Painting wood will prevent red mites?

It sounds like you are very aware of the problem of red mites.    Periodic repeating of spraying the interior with a product that may kill any red mites, and/or dusting the cracks and crevices with DE will help.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by sara213 

I'm planning to prime all the wood on my coop with Kilz 2 primer both inside and outside. Then paint a semi-gloss coat over that both inside and outside the coop. 

 

I'm hoping this would prevent red mites from being able the hide in the wood during the day. Also I plan to get cedar branches and use them as roost in side my coop. I will also plan on having Diatomacious Earth in their dust bathing sand/dirt (most likely i will use sand) 

 

With regular cleaning included in the regimen as well. 

A good plan!  Be sure to use two coats of paint over that Kilz primer.  You can also caulk the cracks and crevices.  I did that with mine.

Painter's caulk.  It is used around the edges of windows and doors and gives a much more finished look.  You can find it in any hardware store in the paint dept.  It is great for filling large gaps when the corners of your wood don't come together well.  You squeeze a line of caulk down the crack and then smooth it with your finger.  It is flexible, so when wood expands and contracts with the cold and heat, the caulk will flex with it.

Yes, 

about every 6-months or so, if I had a wood coop (I have plastic) I would dust the inside with diatomeceous earth.  There are other pest/bug "killers" that you could use.....and other sprays, oxine is one that kills virus and bacteria.  I think also that wooden coops require periodic re-painting.  It probably depends on a lot of factors, exposure, the elements, the kind of wood, the kind of paint etc.  but I have heard that every year or two a wooden coop interior needs a new paint job.  I think that this info is from the books.  I think that it is very possible that some chicken coops never get annual paint jobs.  :O)

It looks like this.  You will need a caulking gun to use it.  A caulking gun can be found right next to this in Home Depot or Lowes.  The caulk costs 1.57 and a gun usually runs around 3.00.

Practice using it on a newspaper first.

  Now you got it !!!!!!  DAP, Good stuff.  Get it in colors now if you wish.