No red mites! Lots of eggs! Paint inside your hen house - WHITE !
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ก.ค. 2024
- Why did I paint the inside of my chicken house? And what's more I painted it white! How crazy is that?
Wouldn’t painting the inside of my hen house make it a nightmare to keep looking clean and neat? Strangely enough, I painted the inside of my hen house precisely in order to make it less work to keep clean and hygienic. And one of the main reasons for doing that is a little nasty called a red mite - Dermanyssus gallinae. And it drinks the blood of chickens!
Although each mite is less than 1 millimetre long, a severe infestation of red mites can drink up to 5% of your chicken’s whole blood volume each night. This constant and repeated blood loss makes the chicken hungry and weak from loss of blood as well as restless and itchy from the bites.
Every night after a blood feed one adult female mite lays a clutch of up to 7 eggs. Two or three days later the eggs hatch into 6-legged larvae. A day later the larva moults to a protonymph. The protonymphs emerge and search out your chickens as they sleep warm and unsuspecting in their hen house at night. Once they’ve had their blood feed, the protonymphs can continue to mature into deutonymphs and then 2 days later into the adult mites, which again seek out the blood of chickens in order to mate and lay more eggs.
In the warm months of summer, this whole life cycle from mite egg to 7 new mature mites can take as little as 5 days. If the weather is warm and there are enough chickens around for the mites to feed on, in just 12 weeks there can be 13 quadrillion mites - that’s 13 with 9 zeroes after it.
But you won’t find any mites on your birds. Red mites only come out to feast on their chicken banquet after dark. When night falls, the air temperature drops and the mites crawl out of hiding and up the birds’ legs, wriggle between the feathers, latch on for about 2 hours feeding on the chickens’ blood. When day breaks, they use pheromones to signal to each other that the sun is rising and the chickens are leaving the hen house, and they sneak away to hide in the crevices in your hen house. Their favourite place of all is under the perch where it’s attached to the hen house wall. This is why I never fix my perches permanently - I always leave them free so I can easily check underneath for even just a few mites, before they have a chance to multiply into thousands. And if the wall is white, it's easy to see any mites lurking underneath.
Plus White reflects and maximises the available natural light, which makes for a well-lit chicken house that the hens are happy to go into, and because the hens get the benefit of the maximum number of daylight hours between dawn and dusk, they lay lots of eggs without artificial lighting.
For more fascinating facts, hints and tips about caring for your chickens, and the sheer pleasure of chickens, subscribe to my channel: Chickens in my garden - New Zealand
/ chickensinmygarden
Catch up with me on Facebook / chickensinmygarden
Or if you are more interested in gardens than chickens, you can follow my garden page / myplentifulgarden
![[TH] VCT Pacific Stage 2 - Playoffs Day 1 // GEN vs RRQ | TLN vs TS](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/JhkzKOhvOps/mqdefault.jpg)
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 70 วันนี้!! คู่เอก "โฟกัส vs สเตฟาน"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_fVieQ89DRQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I have always painted the inside of the coops, I seal all the joints with liquid nails and then paint the inside and outside with "Solargard" exterior paint (best exterior paint EVER). I also keep a tin of "crawling surface spray" (like the fly spray for spiders/cockroaches etc) and spray under the mulch everytime I clean out the poop whilst the chicken are out free ranging. By the time the chickens come back the smell has gone. Since I started doing this I have never had a mite problem ever again. (over 2 years now)
Excellent tip, thanks 🙂
I made a paste from food grade diatomaceous earth and water. Painted it all over the inside, when it dried the DE was back to its silica form. Worked so far, and it's been about 5 years since I did it
5 years is a good long time. So far mine has only been a year, but so far so good 🙂
That sounds like a good idea too.
Gilly wife of Mark
Brilliant! That's a great idea. I am going to try it. Every morning I wipe the perches down and spray everything with a concoction of vinegar, neem oil, peppermint oil, lavender oil and lemongrass oil. They say that helps too.
@@karolespencer everyone morning? 😬
@@faltio69 haha! Yes, it's not too bad. It only takes me about 20 minutes. I scrape the poop into a bucket, and then spray and wipe. The girls seem to poop all in one area, so it's pretty quick to do.
