Northern Red Mite Issue. Nothing works

[Samsg1971]

Thank you for understanding. It has been six months of hell with the devil. My family has suffered. My job has suffered. We have suffered financially, and I just haven’t been available because I’ve been so preoccupied with saving my silkies. I have to decide if I have the energy to continue on. It seems like a losing battle but I greatly appreciate your support and advice.

 

[Shadrach]

Sure wish I had caught them early, they got out of hand so quickly, even though I spend hours every day with my birds as they are my pets. I just didn’t realize it until it was too far gone. Anyways, my husband and I spent an entire weekend building the temporary coop. Then we washed 19 chickens in Elector PSP and blew dry all of them because they are silkies and they don’t like to be wet. It took me almost 3 days to do this. Once I moved them over to the new temporary coop. I discovered mites in there too. at this point, I’m considering the burning the coop to the ground idea and not having chickens at all. Even if I were to completely eradicate the red mite who’s to say that a year or two years from now they wouldn’t come back through a rat or a wild bird. I appreciate your advice so much. It is very realistic something I wish I had known before I had gotten chickens.

Not having chickens would be a terrible shame given you've obviously enjoyed keeping them.
The multi thousand dollar fixed position forever coop is a bad idea. I'm not quite sure why that type of chicken keeping is so heavily promoted. I know big walk in coops are convenient for the keeper, and in some climates where the birds are confined to the coop it's a must.
Provided the chickens have an adequately sized run all they need a coop for is sleeping and laying eggs. You can see on my coop page the types of coops I've built over the years. Back here in the UK I have a recycled plasic coop which I've altered which may be an option for you, but with 19 chickens, you would need two of the size you see in the pictures. It cost £500.00 and the extension and alterations another £300.00. We had a mite problem last year because the perches are made of wood, something I intend to change soon. Just with the perches it took a couple of weeks to get rid of all the mites but it's doable with a coop like this.

 

[Lillith37]

The multi thousand dollar fixed position forever coop is a bad idea. I'm not quite sure why that type of chicken keeping is so heavily promoted. I know big walk in coops are convenient for the keeper, and in some climates where the birds are confined to the coop it's a must.

When I had my mite scare it all kicked off by going to someone’s place where they had the infestation in their permanent three sided coop with the fourth open face/walk in. The worst part was that they had two coops side by side for their chickens and peafowl, and then two garages on either side of the coops. The mites had colonised the entire coop and moved into the garages on both sides. It was horrendous and they had no easy way to deal with it.

My coop is a converted tin garden shed with a concrete floor. After the mite scare I changed my substrate to sand over the concrete and made the nest boxes and roosts modular for easy inspection and cleaning. Haven’t had a problem. We put in ventilation at the top protected by wooden eaves made from recycled timber that I treated with linseed. I’m out there every week for “Mite Monday” with my flashlight checking everything. No problems yet thank god.

 

[Penpal]

Family in Texas say that they defeat cockroaches by wrapping the house and letting it heat to a point that it kills the cockroaches. Could you do this with your coop?

 

[Lillith37]

Family in Texas say that they defeat cockroaches by wrapping the house and letting it heat to a point that it kills the cockroaches. Could you do this with your coop?

If you could wrap it properly and heat it hot enough this would work, yes.

 

[McChooky]

Family in Texas say that they defeat cockroaches by wrapping the house and letting it heat to a point that it kills the cockroaches. Could you do this with your coop?

It takes 120 degrees F for several hours )I'd do it for at least a week). Shrink wrap the whole coop in black plastic and seal every seam with tape

 

[McChooky]

Apple cider vinegar kills mites and eggs both.It'll burn your skin so I don't recommend you get any on you.

 

[BDutch]

It takes 120 degrees F for several hours )I'd do it for at least a week). Shrink wrap the whole coop in black plastic and seal every seam with tape

No need to overdo it. The heat has to go everywhere in every crack. Reaching the 120 F everywhere is what you need to aim for. A few hours in a normal wooden coop really should be enough.

Apple cider vinegar kills mites and eggs both.It'lln your skin so I don't recommend you get any on you.

Never heard this one before.

 

[BDutch]

As you know we all do things differently. I have a wooden coop and use DE for prevention. Did work splendid for 8 years, but over the years I got less careful checking and had 2 mama’s with 9 chicks in the laying nests. If it’s warm you have to check the ribbed paper at least twice a week.
Even a mild mite infestation was very inconvenient in this situation.
But I managed to take control and eliminate the mite completely within about a month.

If you are interested you can my experience from last year from the bottom of page 10:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/bdutchs-bantam-flock-natural-breeding-projects-5---and-6.1574045/page-10
I was pleased with the support and insights from others BYC members too.

I wrote an article about red mites too.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ses-tips-for-prevention-and-monitoring.76285/

 

[Lillith37]

I’ve read good things about thyme and tea tree/eucalypt oils when it comes to controlling mites (and other insects). Not sure about ACV either but I wouldn’t be surprised. These are good deterrents but you need to spray directly on the bug to kill it, so not an effective strategy by itself. The best way to deal with mites is to take a multi-pronged approach.