this allows easy application of the mite powder to the underside of her wings, neck, legs and vent, this ordeal for her will be over in a couple of minutes and you know she has been properly treated with the mite powder goodluck
#24 by Paul on July 9, 2010 - 8:19 pm
yes we have had a a serious red mite infestation due to the warm summer, so out with the blowlamp and burn the buggers , strip down the hut , remove the roof felt as they like to hide under that and go along every joint , crack ,join ,and edge , go along the frame and if possiable do the underneath as well, being carefull not to set the hut alight, go for a quick cup of tea , come back and repeat as there will be zillons of the bloody things crawling about as they come out when they sense warmth, the best time to get the mites is at dusk , just when its getting dark and check every evening for at least a fortnight as the mite eggs will have hatched out with small white mites running eveywhere , just flick the blowlamp over them to kill them, but remember to be carefull and remove the birds if possiable, preciveice is the answer and after a short time you will get rid off them.
#25 by catherine on July 12, 2010 - 8:48 pm
Help!! i clean the coop out weekly and have discovered the dreaded red mite!!! unfortunately my dog was havin a good sniff in the nest boxes at the same time and now has the horrble critters on her! will they feed off her or will they just die?…..ive heard frontline doesnt really work on dogs for redmite! what about my house?! iwas njoying a cuppa on the sofa on;y to have one of the critters ceawl on me! will they just die off or is there something i can put in my house to help get rid!!!! tomoz is death day for the critters! out willl come the blow torch! satisfying and deadly ha ha
#26 by Tim Daniels on July 13, 2010 - 6:04 am
Red Mite won’t bite you or your dog – but they will annoy you because they crawl on you and make you itch…
The best way to get rid of them is to wash your clothes and shower after being in the chicken house.
The blow torch works well but be carefull – don’t leave it on the wood for too ong or it will burn it. I would also consider other treatments too – they are notoriously hard to get rid of. Their lifecycle is 7 days or so – so try to repeat treatments before then to break the cycle and reduce numbers. Red Mite only reproduce after they have had a feed so removing the hens to another house for a few weeks is another good strategy.
Good Luck.
#27 by linda heasman on July 13, 2010 - 11:44 am
Red mite, I am having nightmares about them.
Has any one tried ‘total mite killer’ made by Nettex in a concentrate. I have sprayed with it once after poultry shield didn’t appear to work. I have spread builders lime on the ground around my henhouse as I was finding the evil mites were on me as I walked to the hen house!
I read somewhere this kills bugs on the soil surface. Anyone heard of this working?
#28 by kate.chicks on July 13, 2010 - 11:59 am
hi every one.. like so many of you, we are suffering the red mite. the house is scapped clean every day and washed and powderd every couple of weeks, but still they come. the fear had by many is also one of mine about what effect these mites have on us and our homes.my three yrs. old is really cross because i have stopped her collecting eggs, i dont want her itching like i have. any way is it possible to treat young chicks, they are nearly three weeks old, in a brooder we built by the poultry magazine design.
#29 by Tim Daniels on July 13, 2010 - 1:00 pm
I haven’t tried Total Mite Killer. As with most of the products, Poultry Shield included, you need to get the mites covered and there will always be some hiding away. You need to wash the house out several times – With Poultry Shield, I soak everything, then keep a stronger solution in a garden sprayer and every night spray the cracks / perch ends again. It can take a good few weeks to be ‘Mite Free’ and if you have a hiding place for them (Felt Roof?) it can be impossible and you can only just manage the numbers until the colder weather comes.
Diatom is the same – you have to keep it dusted around and rubbed into the perches (like a gymnasts bar!) so the mites will have to crawl through it to get a feed. A few days later they will dry up and die but you must keep up the treatment, every night or two.
Remember every mite you kill in the space of 7 days will not be reproducing… if you treat every 2 weeks, the Red Mite that survive the first treatment will have multiplied again several times by the second treatment…
Lime can be used to clean ground and will probably stop the mites but it will also burn the chickens feet so do take care.