I watched a video by a TH-camr who said that he uses a double-sided sticky tape at each end of the bar the chickens roost on. It traps the mites as they travel to and from the walls to the chicken at night. He said after there are no more mites on the tape he doesn't need to use the tape again for a while but every once in a while put it on again to check for their presence -- and leaves it until there are no more on the tape overnight.. He said he gets sort of an industrial tape somewhere online. I haven't looked for it yet but I'm going to and try to use that also along with my white painted walls with caulk at every seam.
That sounds like a good idea 🙂
Congratulations on being Best Chicken TH-camr Ever..a title I created just for this great channel😊. You do a great job and I really do appreciate you sharing all of your great ideas.🏆
@@amel2784 Aww, shucks, thank you so much ☺
I did a lot of research before building our coop 2.5 years ago. We also painted the inside white for the exact same reason.
So, not so crazy after all! 🙂
My chickens really like it.
people say often: you see the dirt on plain white... I'm thinking: exactly, and you also see when that dirt is gone when you clean it.
I spent about 5 hours looking at diy-plans for a hen house, and then I realised I'm all thumbs and the mites exist, so it's not just about looking good and being sturdy, it also matters if the house is easy to clean while still well ventilated, so we bought a recycled plastic one, happy with it, chickens are also pretty happy with it, there's something wholesome about checking on them in the evening and seeing them get in the coop and get comfy, usually the last one pushes another one off the perch.
Absolutely! Easy to clean is vital! I've never tried a plastic hen house but it seems like a good material. What is their perch made of?
@@chickensinmygarden that's a 36mm pine wood stick, square, rounded edges, the coop itself is not very pretty (nestera) but it ticks all the boxes, chickens are very ok with it, sleep on the perch, nicely next to each other, just enough place for three.
@marcdc6809 They look rather good. The only plastic coops we get here are Omlet.
I'm in the process of building my chicken coop. I will definitely be painting the inside of it white after watching this video. Thank you
Yay! A convert! 🙂
Hi, again a top Video 👍 I also painted my henhouse white inside for many years now and I never had big problems with the red mites 😊.
All the best, Peter from Germany 🐓
Thank you. I thought it was an odd thing to do but today a few wise people have told me that they also did it 🙂
The white really gives the inside light as long as possible in the evenings
Two jobs done for the effort of one 🙂
In the old days a lime whitewash was used to paint trees up from ground to stop bugs crawling up. Out buildings were also whitewashed. God bless.
Thank you 🙂
This video just came up on my newsfeed. This is exactly what we've done to out coop. The mites were out of control. We purchased Elector psp (bloody expensive stuff), treated the coop, and a month later, they were back.
We stripped the coop, drenched it again, and I bought a vapouriser. I poured 30ml in the vapouriser and left that steamer in the coop for a couple of days. Closed the door as they were just coming out of a brood session.
Painted it white and siliconed every nook and cranny.
Crossing my fingers.
The vapouriser is fantastic. I'll be using that from now on as a preventative measure. The vicks vapouriser allows you to put the liquid in the actual container. Cedarwood oil also paralyses their mouths so they can't eat.
DE their laying boxes with wormwood and catnip as well.
Wow! Surely after all that, those pesky mites don't stand a chance 👍
So you put the Elector in the vaporizer and leave it running for how long? As a preventive you'll be using it how often? When you said you close the door because they were just finishing brooding Do you mean that you close the chickens out while it's running or do you leave the chickens and doors with the vaporizer?
@amel2784 until the water runs dry. It turns itself off when it's empty. So far so good. But geez, have we had it bad. Poor girls...I love them so much, and we were going to get rid of the coop and start again, but it's worked so far. In saying that, there must be a better way to treat these nasties.
@amel2784 yes, close the door to them. It's been months now, and the buggers still haven't started laying again. Imagine, I'm paying Australia $14.00 a dozen for organic eggs. I like boiling 4 eggs and mashing them for the 6 girls for added protein. I think I need more girls.
