The dreaded red mites

[SquigglyLine]

Hi there, new to the forum but I need some advice with these mites. We've had a quite warm winter here in New Zealand and a even warmer spring so far and I've had a serious infestation in my coop. I'm hoping I'm getting them under control for the mean time (still finding them though, early days) and the chickens are happier. I've googled and googled all I possibly can but seem to get conflicting information (no surprise).
So my questions...
1: Will the mites stay alive on me and my dogs? (I currently have a tonne of bites and am constantly having to check myself. Finding them sometimes alive on the sheets in bed. Dogs are itching, have had flea bath and flea treatment applied. I feel like I'm having a breakdown every time I find a live one on me)
2: Will my house become infested with mites, by me and mainly the dogs, walking them in? (the image of bed bug infestations always springs to mind)
3: Do you think caulking the nooks and crannies in the coop where they hide is a good idea?
Any help is much appreciated as I'm at my wits end with these horrible things.
Thanks in advance!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Red mites, a.k.a. Roost mites cannot live and reproduce on a chicken. These mites live, reproduce, and hideout in the crooks and crannies of the coop. At Sundown the Red mites come out of hiding to suck the blood of your fowl.

The only way for your house to become infested with red mites is if you keep the red mites' food source in your house. Are you quartering your chickens in your house? If not you're safe on that issue.

No, I don't recommend caulking up the cracks in the coop EXCEPT for caulking the cracks, & splits up with used motor oil to which a little Permethrin 40% liquid has been added.
It is much easier to make these places unfit for a mite nursery than it is practical to exclude something as small as a mite from your coop.

Oh yes

As you can see from the above image the adult, juvenile, and mite eggs are all in one basket so to speak. In this respect red mites are like bollweevils, just-a-looking-for-a-home. Don't give him one and you will not have red mites.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Chicken mites cannot live on humans. Fleas can, but I assume you know the difference.

Caulking might help--the ones that hide in cracks in the wood can't breed quite as well if you take away their hiding places. I take dog flea and tick spray (the little bottles meant for direct application) and spray the underside and bottom of the nest boxes, then put in new hay for bedding. I like to think this kills mite eggs. Since I haven't seen mites since I've started doing that once a month, I think it's working. I also spray the underside of the perch. Then I lock the hens out for the day.

Of course, the mites that live on the chickens are a different matter, but I hope that the hens can take care of that themselves with a dust bath. If one hen gets a noticeable population, I give her a bath with dawn and a little bit of bleach.

 

[JaeG]

Hi from NZ! There is so little available here but what worked for me was painting the inside of the coop with neem oil diluted 50% with warm water. I only had to do it once. I also sprinkle round 'flowers of sulphur' like you get at the feed/farm store and rub it into the ends of the roosts, also dust the bottom of the roosting bars. It took me 6 weeks to get rid of them last summer (before I discovered the neem solution) and I had a bad reaction to them so had a very itchy Christmas. I know exactly how you feel! DE is a waste of money and did nothing for my infestation - in fact I found thousands of them happily living in the deep bed of DE I had in the bottom of my nesting boxes.

My infestation came from rats who can be carriers - they managed to break into my run. We have a stormwater culvert running through the back of our property and we have huge rats hanging around it.

You can put a dash of neem oil in your bucket when you mop your hard floors inside and make it into a spray to spray around your house if necessary - it's also brilliant for killing fleas but you may get bitten by them the first time you use it. On TradeMe you can get 1 litre of neem oil for $45. Goodluck in your battles!

 

[SquigglyLine]

Thank you so much for the quick replies!! Nope not keeping any chickens in the house. So all the live ones I'm finding in the house will eventually die? Is permethrin a normal thing to treat the coop with? Wouldn't have a clue where I would be able to find it over here. Have plenty of used oil hanging around though. I will be retreating the coop in 6 days to get any newly hatched mites. From what I've read, the mites reproduce after feeding, is that correct?
Ahh nice to see I'm not alone with having trouble finding suitable products here in NZ. Might have to try the neem oil. I have a feeling mine came from the resident ducks of the street.

 

[Ajcoops]

Thank you so much for the quick replies!! Nope not keeping any chickens in the house. So all the live ones I'm finding in the house will eventually die? Is permethrin a normal thing to treat the coop with? Wouldn't have a clue where I would be able to find it over here. Have plenty of used oil hanging around though. I will be retreating the coop in 6 days to get any newly hatched mites. From what I've read, the mites reproduce after feeding, is that correct?
Ahh nice to see I'm not alone with having trouble finding suitable products here in NZ. Might have to try the neem oil. I have a feeling mine came from the resident ducks of the street.

 

[lazy gardener]

I have heard varying reports about red mites being able to survive long term in a house infestation, in such a case, they will feed on humans, and other warm blooded critters. If you are finding them in your bedding and furniture, I'd go on high attack mode: be sure you change your clothing after tending your flock. Wear flock tending foot gear, and do not bring it into your house. You might want to buy the spray intended for managing bed bugs (i assume it would work for the mites) and after stripping your bed, spray your bedroom, the cracks in/around the base board. If you have carpeting, do a deep steam cleaning. Use the insecticide based spray on all upholstered furniture. Mount an aggressive attack on your dogs (topical insecticide) and their bedding as well. Is there any chance that you have mice or rats visiting your home???

Ivermectrin pour on is off label, but can be used on chickens. Do a thread search for how to and dosing. (I believe there is an egg withdrawal time.) It will render your flock "not organic".

As for the coop, have you treated both birds, and coop, removing and destroying all bedding each time, with each treatment being 7 - 10 days apart depending on temperatures?

You might want to call your county cooperative exchange office and get advice from them.

 

[Ajcoops]

Having the same problem in Australia. Severe red mite infestation that came into the coop with straw. The attached photo is of red mite in my dust bath that contains DE, pymethrin dust and wood ash. The insects are thriving in an environment that's supposed to kill them! Day four and I'm still finding them. I heard about red mite and did everything I could to prevent it. Dust bath, painted walls, metal poop decks, perches covered in rubber, sprayed before chickens came but still couldn't keep them away. I've sprayed dust, D.E. insecticides but nothing is eradicating them all. Finally called in a pest controller today who said she could stop them breeding but they are damn nuisance to get rid of. I contacted a reputable poultry breeder of thirty years and she recommended a product they use on sheep to put on the chickens if

the dust isn't working. I'll post a picture of the product.

 

[Ajcoops]

Forgot to mention. Burn any bedding material because they can lay hundreds of eggs and don't need to feed on birds for months at a time. I'm having a problem getting them off concrete. Somebody at backyard chickens here in Aus recommended hemp bedding as an alternative to shavings or straw. I have some coming. I'll let you know if it works. Just hope the chickens don't start dialling for pizza at midnight! The dust you can see in the blue nesting boxes is what the dust looks like. Make sure you use it in your nesting boxes to stop the little buggers.View attachment 1182513

 

[Ajcoops]