Eglu after bad red mite infestation... how easy is it to clean, really?

[SunHwaKwon]

SunHwaKwon, Smite is 13.25% permethrin, and Jeyes Fluid is far from organic/natural! Not sure what you think I should be using instead? Our coop has been repeatedly drenched in both of these products.

Oops this is the Smite product that I found when I googled it and I assumed it was what you were using since you were also using DE (usually that is the organic people that use that).

https://www.amazon.com/Supreme-Growers-Concentrate-Biodegradable-32oz/dp/B017MNP2BO

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Sun... you said “they are easy to eradicate...” But aren’t red mite notoriously hard to eradicate?!

Based on what I've read and my experience, they are pretty easy to eradicate. I never used heat in the cracks, I just sprayed them with the premise spray. https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/gordons-permethrin-10-livestock-and-premise-spray-32-oz I forgot to mention to spray the underside of the roosts as well. Also, my roost boards are painted so they wouldn't have cracks for hiding or splintering.

If you have the poultry dust sprinkled on the roosts then they can't get to the chickens without trudging through the dust, thus killing them.

 

[RebsChooks]

Thanks for the recommendation... will try anything right now! When you say “poultry dust” what product do you mean and what is its active ingredient?

 

[Stepnout]

Hello sorry you are having mite issues. As this is my first time raising chickens I have NO experience with mites. I hope I never do.
Back to the EGLU topic.
I researched coops for many months and wanted chickens for many years. I used to have homing pigeons and bob white quail. I always HATED the wooden coops. I live close to the coast and it’s always damp here. The wooden coops were always a problem for me to keep clean and dry.
I decided on an EGLU CUBE. yes this thing is WAY TOO OVER PRICED. For me it was all about ease of cleaning, portability and comfort for my 6 birds. I love it, I love it, I love it.
I purchased the cube with a 3 meter run (9.8 feet). I do not free range due to predators so in my mind the 3 meter run is too small for 6 average size birds. I built a portable pen. I’ll include some photos. This Eglu Cube is so easy to clean I am amazed and very happy. It is as easy to clean as the video on the Omlet site shows.
I have not seen a go up but I would think it would be crowded for your number of birds. Another uptown would be to just buy a cube and build your own portable run.
I hope this helps in some way.
As far as taking the Eglu apart to clean/spray the way it is built I wouldn’t think it would be necessary but again I have no experience with mites.

 

[TelfTheElf]

i coated the inside of my egg box with resin and sanded it down so it is smooth
now i just pressure wash the resin and the water is full of the evil beasties!!

 

[RebsChooks]

Stepnout, so you only spray it down as is, you don’t dismantle and clean each piece?

I would think we will need to dismantle at least for a while for cleaning as they are still around in the garden, and a few in the coop. Due another spray-down and puffing tomorrow.

When I watched the how-to-assemble the eglus video I was thinking, wow, there are loads of places for red mite to hide in there! Screw holes, joins, etc.

I think the Go Up is fine for my 5 banties as they huddle together in my big wooden coop anyway. And the coop sits in a 6ftx6ft big run and they free range out of that most of the day anyway.

 

[Stepnout]

Stepnout, so you only spray it down as is, you don’t dismantle and clean each piece?

I would think we will need to dismantle at least for a while for cleaning as they are still around in the garden, and a few in the coop. Due another spray-down and puffing tomorrow.

When I watched the how-to-assemble the eglus video I was thinking, wow, there are loads of places for red mite to hide in there! Screw holes, joins, etc.

I think the Go Up is fine for my 5 banties as they huddle together in my big wooden coop anyway. And the coop sits in a 6ftx6ft big run and they free range out of that most of the day anyway.

I just do what the fellow in the video does it’s simple no tools. I use a garden hose and a bristled brush instead of the pressure washer. Here is the link

 

[SunHwaKwon]

IME they don't seem inclined to hide out in plastic crevices.

 

[MatoesTatoes]

Hi RebsChooks, I am new here but also in the UK like you! Lots of the products that the other posters suggest here are not licensed for use here in the UK, which is a pain in the bum, as we cannot buy them easily! However, I too have a running battle with ruddy 'Chiggers' as they are called in our house and have just spent the morning cleaning, spraying and squishing the damn things.

I have several friends who have invested in Eglus, only to find that they have the same problem and I think that once you have them - they are going to wiggle their way in anywhere! It has become for us, over the past 8-10y, a case of keeping them manageable and trying to not let the buggers get us down.

We have tried Creosote, blow torching (mildly successful), Dergal (expensive and mildly good) and more recently a recommended product Perbio Chok (freaked me out with the Novi Chok thing), as well as all the normal DE, Mite powders etc etc etc. on a 3 day cycle.

The best solution I have found is as soon as the weather starts to warm up (around easter weekend I start) and have a good clean out, and unscrew everything I can and spray out the coop with boiling hot water and the bog standard red mite concentrate you can buy that smells like lavender. Blast it in all the cracks and crevices, let it dry and then sprinkle and dust about with DE. You can buy Ivermectin drops for pigeons, parrots and so on and we have started to use this on the chooks, withdrawing the eggs for a week, to be on the safe side. Then repeating every 3 months with the drops. I then clean out my coop every week, inspecting carefully for the chiggers. As soon as they start to appear again, then I wash out every 3 days until no sign of them again! It is tedious and a bit soul destroying tbh but it's the only way we seem to be able to control them at all. My coop & run is quite large and has been left bird tight since the avian flu control a few years back....but still they persist

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Ah, I missed the part about OP being in the UK.