Hens, Mites and Wormers

PaddyJules

I know this has been asked before, but what is thr best mite killer for hens. We have used johnsons on the birds and have cleaned out house with jeyes fluid, sprinkled with lime and then more johnsons powder. Then repeated twice over the next week and still the little buggers are not all gone. Is there a better stronger powder spray available.

Also, i understand that flubenvet is the best wormer but impossible to obtain in ireland. Any alterntives or does anyone know where i could get some.

Last question - has anyone used Fite Mite which is suppose to be a mite and wormer all in one.

Definately on a mission to kill all the little buggers now.

aonb

FLUBENVET is easily obtained here - I buy it from two feed stores - 1 in Newbridge (Floods) and 1 near Kilcullen.

Where are you located OP?
It really is the only wormer worth using

I believe Old McDonalds the big pet/farm store in Carlow has it - and they do online ordering... If you go to a farm/feed store you could ask them if they would order you a tub. (It costs about E20 but lasts for years - unless you have a v.large flock)

Ive been through the dreaded red mite experience.
You need to dust the hens, then clean the house, then dust the hens, then clean the house until the mites breeding cycle is broken.
Red Mites yes?
I found that wooden coops were the pits for harbouring the little buggers. I bought a cheap plastic dog kennel, and adapted it to a coop. Easiest thing to clean, and have had no recurrence.
SOunds like you have done all of the above - how many hens do you have? Could you move them into a temporary coop for a couple of weeks til the breeding cycle of the mites is broken?

I use DIATOM EARTH to keep them away - I buy it online from organicanimalfeeds.ie - I sprinkle it in every nook/cranny/nestbox - I put heaps of it on the coop floors - then cover with thick layers of newspapers (rather than straw). I sprinkle it in their dustbath, so that it gets in their feathers too.

I havent used any mite killing powders on the hens on the grounds that the chemicals are so aggressive, but someone who has used them will hopefully come along to advise.

(Oh 1 last thing - I found that the mites were collecting most in the area that the perches ends were - sort of a slot there - they used to come out to feed on the hens when they were on the perches :mad: The best solution for that (apart from squashing the little buggers every a.m) was to cover the perch ends thickly in vaseline (cheap in £ shops for a big tub)
Good luck!

PaddyJules

Thanks so much for your reply. Very helpful info. We have 9 hens but are only getting average 4 eggs a day, so suspect it could be a mite problem that is causing this. Very new to this hen world so just learning at the mo.

Will try those places for flubenvet on Monday and also will try the vaseline trick. We have a wooden house so it seems to be a breeding ground for the little buggers but hopefully we will succeed at some point.

Thanks again for your help.

aonb

A hen will lay 1 egg every 26 hours in OPTIMAL conditions - i.e. required number of hours daylight (critical!), proper food (layers pellets type), fresh water, no illness/disease etc

So! with 9 hens, you wont get 9 eggs every day (might get them initially when the hens are v.young and just starting) but work on the 2 eggs per hen every 3 days type rotation.

Mites will reduce the number of eggs as time goes on - the hens are been stressed by blood sucking mites :mad: With a bad infestation, you will find that the hens will be reluctant to go in to the coop, and wont want to sit in a nestbox!

If your coop is badly infested, it would be worth your while to get even a big cardboard box, cover it in plastic & shove the girls in there for a few nights, while you deal with your wooden coop! Anything can be used for a temporary coop - just so long as its shelter from rain/wind and predators. If your wooden coop has a layer of roofing felt on the roof, peel a little bit back and see if there are mites under there (quite likely)

muppet_man

aonb wrote: »

I bought a cheap plastic dog kennel, and adapted it to a coop. Easiest thing to clean, and have had no recurrence.

Hi aonb,
Would it be possible to see pictures of your coop?
I'm in the same battle as OP. I have a wooden, flat pack, coop with a red mite issue. Dusted birds with mite powder, cleaned out coop, dusted every nook inside coop and put in new wood shavings. Taught I had battle won when seen no sign of mites for good while. Cleaned out coop again and put in brand new shavings....all of a sudden mites are back!
Would love see how you converted the kennel as I'm at my wits end.

aonb

I dont have a camera on my mobile, so will get my daughter to take some photos and upload on thurs/fri

Ive been keeping hens for nearly 10 years. I dont have any sheds/outbuildings, so have always used coops. The only time I had mites in that time, was with a super duper deluxe des-res chicken coop that I bought online. Its fantastic looking - 3 lidded nest boxes on the outside, sliding aluminum base floor for easy cleaning. BUT! I had 2 infestations of red mite with that coop!
They are disgusting and horrible. They are a nightmare for the hens and a total nightmare for the itchy/revolted hen keeper!

