When we first got the girls and a pretty little wooden coop I’d never heard of red mite. After joining some online forums they became my biggest fear.
Nasty little vampiric mites that live in the crevasses of wooden coops and hop on the chickens whilst they are roosting at night, slowly draining their life blood.
We had a full year mite free, then the dreaded day arrived. Whilst cleaning the coop out one morning I removed a perch and there they were, tiny little red dots, full to bursting from feeding off my poor girls. We researched online, read books, spoke to more experienced chicken owners for advice. Once heavily armed with information we started the war.
We dismantled the coop and sprayed it thoroughly with heavy duty insecticide, (and had to leave it 12 hours to dry out)…….they came back.
We covered the coop and girls with DE powder, (which many chicken keepers swear by)……..they came back.
We put garlic and apple cider vinegar in their water and sprayed the coop with a mix of oil, water and washing up liquid. We tried everything suggested, (however ridiculous it sounded to us), because I wasn’t letting anything hurt the girls.
It was (is) a war of attrition, and slowly but surely it’s started to work. The numbers of mites are slowly dwindling, and we’ve had nothing obvious for over a week, but I won’t let my guard down, (little blighters can stay dormant for up to 8 months).
The way to tackle problems is head on. Research, ask advice, then act, and keep going until it’s resolved to your satisfaction. Don’t hope the problem will go away on its own or that someone else will deal with it.
Chicken Nuggets 