We are still receiving calls and emails about Red Mite control and thought that it would be good to mention that we now have a pack of fumers, which mean that you can get into the nooks and crannies without having to bend or stretch. 

These Blitz Mini Fumers are selling like hot cakes!  They are powerful and make the job of Red Mite control easier, which I know is what you want to hear

The great thing is that they come in packs of 2 so that once you have used the first one you still have a second application, without having to buy more.  We always recommend to apply a product at least twice, as we find that nothing short of creosote will kill Red Mite eggs.  This means that the first application will kill the mites and then in approximately 5 to 7 days you do the second application which will kill off the recently hatched mites.  These immature Red Mites will not be able to reproduce in that timescale so the pack of two will do the job nicely!

If you have one of our chicken houses or indeed any chicken house that has air vents, please cover these as best you can to keep the smoke inside the house.

Our Red Mites sprays are still a great solution, and with our range expanding we can ensure that we can provide even more, very versatile solutions.

We have had a large influx of enquiries with regards to Red Mites, so I thought I would update the blog with some information and solutions.  Unfortunately due to the weather and time of year, it appear that Red Mites have been on the rampage!  There are many other factors as to how mites make their way to chicken coops and houses, such as the bedding used,  and also felt roofs can harbour the little creatures causing a lot of hassle and also expense to the humble chicken keeper.   This is one of the main reasons why all our chicken houses are felt free.

It doesn’t sound too nice but these pesky creatures come out at night and feed off your bird whilst she is asleep.  This is what gives the mites their name, with them being red after they have fed.  In the day-time they generally do not appear this colour, which can confuse some over the name and what they may see in their chicken house or chicken coop.

If you have red mites you will usually notice that the egg production is down, as the chickens will need to replace the blood they have lost from the mites feeding, meaning that they have less energy to produce eggs.  Also they will start to peck each other, usually around the base of the tail, as this is where they will see the infestation.

Although this sounds rather scary, the good news is that if you do have an infestation of red mite then we have solutions.  Our stongest product is the Red Mite Killer Spray which is available in both 250ml and 500ml sizes.  The can states that the spray is effective for up to 6 weeks, however we recommend that you treat the house and 7 days later you treat it again, to ensure that it is free of mites.  We also have Total Mite Kill Liquid, which will also kill the mites in much the same way, however with this spray we recommend that you use it 3 times, every 3 days to see maximum results.

Of course with the sprays it’s important that your birds are away from the house and it is stripped of its bedding etc, with the house being well ventilated for a few hours before returning the birds.

Now if you do not have red mites and are keen to keep it that way then we have a naturally formulated powder, Red Mite Powder.  As it is natural then it can also be used on the bird as well as in the house.

We like to sprinkle this around the perches and the corner edges of the house when we are cleaning our houses, and we are happy to say that we are mite free. 

I know there is a lot of information out there when it comes to red mite control, but hopefully the above will summarise for you what to look out for and to assist in your quest to keep your houses mite free!

Firstly hello to everyone

Being my first blog (hopefully first of many) I would like to say that before I joined P&T I was not the most experienced of people at all when it came to chicken keeping!  I recall many a day in my childhood on my grandparents farm, collecting eggs in the morning, knowing that I would enjoy them for breakfast that day, but that was probably as far as my knowledge went.

Since joining I have learnt so much and I hope that as this knowledge will expand and I will be able to pass it on and assist others with little “tricks of the trade” so to speak.

As Trevor mentioned we have lots and lots of little chicks who have been successfully hatched from one of our new incubators, and reared in the last few weeks.   I have been eagerly watching them and can say, without doubt that they have blossomed under the brooder hen, and enjoyed every mouthful of the chick crumb!  I never knew they could eat so much.

The next stage has started and we have erected a Seabright chicken house and run today, which looks really good.  There is plenty of space in the run (something I would imagine people would worry about) and as the house is raised the chicks will even have more room to run around in.

As new products, special offers and helpful tips come to my attention, I will be the first to pass this information on, however please feel free to email any questions, and if I don’t know the answer, I’ll just ask Trevor!!!!!

As many of you can see I have not posted on the blog for many months due to workload. The good news is we have Claire whom has started to take some website duties and email answering from me so we can both add any information we believe is useful to you all

Over the last months my email has been burning but it has been taking nearley 3 hours a day 7 days a week answering your important questions but over the last 6 weeks with Claire’s valuable help this has been dramatically reduced and allowing me to get more time with my chickens even finally allowing me to get my first beehive last month which has been a dream of mine for sometime.

I look forward to writing to you all again soon, I have just trialed a new cabinet incubator design and hatched 100 chicks I am sure I will be adding my comments on these soon.

Following the amazing success of the first launch of the RCOM 50 Pro, we had sold out before they even arrived so our next batch are due in end of April to Early May but numbers are also running low again, so please book early to avoid dissapointment. We are also currently low on RCOM 50 standard units.

As you may be aware we have been upgrading our website over the last month to make checkout easier for our customers. We have taken on-board your comments and added a customer account option, so once the account is set up, there is no more tediously entering your details every time you place an order.

We have also added a product feedback option on the website, once you have received your product, if you wish to leave feedback just log into your account and view the product again on the site, click on product reviews and leave your comments. All reviews will be entered into a draw in December and the lucky person picked at random will win a free Suro

We also aim to add an option to opt in to an email newsletter where we will send you all special offers for that month and any exciting poultry news.

If there is something you would like to see on the site please email info@pandtpoultry.co.uk as we would love to hear from you.

We have today finalised our new design and alterations to our super popular Dorking chicken house, we have changed the door opening system and ventilation as well as improving the wood quality and increasing the thickness from 10mm to 12mm. We have also added a small chicken run for those days you can not free range your birds. Can be seen at http://www.pandtpoultry.co.uk/index.php/fuseaction/shop.category/categoryid/10

I am getting asked every day how to contact the BHWT? Well please try http://www.bhwt.org.uk/ this is their main website. My main contact is Lisa Pope but i believe all volunteers are very helpful so done be nervous to contact you local agent, please remember they are volunteers so have day jobs and may take a day or two to get back to you. I know you want your chickens today but you may have to wait until their next rescue date, please do wait if you can as it will be very rewarding for you.

Again please do remember they are not a business, they are a charity and therfore please understand this is done in their free time given to the help of battery hens so responce time may not be same day, please work with the volunteers it will be worth it for you

Reviewing the rcom 20 incubators we believe you will get a much longer life from your humidity unit if you were to use ionised water, however we have found over the last 6 months that brita filtered water also aids the humidity unit to work better longer term as we found a low limescale build up.

Please remember to remove limescale after every incubation to also aid the life of your humidity unit.

I am sorry yes our famous 12kg deluxe kits have been delisted due to the problems bringing in all the parts due to the faliures of 2 companies during the recession.

We do however offer a full range of other chicken feeders.