Brilliant! Thank you!
I first painted my hen house nearly a year ago, and my chickens really like to spend time there 🙂
Great idea. Thanks Mum
love the sound effects 😂❤️ and i didnt even know these mites existed!
Thanks 🙂
I hope you are never troubled by them. They are most common in flocks that free-range because wild birds carry them.
Thank you!! I had never heard of these Red mites until this week!!
Lucky you! I hope you never encounter them 🙂
this is adorable
Thank you so much!
Do check out some of my other videos (although there's not so much singing - maybe that's a good thing! ) 😀
youtube.com/@chickensinmygarden
Excellent looking
Awesome coop!
Thanks. I designed it specifically for me and my circumstances but I think there are several aspects that are applicable to many people, so I made a whole series of 5 videos about the design principles. You might have seen them. The first one is this
th-cam.com/video/3VeMh2b-Sos/w-d-xo.html
And the final build is here
th-cam.com/video/lqK1OTAqQAs/w-d-xo.html
Brilliant!
Thank you so much 🙂
I've noticed that flocks that have had red mite have swelling under some of the scales on their legs.
Leg mites cause swelling under the scales on their legs.
It's quite likely that chickens who live in a hen house that has red mites (Dermanyssus gallinae), also have leg mites (Knemidocoptes mutans) and possibly other parasites as well.
I have used a mix of kerosine and boiled linseed oil, it seems to help.
Golly that sounds inflammable. Lots of care required!
@@chickensinmygarden Don't let your chickens smoke cigarettes. At least until the linseed oil drys.......seriously tho. That's the old time way to seal the wood. Much cheaper than paint. No more flammable than oil base paint.
@@chickensinmygarden Yes, I do not let my chickens to smoke in the coop. The mix dries fast in hot weather, I would treat the coop in early morning and keep the chickens out until completely dry. Boiled linseed oil is used on antique furniture and is safe with the caveat that soaked rags can combust. The kerosine is like a clean odour free diesel and diesel does not ignite like gas, it is much harder to ignite. But considering that coops are made of wood and that wood shavings and straw are popular in coops, good fire safety is a given. Really, with any wood farm building, fire safety is important. No candle light diners for my chickens!
Thank you!
So, tomorrow you will be smeared with white paint 😀
@@chickensinmygarden 😂
Brilliant! I am going to try it. Every morning I wipe the perches down and spray everything with a concoction of vinegar, neem oil, peppermint oil, lavender oil and lemongrass oil. They say it helps.
I'm sure that does. And what a lovely-smelling chicken house 🙂
@@chickensinmygarden Yes! It smells amazing!
Made a pallet coop and run then soon as my hens were old enough to lay I added a rooster someone was giving away. Big mistake! I lost 2 hens and had an infestation of mites before I even knew the rooster had them. I'm now gathering material to make a new coop.They'll kill your chickens if you don't act fast. I'm using permethrin in the coop & run & painted it with white wash.I'm giving my chickens Ivermectin orally and keeping oil on their legs.Painting their perches with turpentine & neem oil.I'm burnt out.
🥺
What kind of whitewash?
I too caulk all joints of the coop and paiinting as you, I have also started raping double sided tape carpet tape at the ends of the roosts, not only does catch red mites but its a visual sign if you have any red mites, at first daily changes of tape is needed but soon the numbers go down. then it is just there as an indicator. I tried fly paper on roost 1st. but a very messy job as it sticks on your hands, what a mess i got in! so if there is a wall that chickens roost next to I put a petroleum jelly on the wall to prevent the mites getting that part of wall to birds i use the jelly to smear on any cracks or rough surfaces screw holes or even screw heads! that mites my hide in. another way i am going to try is 3 drops of oil of oregano to a jam jar of cooking oils or linseed oil, and paint bush it the hole coop in spring I'm told this kills mites dead! we shall see
Great video
Thanks! That sounds great!
