Do you have such a creature as Red Mites,if so how do you deal with the blood sucking nasty little blighters.

-- Rooster (nicholson.p@btconnect.com), August 17, 2001

Answers

Response to Do you suffer from red Mites in the US.

sounds like chiggers,, little buggers that dig in, and crawl around,, just under your skin. Dont catcht them, if you can. If you do,, then,, I think its alchohol rubbed into the skin quite often kills them

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), August 17, 2001.

... but they don't have chiggers in the UK (I think).

Pesticidal dust is fairly common, and works well for any mites. Use protective gloves and clothing while applying it, then wash well afterwards. Mites can also get into poultry legs - get under the scales, irritate them, cause them to exude serum, legs get huge and bloated - called scaly-leg. If so, applying oil (baby-oil, cooking oil, even warm vaseline!!) is best: suffocates the little buggers. Maybe several applications of whatever, warmed, to soak all the way through the dried crusty material. Even sump-oil has been used and works, but it's poisonous and irritating and better not.

-- Don Armstrong (from Australia) (darmst@yahoo.com.au), August 17, 2001.

Re: leg mites.... My niece (a veterinarian) had no idea what I was talking about when I told her my chickens had leg mite. The veterinary community tends not to concern themselves with such a minor animal and affliction. Our treatment was to bathe the legs with sudsy warm water and scrub lightly with an old toothbrush. Then dip legs in vinegar and water and massage in Bag Balm, coating fairly thickly. we used Bag Balm because it has antiseptic properties as well as being so greasy like Vaseline. Then the roosts were scrubbed and painted to help with reinfestation. Insecticidal dust in the litter would be of benefit too. Sorry Rooster, red mites are an unknown to me at this point.

-- Alison in N.S. (aproteau@istar.ca), August 18, 2001.

Red Mites are alive and well here in New Zealand. They are insidious little mites who quietly sleep during the day in cravices along the roost ends and in cracks etc (anywhere they can hide) At night they wait for the sounds of the hens coming to roost and out they come to suck their blood. They do not remain on the hen but as you can imagine the hen irritated by them. You can check for them at night by shining a torch on thr roost, squish them and theres blood fresh from the hen. We paint after cleaning with creosote but this is not available in the states. Other ways are with kerosene and oil. Hope this helps. Chickymum

-- Karen Holmes (gnkholmes@hotmail.com), August 18, 2001.

Thanks for the truly international responce,what we do is every time we muck out our birds we creosote at least one wall of the house, choosing a different part each time,perches and perch ends are a regular.I just thought an easier less nasty way might,(excuse the pun),be available.

-- Rooster (nicholson.p@btconnect.com), August 18, 2001.

My chooks/guineas have never had lice/mites/scaly leg. I sprinkle food grade Diatomaceous Earth in the pens and leave piles of the DE around for the birds to dust bathe in.

South Central Texas

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), August 18, 2001.