Mites....AGAIN

[Chicks Galore3]

Northern fowl mites. They had red roost mites last time.

 

[21hens-incharge]

My only experience with mites was the northern fowl mites. They are just nasty.
I would suggest spraying anywhere that wood touches wood. I found a lot of them in the joints at the corners in my coops. I also changed from wood mounting the wooden roosts to metal mounting the wood roosts. Less likely they will hide there from what I have read on them.

Good news is they are quickly killed by the permithrin spray in the corners. Like dead in there tracks quick.

 

[Chicks Galore3]

Whew, good! Red mites are SO hard to get rid of!

 

[21hens-incharge]

I hope it works out for you. DO have plenty of ventilation while cleaning and spraying inside the coop. Make sure the spray has dried before the chickens come back in it too. It is some strong stuff when you are confined with it.

 

[Chicks Galore3]

Will do - I'll open as many doors and windows as I can and wear a mask.

 

[coobreeze9]

Has anyone tried white-washing the inside of the coop to keep infestations down ?

 

[21hens-incharge]

You are talking about the lime wash method I assume.
I have not tried it but in the olden days it was common to use it in barns to deter insects. I think it would work.
These days folks wanting the look do it with a stain so that method I would think would work only as well as painting the coop.

I think the lime washing would be the way to go if one were inclined to do so.

 

[coobreeze9]

Yep lime-wash. I have read a lot about it,but it seems like only a few have used it on this site.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I think the trends moved away from using it once it was fully understood how caustic it is to do.
Personally I have painted the inside of my coop after building it and I caulked the places the ends join the sides.
Long process but worth it so far.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I think the trends moved away from using it once it was fully understood how caustic it is to do.
Personally I have painted the inside of my coop after building it and I caulked the places the ends join the sides.
Long process but worth it so far.

x2

We painted and got into crevices as best we could...that helps...just keeping fewer crevices, then keeping poultry dust down and honestly I've seem to see good result from the natural Orange Guard (orange oil spray)...no proof other than absence of mites...we have tons of small ants here, and that really works on them (seen proof) and I read up that it should work on the mites as well...any small insect except spiders like brown recluse.
LofMc