Wow. We built our own coop and throughout the vuildt, I kept insisting to my spouse that I was going to paint every piece of wood white and caulk every joint for this exact reason. And I did, despite the constant snorting and laughing at how fancy it was for the chickens, etc.. Our chicks are still too small to go in the coop yet, but I'm anxiously hoping this is going to work. I knew I needed to do something when I was standing underneath the large tree, where the coop is going to go, with two doves on a branch overhead, duking it out and flapping their wings at each other. I looked up at them and then looked down at the wood that I was working on and saw a red mite climbing on the wood. I figured it fell off of the birds as they were flapping their wings overhead.
Wow! I'm so glad you stuck to your guns and sealed everything, with so many mites that must be around.
I painted my coop inside with solarguard exterior paint so that it would be easier to wipe clean. I used leftover paint from the house... mixed with a bit of white - it turned out a nice pale lime green !
Lovely! 🙂
I just love your channel! So useful, informative and charming. I have a feeling you were a piano teacher when you were younger. I lined the inside of my coop with white linoleum. Never saw a mite. But there are plenty of predators you don’t deal with in NZ here in northern WI. Wolves, bobcats, coyotes, eagles and more. Plus -20 below zero temps. New Zealsnd sounds so idealic. Thank you so much for your educational channel. It is tops!!!
Thank you so much!
No I never was a musician nor a teacher (I was a laboratory scientist but now retired).
Yes we are exceptionally lucky here in New Zealand. I have utmost admiration for those of you who battle so much greater challenges.
Best wishes 🙂
Go Packers, Hey! Tell your folks I says "Hi" and look out for deer!
My chickens are not Packer fans but they LOVE cheese!!
Thank you for a brilliant idea. My five ladies are in lock-down at the moment due to bird flu so I have time to get painting before they get their freedom. By the way, Polly (the hen who had a prolapse ) is still doing well. X :)
Oh thank you for updating me about Polly. That's so good to hear! Let's hope for a long and healthy life for her 🙂
Interested, I like your content, Thanks Mam 👍
Thanks for watching and commenting 🙂
❤
Good video!
What about the perch, how do you keep the mites off of them?
I could paint it also but so far haven't done so. The perch is smooth with no cracks to hide in so any red mites on a chicken would keep going to find a crack such as under the perch. I also coat it in Neem oil which helps repel insects. Neem oil is sold in garden shops. I mentioned it in one of my earliest videos, which is still popular th-cam.com/video/ba22zDllKUc/w-d-xo.html.
Here in Indiana I had a problem with northern fowl mites . Just awful
Oh dear. But you say "had" so I guess you solved it?
Good idea, did you use gloss oil paint ?
Nope. Just satin finish acrylic. Mostly because I like the water-wash-up and because we had quite a lot left over from previous house painting jobs.
What is the recommendation for safe non-toxic paint to use inside the coop? Thank you.
I used a low odour low VOC water-based acrylic house paint. It's safe for interior use such as children's bedrooms and tough enough for exterior use. And the low VOC (volatile organic compounds) which makes it low odour means there's much less paint smell or fumes. I used a New Zealand brand called Resene but I expect low VOC paints are available elsewhere.
Good luck. I'm sure your chickens will love it 🙂
After watching this video, I got a little creeped out and had to go clean the henhouse. When I built it in 2007, I remember I caulked the interior plywood as I installed it because mites. But today I sprayed clorodane on all the seams....suspenders and a belt can't hurt.
I did kind of deliberately choose creepy music 😀
@@chickensinmygarden well done!
Is it possible to paint a hen house, between egg laying time and chicken bed time? I’m concerned that excluding my hens from their house for a night would upset their routine too much and I’d hate for them to be uncomfortable with nowhere to lay their eggs.
My five hens have a problem with something causing them to loose feathers from under their tails and down between their legs and on their necks. Three of them have really large bald areas. I’m getting worried as I don’t know what is causing it. I did find evidence of these mites and thought I’d cleaned their house enough to eliminate them, but the bald patches are getting worse. The feather loss is like a moult, but without the fallen feathers lying about like there is when they’re moulting.
That definitely sounds like mites to me. But maybe not red mites.If you can't remove your perch, wrap the ends with corrugated cardboard or similar multi-layered material. Then each morning inspect under your perch or in the cardboard for evidence of mites - like grey dust or black dots that go red with blood if you smear it. That will tell you if there are red mites in your hen house.
