position coop relative to house, deep litter, and mites - newbie questions

[hobbyNewb]

Hopefully this falls into the coop and run category, and not pests, but I understand if it needs to be moved!

My wife and I are considering getting a small handful of hens (3-4), for eggs but even more for controlling any bugs that may come out of our firewood stacks, as we collect and stage 2-4 cords per year for our wood stove. (We live in the St. Louis area, btw.) I notice a lot of carpenter ants, spiders, and other wonderful creatures climbing out of the wood, and want to cut down on the chances of termites and carpenter ants messing with the house, without using chemicals.

I have a Step 2 cottage kid's playhouse that we plan on converting into a coop, and I will also fence in an outside run to let them get fresh air and sunshine every day (and also eat the otherwise wasted rabbit pellets) when they are not loose. I plan on using the deep litter method, based on good reviews of smell control and this creating good compost.

HOWEVER, since starting down this road, I have heard more than one horror story about red mites getting onto people, and into houses, requiring extremely expensive and complex fumigation treatments to fix the problem. This sounds like a nightmare, and if remotely possible, it makes me question whether chickens are a great idea, due to their proximity to the rabbits (even being suspended from a hutch) and more importantly, their location about 30 feet from my walkout basement door.

How common are mite issues like that??
Does the deep litter method promote more mite/lice/flea issues, with the abundance of bedding?
If I want to do the deep litter method, are there certain measures I can take to prevent the little nightmares from surviving in the coop in the first place? Seriously, the stories I have heard are the stuff of nightmares. If they were really common though, it seems like no one would raise chickens!

As a complete and total chicken newbie, I'm extremely grateful for any tips, comments, or suggestions you can provide. Thanks!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

The red mite is unable to breed on human blood, but will bite humans. So if you collect mites in the home from any source, they will eventually die. They can live for 9 months with no poultry blood meal.

Northern Fowl Mites live on chickens and can live for 3 weeks with no poultry blood meal. Those are the most common mites. It is important to keep your chickens bug free.

Lice are common also, but cannot survive without poultry.

Generally the best thing to do is to get some poultry dust (permethrin) from the feed store. Liquid permethrin is available also. Retreatment at 7 days for mites and 14 days for lice is important.

Toss all bedding and nesting materials with each coop treatment (spray or dust coop at the same time as birds). I use sand so I don't toss anything, just sift with poultry dust. Don't leave a reservoir for the bugs.

The red mite lives in the coop and only comes out at night. So if you are worried about them, simply spray the cracks and crevices and under the roost bars with some poultry-approved insecticide such as permethrin- check your feed store.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

When you treat your chickens for mites/lice, you can do as I do, and get an old sock.

Put the powder in the sock and powder puff under the wings, vent area, and everywhere but the face. Do each chicken this way, and be sure to treat the coop at the same time.

Wear gloves, take shower afterward, wear mask and long sleeves.

Sevin dust used to be approved for poultry and worked great but isn't approved anymore. It is the garden dust 5%.

Some mites will be resistant to permethrin. There is I think "ra- vap" and some other chemicals are available as well for premise sprays.

Generally I know when my chickens have bugs because I get itchy and also their feathers start looking ragged.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

So I would not worry personally about a chicken coop 30 feet away from the house. I would be more concerned about the carpenter ants. That is very close to your home. I would get all that wood off the ground in any way possible. I would get some sort of method of storing your wood such as using concrete blocks and t posts, or make a wood shed/shelter that has a floor off the ground.

Termites are bad too in woodpiles.

So you can turn concrete blocks upright- 4 of them- and then put two t posts through the top holes, so that there are two posts on which to rest your firewood. So the concrete blocks are at each end with the t posts as a bridge. This is a movable woodpile.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I post so many times because my long posts sometimes get deleted.

I hope these posts help you. So in closing, I feel that it is a higher risk for carpenter ants and termites than red mites entering your home.

To prevent red mites entering your home, discourage wild bird nests next to your home, such as in trees right outside a window, or in the eaves of the house. Trim trees so they are more than 10 feet away from your roofline. If you have a window air conditioner, make sure you don't have a bird's nest right outside the window.

If you find a bird's nest, handle it with very long poles and take a shower immediately afterwards, wash clothes on hot water. Keep wild songbirds away from your chickens. Don't pick up wild bird feathers.

 

[hobbyNewb]

How often do you pitch all the bedding? Would you think a deep litter method would encourage mites, or be irrelevant?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

How often do you pitch all the bedding? Would you think a deep litter method would encourage mites, or be irrelevant?

I personally found that I had more mite problems with pine shavings. I use sand in the nest boxes and coop now, and am quite happy. However, we have a different weather pattern here than you. We have warmish wet winters with fog and mist everywhere. Deep litter bedding turns moldy where I am.

Your concern I am guessing, would be regarding frozen poo and how that is handled. If the sand becomes frozen (if it has dampness in it) then that would be bad for them. It is not a warm bedding, in addition, and thus you may wish to view the "got sand you should" thread if interested in going that route, and perhaps inquire there or on your state's thread regarding how people cope with poo freezing in the area you live in.

When I did deep litter, I had to pitch the bedding so frequently since every couple of weeks there was an ammonia smell (that is how you know something needs to be done). Don't tolerate ammonia smells as it can harm the lungs of the chickens.

There are many people who use deep litter (search BYC for deep litter) and love it. They may clean the coop out once or twice a year. They don't claim to have problems with mites. I believe you have to experiment and find what works for you.

Hopefully you will get some other responses!