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!

Yes we all have seen a huge surge in all forms of mite this year, it is not our fault but that of amazing weather conditions but treatment is costly so accurate treatment is vital.

We have had so many orders for red mite powder this year which is great for me but overall not good news for you, but correct usage will help you and your birds and save you a few £ and lose me a bit of revenue. Our aim though is also to sell you a product that works.

If you have a chicken house that has thousands of mites or even 100’s then red mite powder will NOT work, this is classified as an infestation. At this stage you must let the birds out do NOT clean the house and use our mite kill spray very liberally then close the house for 60 minutes and let it do its job. The mites are dead. Now clean the house (if you cleaned the house before you were rescuing them by removing them outside before spraying them. Repeat this spraying in 5 days no later than 7 days as all the eggs will hatch and you will be infested again, kill them in 5 days and you have d=broken their cycle, do not spray in 5 days and the first spraying becomes a costly respite only as they are back.

Now you have sprayed the second time the red mite powder comes into effect as a PREVENTION rather than cure, sprinkle small ammounts of red mite powder where the perches meet the walls of the houses and in the knooks and crannies of the house. I work on the principle of mites come down to feed and back up to hide and rest so think like a hungry mite and you will know where to sprinkle and kill them.

Large ammounts of red mite powder are usless, think light dusting on a regular basis and it will work, a large clump makes it ineffective.

Hopefully this will save you a few £, keep mites away and make keeping chickens more enjoyable for them and you.

(Sorry if you have a felt roof on your house the above does not really work as the mite will breed under the felt and you can not treat them, please remove the felt and worse case replace with corragated roofing so mites will not live there then use the method above)

We now offer ivermectin 0.8% mite and parasite killer for chickens. This great product has many uses, it can kill chicken lice, red mite (that bite birds) and as a parasite killer it is also a wormer. It is amazing just 6 drops on the nape of large fowl or 3-4 drops on small fowl and the job is done for you it can be found on our site at Ivermectin .

Like any bird wormer there is a withdrawl period of 10-14 days for eggs for human consumption. If you are also using for red mite, this treats the birds only against mites that bite them. RED MITE are house dwellers so you will need to treat the house as well. Ideally using red mite powder and mite kill spray.

Chickens should be wormed every 3-6 months and this makes the job super easy.

Of course we make money selling red mite sprays and powders but we prefer healthy chickens for our customers. Red Mite will live and breed under felt and you will never be able to kill them off, you will spend £10’s to £100’s on treatments that will never kill the safe eggs under the felt on the roof. Please save yourself money and hassle and stay away from chicken houses with felt roofs. It really is not worth it.

If you have a chicken house with felt on the roof and are struggling with red mite, please please get rid of the felt, mite will live under there and you can not get to them. If you have felt roofing strip it off and try a product called onduline similar to corragated sheeting. Now assuming you dont have a felt roof, we recommend using a red mite powder in the nooks and cracks and around the perches each time you clean the poultry house. This is normally a natural product, ours is diatom earth, which cuts the cuticle of the mite as it walks over it and then it dies of dehydration. If you have a big outbreak it is too far gone for this product and you will need to spray the chicken coop with mite kill spray (Not with chickens in it) this will kill all mite there at the time, you must do again in 3-5 days to kill all the young that have hatched since the first spray. After this please revert to using the powder.