Alternatively it might be fowl mites - you can see these clustered around the base of the feathers. Or scaly leg mites. These will cause raised scales on the chicken's legs.
If it's fowl mites or scaly mites you treat the birds.
If it's red mites you treat the house.
@@chickensinmygarden Thank you for your advice. I’ll investigate more in the morning.
The chicken you showed laying an egg, is that a Wyandotte?
She's a Barnevelder. Aren't they beautiful! And good layers too 🙂
@@chickensinmygarden Very beautiful!! They almost look like Golden Wyandottes which I just got!
Very similar feather patterns. The Wyandottes will have rose combs whereas the Barnevelders have single combs. The Wyandotte lacing often looks clearer because it's single lacing. My Barnevelders are double laced, which is intricate up close but gives a generally darker appearance. I'm sure you'll love the Wyandottes
@@chickensinmygarden great! Yeah, they're supposed to be a bit cold hardier; it's gets a bit cold here in the winter - but I also watched your video on Ventilation and it helped confirm some of what I'm thinking. I also love this painting idea. Both for the light, wood protection, and obviously the mites. Thank you!
You're welcome. Happy chicken keeping 🙂
Sun shine and wormwood plant inside your coup too...everyday I open up my coup...painted white yes !! Grow wormwood plant mites hate it !!
I must try that! Do your chickens peck at the wormwood plant?
@@chickensinmygarden no not really, but it repelled insects, no mites, I use rosemary and lavender too to make it smell nice
What kind of paint did you use to make sure it was safe for the chickens 🐓.
I just used ordinary water-based acrylic house paint - safe enough for children's bedrooms and toys and also rated for exterior use. (No paint in New Zealand has lead in it.)
These days acrylic paint is low odour but anyway the paint was well dry before I let the chickens in.
It's been nearly a year and so far the chickens haven't pecked at the paint anyway 🙂
Thanks so much; I love how detailed you video are, great job.
Thank you 🙂
Use mineral paint. It's contains double lead and mercury. ;-)
That sounds dangerous
so just wondering why you don't paint the perch white too? wouldn't that help show up the red mites too? that was an excellent video by the way, thankyou
Thanks for asking.
There's a couple of reasons - the mites won't be on the top of the clean perch, they'll be hiding in a crack or under a blob of poop. And because the perch is scraped clean frequently, the paint would be scraped off by that, as well as by the claws of the perching chickens.
I mention in my original video about perches that I work Neem oil into the perch to discourage mites
th-cam.com/video/ba22zDllKUc/w-d-xo.html
@@chickensinmygarden thank you for explaining.
You're very welcome 🙂
I’m building our first chicken coop.
We were just talking about painting the inside of hen house. So will definitely do that.
Quick question.
What kind of paint did you use? (Indoor or out door) (flat or gloss)
Thank you in advance
I doubt if it matters. I happened to choose water-based enamel satin finish because that's what I had. Water-based is easy clean-up for painting. A gloss or semi gloss finish, or bathroom-kitchen scrubbable paint would be ideal for later when you need to clean inside the house but I don't think it makes a lot of difference. My hen house is 3 years old now and I've scrubbed it down a few times and the paint is holding up well.
I think the color doesn’t count, the paint itself is important as it is filling all the pores of the wooden panels , so the mites can’t lay their eggs Some people just use mineral oil to impregnate the pores of that wood. Congratulations for the video
Thank you. Yes you're right the paint is filling the crevices so mites can't get in. The light colour just makes it easier to see them if they arrive. So far so good - no mites 🙂
I have an idea for a video topic. Molting!. This is my first year of having chickens and am starting to observe molt….. I think! Two out of three are off the lay and the ones behind ( which is bare of feathers (due to some bullying that I managed to stop about three months ago) I think is starting to have quills appear. Ew it seems like a really annoying thing for chickens to have to go through!! I need help and I suppose the chickens would like some help too! Should I give them a warm soak?