#30 by Tim Daniels on July 13, 2010 - 1:15 pm
If they get on your arms when collecting eggs during the day then there’s quite a few of them in the hen house. I would strip it down as much as you can, wash out with a product like Poultry shield, power wash / hose and dust the nestboxes / perches with diatom – this is an organic product, so will not hurt you or your daughter when collecting eggs.
Now the important bit… repeat, repeat, repeat no longer than 7 days apart – this is the life cycle of a mite – so as mentioned in my last comment, if you only treat every couple of weeks, they will have multiplied several times and you will be back where you started.
One thing I have just recently tried at a school was dilute bleach – They certainly don’t seem to like that – Anyone else tried it? It seems like a cheap treatment if it works although not so organic but relatively safe if dilluted. I finished off by pressure washing and then dusting with diatom. I will post an update to my blog when I see the results.
#31 by june on July 15, 2010 - 11:48 am
dear tim thankyou for the info reply to my last email , can you tell me if these mites will live in the soil in the chicken run and if they would be in a fir tree over hanging the run in which pigeons have nested this year, don’t suppose you know how long they live do you?
#32 by Tim Daniels on July 15, 2010 - 12:45 pm
I have never found them living on the ground or in the soil. I have washed thousands out of the chicken houses and have not seen more than one or two climbing back up the legs of the house, even at night.
They cannot multiply without a blood feed. They usually live close to the birds (perch ends / nestboxes being a favourite) since they have to crawl to their host at night to feed. I think they would probably live in the pigeon nest / tree to feed from the pigeons but would go no further than this.
Red Mite can survive off a bird for 8 months or so – I have tried testing this theory by leaving some in a hen house last year to find them looking rather grey in the spring but still alive.
Watch out for my new blog post later on my top 5 red mite products! Good luck.
#33 by Angela Rowe on July 26, 2010 - 8:07 pm
Thank you tim for this site. I have just started the major clean up of red mite by power washing the chicken coup. Tomorrow I will bliss it again, try the baby oil someone else suggested and sprinkle with the diatom.
We have a home made chicken coup made our of pallets and old doors so I am slightly concerned about the number of cracks and crevices where the mites are hiding, but I did spend along time with the pressure hose so hopefully I will get there. Do I also need to wash down the outside of the coup and the arc attached to the coup. I don’t really know how far they spread. Will I also need to put something down in the places where they take mud bath (there are quite a few)?
How often do you need to change the bedding, is it every couple of days or every week as normal? I presume you need to sprinkle the diatom on the bedding every time you change it. This is going to be very expensive, is there a cheaper way of dealing with the infestation. I have ordered a couple of kilos of diatom and would rather use this just to sprinkle on and around the perch and not put in bedding every time i change it.
Thank you for all the useful info.
Angela
#34 by Tim Daniels on July 27, 2010 - 6:23 am
Red Mite will live in the house but not in the run – this is because they (like vampires…!) hide away during the day time in the dark and come out at night. You may find them crawling around on the outside of the coop if they have been disturbed but they are not normally found on chickens during the day. I have from time to time found the odd 1 or 2 on a bird but it is a rare occurance. Dust baths will help your birds rid themselves of Red Mite and you can sprinkle diatom in there as well.
Yes, you need to use diatom after you have cleaned out – but I tend to concenterate on perches and perch ends more. The ultimate aim is to get the mites to crawl through the diatom and then a few days later they are history. They will avoid it though so make sure you rub it into all sides of the perch. I tend to concentrate on where I’ve found clumps of mites (usually perch ends in my houses) and where the mites have to go to get to the birds at night (perches for me). I have one house that always seems to get the nest boxes infected yet there seems to be no problem in the others.
I still clean weekly but if they are living in or near to the bedding then change the bedding sooner.
As for the cost – If you do it well, it can get rid of them in a few weeks. Keep checking and re-wash the house if necessary, if left longer than 7 days, they can multiply very quickly again. After a few weeks, you can reduce the amount of diatom you use and just dust the perches. I find the perch ends / cracks stay dusted for a good while anyway. Keep monitoring the house weekly then until the weather goes cold and then you won’t be troubled again until next May…
#35 by Angela Rowe on July 27, 2010 - 10:06 am
Thanks for the reply. I will got out again today to rewash the house and put diatom down.