As I say, I bought a PLASTIC dog kennel from Dunnes - green roof, cream walls/floor Flatpack. cost E39.99. I got my husband who is handy enough to put a door on it - hinges top/bottom are string. Two plastic brush handles made perches which conveniently propped onto 'nooks' in the kennel walls. I added two plastic seed trays, lined with straw for nest boxes. Ive stopped using anything except that bit of straw in the nest boxes - the nest boxes have a layer of DIATOMATEOUS EARTH under the straw. The floor of the coop/kennel has a layer of DIATOM EARTH over which I lay think wads of newspapers (insulation/free/easy to remove/green). There is DIATOM EARTH in every nook & cranny of the walls & roof of the coop/kennel. Havent had a problem with mites since

Having said all that, I have some 9 year old pure breed Rhode Island Reds, that have retired many years ago. They beat up my little hybrids, so are kept seperately in a run with their own 'coop' - that coop is a plywood tea chest!!!!! Ive covered it with a thick sheet of polythene (removable - i.e. not held in place for little mites to move into) Again DIATOM EARTH on the floor of this, with wads of newspapers on top. Never had any mites in this coops...

So! is it the DIATOM EARTH keeping them away? (Google Diatom Earth - its extraordinary stuff!) Or the plastic coop? Or just a bad infestation? I dont know. I do know Ive added a net 'roof' to the run that my laying hens are in to keep out wild birds - may be helping...

They truly are disgusting little parasites - the hens laying suffers, and the hens themselves eventually succumb to all the blood sucking if the infestation is v.bad/left unchecked. Check out the Hen keeping Forum on DOWNTHELANE.NET - there are dozens of discussions on there re getting rid of mites - and products that are useless/useful.

aonb

p.s. (sorry this is so longwinded!) One of the tips Ive read about - especially on downthelane.net (which I follow as there are very knowlegable hen keepers on there) - to get rid of mites, is COCA COLA - the cheapest bottle you can buy!!! It seems the stickyness/sugar gets rid of the buggers!! I havent tried this but it seems, you clean your coop out, then put the cheap cola into a spray bottle, and drench every surface in your coop. You might need to repeat it a day or two later or maybe even repeat twice. At least it will dry quickly, and not be an irritant to the hens. Worth a try for a 50c bottle of cola?! Isnt cola supposed to take the rust off nails etc

Let us know how you get on if anyone tries this?!?!

Aghoney

To clear a red mite infestation, a few days ago we emptied our wooden coop, washed it inside and out with water, including perches and all the hard to reach spots, and after it dried we sprayed it with Frontline Spray. It was recommended to us by one of the poultry breeders at the Portlaoise Poultry Market. We did not spray the chickens with it, just the coop. It has been nearly a week, and we have not seen signs of red mites. Frontline Spray is a prescription product for dogs, and we got it from a small animal vet. Our vet explained that it is not a product for poultry, but he did not see any problem in using it to disinfect the coop itself.

dozy doctor

muppet_man wrote: »

Hi aonb,
Would it be possible to see pictures of your coop?
I'm in the same battle as OP. I have a wooden, flat pack, coop with a red mite issue. Dusted birds with mite powder, cleaned out coop, dusted every nook inside coop and put in new wood shavings. Taught I had battle won when seen no sign of mites for good while. Cleaned out coop again and put in brand new shavings....all of a sudden mites are back!
Would love see how you converted the kennel as I'm at my wits end.

I also had the same issue earlier in the year except my birds refused to go into the house...

I got my stuff online from a website that is based on laragh, co. Wicklow....

There is a powder and a spray and the trick is to do it every 7 days for a period of 3 to 4 weeks... The mites died off and the birds couldn't be happier, but I would suggest that setting as it was a flat pack that you disassemble the epic of possible as this is where the mites were hiding on my coop...

Best of luck...

Reggie.

Another option is to get sheep dip and spray it around the coop after you clean it out. Leave the hens out of it for a few hours and let it do its work

PaddyJules

Is sheep dip safe for using in the house and for the birds? We use jeyes fluid in the house which is probably similar.

Reggie.

PaddyJules wrote: »

Is sheep dip safe for using in the house and for the birds? We use jeyes fluid in the house which is probably similar.

Leave the birds out of the house for a few hours and seal it up. Then let it air for a little while

nekuchi

aonb wrote: »

One of the tips Ive read about - especially on downthelane.net (which I follow as there are very knowlegable hen keepers on there) - to get rid of mites, is COCA COLA - the cheapest bottle you can buy!!! It seems the stickyness/sugar gets rid of the buggers!!

Out with the mites and in with the ants (unless, of course, your hens eat them!)

OUTDOORLASS

Hi Aonb,
I got a veeeeeeery smaaaaal tub, 60g of Flubenvet, for EUR 31.50 from my local Vet.
I wanted to buy it from them as we are in the the Board Bia Quality Assurance for the sucklers, and everything
has to got with a prescription....
I remember somewhere, that u said that you got a bucket of the stuff for EUR20.......
My OH will get a heart attack when the statement comes in.....

aonb

OUTDOORLASS wrote: »

Hi Aonb,
I got a veeeeeeery smaaaaal tub, 60g of Flubenvet, for EUR 31.50 from my local Vet.
I wanted to buy it from them as we are in the the Board Bia Quality Assurance for the sucklers, and everything
has to got with a prescription....
I remember somewhere, that u said that you got a bucket of the stuff for EUR20.......
My OH will get a heart attack when the statement comes in.....

