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wellington womble
Joined: 08 Nov 2004 Posts: 15051 Location: East Midlands
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Shan
Joined: 13 Jan 2009 Posts: 9075 Location: South Wales
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wellington womble
Joined: 08 Nov 2004 Posts: 15051 Location: East Midlands
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Shan
Joined: 13 Jan 2009 Posts: 9075 Location: South Wales
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frewen
Joined: 08 Sep 2005 Posts: 11405
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wellington womble
Joined: 08 Nov 2004 Posts: 15051 Location: East Midlands
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NorthernMonkeyGirl
Joined: 10 Apr 2011 Posts: 4630 Location: Peeping over your shoulder
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chez
Joined: 13 Aug 2006 Posts: 35935 Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset
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wellington womble
Joined: 08 Nov 2004 Posts: 15051 Location: East Midlands
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 17 10:24 pm Post subject: |
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I spent a very satisfying hour torching everything I could reach in the small house. Sizzle pop! It's such a stupid design - because it has a pull out droppings tray, it only has a hen-sized door, so it's impossible to get to all of it. Still, it will be some improvement for the poor hens. I was going to steam clean it, but the steamer didn't work. I had to vacuum it first though, because of all the diatom that isn't working clogging up the cracks! I might get a site vacuum, because that was quite satisfying.
The big house is more or less ok, I think the perches were the problem. There is a lot of redmite under accumulated crud on them, so I'm just going to replace them. Then I'm going to pressure wash the problem eglu and flood the ground underneath with boiling water.
The issue now is red mite on the hens. Jenna was checking them as I was torching the house, and the damn things ARE living on them. It was 7 this evening, and it wasn't just the odd one. There were lots on them. I'll try the ivermectin, or maybe frontline if it easier to get. |
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chez
Joined: 13 Aug 2006 Posts: 35935 Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset
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dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 46218 Location: yes
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wellington womble
Joined: 08 Nov 2004 Posts: 15051 Location: East Midlands
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Posted: Tue Aug 01, 17 1:11 pm Post subject: |
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dpack wrote: |
every time i see the title i itch, thanks
.....
boil wash clothes,have a long shower, antihistamine cream is nice:lol: |
Sorry about the itching.
They don't bother me. For ages, I was finding mites walking across my tablet screen in bed (after I shut up the hens at night) and I thought we had head lice, so treated us for that. They don't seem bite me, although I am already on high-strength, prescription-only antihistamines so I possibly wouldn't notice if they did bite!
The mites were in the eglu, which is harder to see into than a wooden house, and I just didn't notice. Poor stockmanship, I know. I did eradicate them, but either the birds themselves or the ground underneath them has reinfected the new house in a big way, in a short length of time. I wish the steam cleaner was working. I'm sure that would do for the buggers. And it would be even more satisfying than hoovering them up.
My other issue is the quail. These are handily located between the garden eglu that is really infested, and the wooden house with the stupid design. They is the odd mite in their houses but the don't sleep in it. I can't see any in their run, but I don't think I could spot then on the ground anyway. I can move them more easily. |
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wellington womble
Joined: 08 Nov 2004 Posts: 15051 Location: East Midlands
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Lorrainelovesplants
Joined: 13 Oct 2006 Posts: 6521 Location: Dordogne
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wellington womble
Joined: 08 Nov 2004 Posts: 15051 Location: East Midlands
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