#36 by Angela Rowe on July 28, 2010 - 2:06 pm
Having spent all yesterday hosing down the house and after five attempts thought I had broken the back of it, until today where I find the same number crawling around the hut inside and out.
i have tried using the blow torch again and everywhere they are crawling out of every crack and crevice which there are many. the house was made from old pallets and nailed together. Inside there are even bits of chipboard and they seem to like hiding in the edges, as well as bits of wood which have split in places. I am just wondering with so many hideaways for the little mites. Is there much point trying to get rid of them or should i accept defeat?
If I am going to persist then I will see if the heat gun might be more effective. I am also curious to know if the mini fortefog fumer would get rid of them. Diatom is down but i suspect i can’t get it into all the cracks.
#37 by Tim Daniels on July 28, 2010 - 2:46 pm
They do seem to keep coming out of nowhere. This was why I liked the pressure washer method so much – you can spray the cracks and seriously disturb them and wash them away. Wait 20 minutes and you’ll find there are more coming out again… so re-spray… and so on. I did this for a few hours, kept going back and washing them away until there were few coming out. Then I let the house dry and rebuilt it / put diatom on perches etc.
If it is really bad and you can’t get into some of the house, you may be better off burning the house and starting again. Alternatively, take the house apart as much as you can and then spray them.
It is never easy and people battle with these things for weeks on end. I have know people burn a house to find them in their new house within a month so you have to keep watching and treating as necessary.
#38 by Vanessa on July 30, 2010 - 5:30 pm
Alternatively, you could all try a Doodlehouse. It comes apart completely and you can hose it down and put it together again. It’s a really clever design and just slots together with no crevices at all. I have one and have not had a problem with red mite. Apparently the Doodlehouse website is being re-launched and will be running again soon. I bought mine off ebay but I don’t think they sell there anymore.
#39 by Lizzie Pick on August 13, 2010 - 8:45 pm
Hi
We are baby sitting some chickens and last night one just died. No predator got into the coop (or not that we can see) and the other 3 chickens seem to be o.k. After reading your page, we have been out with a torch to look for red mite but couldn’t see any of the common signs. Do you have any ideas? All the chickens were laying daily and looked healthy.
Thank you for any help you could give us.
#40 by Tim Daniels on August 14, 2010 - 5:37 am
Hi, I’m sorry to hear you have lost a chicken, especially not your own.
To be honest, it is very hard to suggest what it could be without a PM (Post Mortem) – Chickens can catch many different diseases, some of which show symptoms, some of which don’t. Egg Peritonitis for example where an egg ends up trapped inside the bird often doesn’t show any signs and there is very little known about tumours which can grow and kill chickens very quickly. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help but it sounds like you are doing all you can to check the common problems.
Worms can cause lots of damage and death without many visible signs but the owners should worm their chickens regularly to prevent these sorts of problems and would not expect you to do this.
#41 by Yvette on August 16, 2010 - 8:15 am
Thanks so much for your article on how to get rid of a serious red mite infestation. I didn’t realise I had red mites until the egg production dropped right off, but there seemed nothing wrong with my hens. I cleaned out the house to find red mites everywhere – I confess I hadn’t been as diligent in my cleaning as I should have been!
After researching on the internet I came across this article and followed it as best I could. It has taken over 5 weeks but yesterday, there were just one or two mites here & there, so a huge improvement.
I just used my garden hose on a ‘jet’ setting, as we have 5.5bar mains water pressure – seems to have worked OK. Sprayed with Poultry Shield, put Diatom powder along the perches, in the nest boxes and in the tray under the perches (as a few of my birds seem to prefer to sleep there rather than on the perches!). I dusted the hens I could catch with Red Mite Powder but there are 3 that I just end up chasing around the run and probably causing them stress, so have given up with those!