Yikes!
No I get the small tub (60g) of Flubenvet for approx E20
The bucket I get is the Limestone Flour (calcium) which costs less than E10.
Oh well, when your OH sees the statement, tell him it will be enough wormer for about 5 years!! (oh wait, how many hens do you have?!?)
Weigh it out very carefully, weigh out the corresponding pellets (for the day/week depending on how many hens you have) and put a little bit of oil on the pellets, mix well. Then add the flubenvet, stir up well - it will 'stick' to the pellets, and you wont waste any - at that price! Its better to make up the wormed pellets in batches because as you know you have to feed only those treated pellets for 7 days to ensure the hens get enough meds

OUTDOORLASS

Oh Thank God....
They way the Vet Nurse explained it, I thought I had enough just for 1 week.
Thanks for your help.....

PaddyJules

I just got flubenvet too but just want to check the amounts. I have 8 chickens so how much flubenvet should i give them each day. Do you give it to them for 7 days? I was going to mix it up with their layers mash as they eat every speck of that but they dont always eat the dry pellets.

Also - how much layers mash should you give them? Is there a daily weight of food that a chicken should get together with them free ranging round the run.

aonb

Im a relatively intelligent person, but the instructions on the Flubenvet used to give me brainstorms So, Ive cracked the code and have it down pat now:

Put 2kg of pellets (or layers mash) in a container - I put oil on the pellets to make the precious/expensive flubenvet stick to the pellets (otherwise the flubenvet all collects at the bottom of the feeder uneaten)

Add 6grams of flubenvet and mix well.
(Is the little blue spoon 6grams? cant remember that)

Feed ONLY this treated food for 7 days.
In the case of 8 hens, you will need to make up another 2kg at least (if not a 3rd lot?) to feed for the 7 days.

Paddyjules, re amount of food, hens wont overeat - they should have food on demand - I leave a hopper of pellets (its got a 'rain hood') in their run all day (remove food at night or will attract rats) Its better for their crops to not be empty during the day

abutler101

For treating mites in a wooden house the best thing for it is creosote. Completely cover every nook and cranny with the stuff to kill all of them. Then dust everything with diatomaceous earth (smite powder etc) and ant powder (gotten from dealz). I would then use barrier louse powder on the birds. Fill in any joints in the timber with silicon so they won't have anywhere to hide.

For alternative womkers, curazole and flubenol or good alternatives and have the same active ingredient. Curazole is a lot easier to dose with as well, just mix it on to their pellets.

abutler101

aonb wrote: »

I dont have a camera on my mobile, so will get my daughter to take some photos and upload on thurs/fri

Ive been keeping hens for nearly 10 years. I dont have any sheds/outbuildings, so have always used coops. The only time I had mites in that time, was with a super duper deluxe des-res chicken coop that I bought online. Its fantastic looking - 3 lidded nest boxes on the outside, sliding aluminum base floor for easy cleaning. BUT! I had 2 infestations of red mite with that coop!
They are disgusting and horrible. They are a nightmare for the hens and a total nightmare for the itchy/revolted hen keeper!

As I say, I bought a PLASTIC dog kennel from Dunnes - green roof, cream walls/floor Flatpack. cost E39.99. I got my husband who is handy enough to put a door on it - hinges top/bottom are string. Two plastic brush handles made perches which conveniently propped onto 'nooks' in the kennel walls. I added two plastic seed trays, lined with straw for nest boxes. Ive stopped using anything except that bit of straw in the nest boxes - the nest boxes have a layer of DIATOMATEOUS EARTH under the straw. The floor of the coop/kennel has a layer of DIATOM EARTH over which I lay think wads of newspapers (insulation/free/easy to remove/green). There is DIATOM EARTH in every nook & cranny of the walls & roof of the coop/kennel. Havent had a problem with mites since

Having said all that, I have some 9 year old pure breed Rhode Island Reds, that have retired many years ago. They beat up my little hybrids, so are kept seperately in a run with their own 'coop' - that coop is a plywood tea chest!!!!! Ive covered it with a thick sheet of polythene (removable - i.e. not held in place for little mites to move into) Again DIATOM EARTH on the floor of this, with wads of newspapers on top. Never had any mites in this coops...

So! is it the DIATOM EARTH keeping them away? (Google Diatom Earth - its extraordinary stuff!) Or the plastic coop? Or just a bad infestation? I dont know. I do know Ive added a net 'roof' to the run that my laying hens are in to keep out wild birds - may be helping...

They truly are disgusting little parasites - the hens laying suffers, and the hens themselves eventually succumb to all the blood sucking if the infestation is v.bad/left unchecked. Check out the Hen keeping Forum on DOWNTHELANE.NET - there are dozens of discussions on there re getting rid of mites - and products that are useless/useful.

Just to give you some pointers.

Chickens roosts need to be at least 2 inches wide if they are flat and 3' in diameter if they are round to avoid foot injuries and plastic is way to slick for roosts, I would replace them with 2x2 lengths of timber.

Straw is terrible for harbouring mites because it is effectively hollow and gives them a perfect place to move in, wood shavings or chopped straw are much better options.

Hope I helped