Molting is a really good idea for a video. I've tried a couple of times to get some good video, such as one hen over several weeks to show the whole process, but for different reasons I haven't yet got a good set.
Yes chickens get quite grumpy when they're molting. And often fall to the bottom of the pecking order too.
How obvious the molt is varies a lot from chicken to chicken but there's usually a lot of feathers in the hen house, which along with the time of year (Autumn/Fall) is a good indication that they are molting.
No, they won't thank you for giving them a soak. As much as possible avoid handling them - new feathers are prickly as they come in. The best thing you can do to help them is to make sure their diet has plenty of protein - feathers are made of protein. A few treats like mealworms will be very welcome and good for them 🙂
Sheryl gave you great advice (of course). They definitely won't want bathed (though I think it's awesome that you care enough abt them to want to soothe their discomfort!). It's actually painful to them to be handled while molting. When mine are molting, I refrain from any big changes in their environment, provide even more water and food stations so they're not as tempted to take out their grumpy frustrations on each other, give them lots of protein treats (bc they're using so much protein to grow new feathers), & try to keep stress as minimal as possible. It can be distressing to see how terrible they look while they're molting, but don't worry. Those feathers will be back before you know it, and they'll look beautiful! Some breeds even develop more pronounced patterning with the new feathers (Speckled Sussex for instance, gain more white spots with each molt). It's perfect that they molt in the Fall, if you live in a cold climate. All those lovely warm new feathers just in time for Winter.
Thank you for the lovely full response 🙂
Thank you for the encouragement 😊 my chickens are still going through feather loss. They don’t seem too grumpy. I continue to spoil them with a lovely environment, piles of compost and dirt and my kitchen when they feel like visiting. I am a bit worried about Valentine who has a bare butt from the bullying. It has to grow back it’s feathers cuz Minnesota is cold and her behind will freeze. However I do keep their coop at 40 degrees F . I know this is a controversy amongst chicken owners too. I take my chickens into the house if I can’t keep their coop above freezing. This means it is negative 10 or lower outside. Even if a chicken can live being in 20 below temperature I CAN NOT. So they come inside with me which they seem to enjoy.
I have to tell you my chickens experience both Minnesota And Wisconsin environments. I have a home in Mn. And a “vacation” (mostly just work actually) home in northern Wi. I bring my three chickens up north with me and they seem very cool with going off on vacation. Their are many more predators in the WI home so they sleep inside the house porch and don’t free range unless I supervise.
Do the chickens ever peck at paint. This video is great but made me feel itchy.
😀
No the chickens have never pecked the paint so far, in nearly a year and with 7 different chickens.
The color is irrelevant. Yer filling the holes where mites lay eggs
The color is very important The red might show up super easy so you can see them. Imagine painting the inside of your coop red and trying to see red mites.
@@amel2784 common sense is also very important. Unless yer a turnip you wouldn't use red paint to seal the holes where red mites are laying eggs. 😉
@@stephenhipp7859 Your words were that color doesn't matter. I pointed out how it does.
@amel2784 I see. So if you have the sense of a carrot what I should have said was the color is irrelevant because yer plugging holes but don't be stupid and use red paint.
Yer either 12 never been on a farm or just have no common sense.
@amel2784 I see. What I should have said was the color is irrelevant cause yer filling holes but don't be stupid and use red paint.
You must be 12 never been around a farm
Not crazy at all, Crazy world be building a Steel reinforced block and concrete chicken bunker with a 6 inch thick steel reinforced concrete roof...Wait...I'm building one of those, and I'm painting the inside lol
Ah, you must live in an upside-down world - no wait, is it the antipodes that's upside down or vice versa?
@@chickensinmygarden I'm not kidding, I'm building a hurricane proof chicken coop that can stand up to a category 5 hurricane, search chicken bunker roof up
@@MosaicHomestead i live in Florida, i am going to build my coop, got any videos on hurricane proofing a coupe ?
@joannmccaffrey822 I have my chicken bunker videos, it's a hurricane proof chicken coop ,I have videos from start to finish, but it's not hurricane proofing, it's hurricane proof 200+mph
I followed you I’ll check out your videos over the weekend🙂