Egg production is still not what it should be but I can find nothing obvious wrong with the hens. I have 9 hens but am only getting 2-6 eggs a day. Is it just a question of time? I thought I may have stressed the birds by catching them & powdering them?
Anyway, I am most grateful for your article. Thank you.
#42 by Tim Daniels on August 16, 2010 - 9:03 am
Thank you for the kind comments – I am so pleased this has helped you.
I know you’ve been treating the house for 5 weeks but do keep up the diatom – those 2 mites can turn into thousands in just a few weeks so it’s important not to let them get hold again. I’m sure you’re an expert at treating the house by now though!
For the lack of eggs – the next thing I would consider is Worms. Have they been wormed recently…with Flubenvet??
Worms reduce the amount of eggs chickens produce amongst other things. Incorrect diet (for example, a diet with insufficient protein or over feeding), lack of calcium or grit.
On the subject of feeding – fat hens don’t lay eggs… and too much mixed corn will make your hens overweight (the maize is very fattening) and lack sufficient protein (Wheat is around 10%). Stick to no more than a handful per hen per day in the late afternoon and do not feed too many kitchen scraps (no more than 20% of their ration).
All of that said, chickens egg production is at a peak in the spring and egg numbers can dwindle in late summer, before they stop laying and go into moult.
Without knowing the breed and age of your hens, it’s hard to say if that’s ‘normal’.
#43 by Yvette on August 16, 2010 - 12:52 pm
Thank you for your reply Tim, and for the advice regarding the Diatom – I will definitely keep it up.
I did give a course of Flubenvet about 6 weeks ago when the egg production went down and the food consumption went up, before I realised I had red mites. I then assumed that the problem was more to do with the red mites, but finished the Flubenvet course anyway. I don’t think I can give them another course yet can I?
They are still eating quite a lot of layers pellets compared to what they were eating back in the Spring: 10-12 large handfuls between 9 hens. Normally I give 1 large handful for each hen, but this seems to run out early afternoon so I have increased it a little. Maybe it’s because I have a couple of new hens who are only around 26 weeks old who are extra hungry! I did wonder about worms because they seem to be eating a lot. I do give them some kitchen scraps but not every day and not too much. I try to vary what I give them too – a little bread ‘coz they love it, leftover veg and some weeds from the garden. They get a small handful of corn late in the afternoon too.
I have 3 RIR, 2 Buff Sussex and 2 Light Sussex who are all around 16 months old and 2 Speckled who are 26 weeks.
3 of them have lost feathers on their backs (from an enthusiastic and rather clumsy cockerel who has now gone!!) which are now regrowing so this could account for their increased appetite possibly and maybe for the lack of eggs?
Although I have had the hens for over a year now, I consider myself very much a novice. I have learnt all I know from the internet really and am very grateful for these sort of websites. Thank you so much.
If you are able to throw any more light on my egg production I’d be very grateful, but appreciate you must have many messages to reply to.
#44 by Laura Loo on August 17, 2010 - 12:45 pm
Hi Tim and Blog, We have a serious mite infestion for the last 6 weeks in our own house brought in probably by the dogs and ourselves, as we were all very scratchy all over and definately getting bitten by them and no amount of scrubbing would remove them. The hens are much better and we have treated their house and our house with tonnes of Diacom and meds from the vet for the hens – I have to say, we resorted to even putting Diacom on ourselves at night on areas where we were really affected as well as bathed nightly in this american organic product called Kleen Free which is working so far, so less itching and crawling sensations at night so far. I think the Diacom is amazing, and definately the best product around. I also agree with Carol above regarding a different breed of red mite, as our case sounds identical as so many other bird mite sufferers in US and other places with a hotter climates. I would really like to know if there is anyone on this blog that has had their own home and body infested and how they dealt with it. We are getting a steamer for the houses and are praying for a very cold winter to kill them off and going to keep our heating off, but so far vets and doctors have very little knowledge about these new breed of red mites that definately reproduce on and bite humans. It is frightening if this strain of red mite really takes affect in the UK and Ireland, as it is very nasty, tough and reproduces at a bionic rate. Thanking you in advance! Laura from Ireland
#45 by Tim Daniels on August 19, 2010 - 6:40 am
Hi Yvette,
I have been giving this some thought over the last couple of days and:
- I would feed pellets ad-lib to make sure they are getting enough. They should eat 120g or so per day per hen, more for males.
- Greens are fine, as much as you like but watch too many scraps – ideally mix with layers mash – watch the bread, it is low in protein and feathers and eggs are 80% protein! Makes sure they have oystershell grit for calcium.
- I think you should be ok for worming, however if they are on old ground or the same piece of ground that isn’t clean / muddy I would worm every 3 months at least
Keep on top of the red mite and they should then be in top shape
Unless your girls are from a utility strain (one that is bred / selected for egg numbers and very rare these days because you have to trap nest and record results of hens..) then their egg numbers are probably just about normal for the time of year, perhaps a little on the low site for these breeds.
#46 by Tim Daniels on August 19, 2010 - 6:47 am
Laura Loo, I have heard of a few people that have had their house infested with Red Mites now and I didn’t believe they would live for long, or multiply away from their hosts but after doing a little research, it appears they will feed from other species, including us if they can’t get a blood feed from birds.
I have been giving this some thought and have spoken with some people at the University of Newcastle – I will post a new blog post soon specifically about getting Red Mite in your home so please check back in and leave some comments on that post with your experiences…
#47 by Yvette on August 19, 2010 - 7:08 am
Thanks Tim, it’s so helpful being able to get some specific feedback….and maybe someone else is asking similar questions so it may help them too!
The eggs have gone up in the last couple of days to 7 and seeing as 1 of my new POL hasn’t started laying yet (though I hope she will soon!) I think 7 out of 8 is OK, especially as some of them are growing new feathers too.
Your advice on the feeding is helpful – I confess I haven’t actually weighed out the food so will do that today! I do give them oyster shell grit too.
Unfortunately they are always on the same ground (space limits) and it is basically gravel (to stop it getting too muddy, and they ate the grass that was there in about 2 weeks!!), but with a lot of wet weather, this isn’t always easy! I will keep on top of the worming too as this is something I haven’t done properly.
I will be introducing my 3 ‘chicks’ to the flock in a couple of weeks when they will be 16 weeks old, so this will give me another challenge no doubt!!
Many thanks again.
#48 by Emma on August 21, 2010 - 9:52 pm
Hi Tim and others,
I would be really interested to know if the red mite can survive in your home as i think i’ve become paranoid that they can, after finding 1 crawling across the page of my latest copy of poultry magazine…how appropriate, whilst i was reading it in bed the other night!!! I have just had a breakout in both my houses which i am still in process of tackling but one problem i am finding hard to deal with is that in one house none of the chickens will pearch, prefering to sleep on the floor, dont own a pressure washers as yet but am using diatom and just started using the poultry shield this week, amongst all the other sprays and powders known to man!!
Also does Diatom also work on lice? I purchased half a dozen new chickens earlier on in the year only to find they were infested with them and am still powdering them with lice powder which seems to keep them down but not totally get rid of them, i did even resort to giving them a bath on one of the hot days we had a while back!
Many Thanks
Emma
#49 by Tim Daniels on August 23, 2010 - 2:47 pm
Hi Emma,
I didn’t believe they could but after some comments from people on this post and a little research, there are some cases emerging where they do infest your house.
Take a look at this blog post I made with my findings: Are Red Mites infesting your home.
#50 by Pam on August 25, 2010 - 11:13 am
I too am battling with red mite and lost one of my chickens a few weeks ago,to what appeared to be anaemia caused by the mite. However I have recently introduced two new birds into the coup and after just a few days I found them both dead this morning. One was a white Sussex so I could see the mite on her but could the mite posibly have taken hold and killed them so quickly? I only got her at the weekend. I have been using Diatom but will now follow your instructions and pressure wash the chicken house. I really would like to introduce 2 more birds but am reluctant to do so.