Electric Fence

The net isn’t really in the correct place yet – I need to trim some branches off of the conifers at the back of the garden before I can move it into place. Also, the wiring isn’t very neat and I need to do something to hide the cables.

When I got it running, I put my hand on it a few times to see how much it hurts and I was pretty disappointed – I could hardly feel it. Then I touched it whilst I was kneeling on the ground and that really hurt! I guess it will work well with the chickens as they are not wearing shoes.

The horrible thing about this is how the chickens have reacted to it. They have all had a shock off it, and as expected this does not make them happy. Even when I turned it off and went back into the coop to spray more poultry shield (the mites still haven’t gone away), they got really scared when I flicked a bit of newspaper. I think this whole thing has been really stressful for them. I must admit I feel pretty cruel at the moment – it’s a pity I can’t explain to them that I am only doing this to give them more space!

Hopefully this will kill them!

Poultry shield is a liquid that I used to spray the inside of the coop and should hopefully get rid of red mite. Apparently it helps to destroy the mites and the eggs, and it was significantly cheaper than the spray I bought (probably cost me less than £1 to spray the whole coop compared to £15), and was also easier to apply.

The other product that I bought is diatom, which is diatomaceous earth and will hopefully prevent the mites from coming back. It works by dehydrating them, and although it won’t kill them instantly, it should help to control their numbers in the future. After I finished spraying the coop I spread a load of diatom all over the inside.

Both of these products were recommended to me on Down the Lane and those guys always seem to know what they are talking about!

Whilst I was cleaning out the coop again, I let the girls out in the garden. I must admit, whilst it has been stressful sorting all of this out, I have enjoyed letting them out in the garden again. They had great fun scratching around under my rose bush, and spreading a heap of grass clipping around the garden!

Chickens love piles of stuff, but they won't be piles once the chickens have finished with them!

I think this is going to be a problem for a long time…

The first thing that I did was to move the run away from the coop and to another part of the garden. I pushed the open side of the run up against the fence and put the chickens in there so that they couldn’t escape whilst I removed the net.

When I removed the run this is what was left behind...

I think the chickens enjoyed the grass when I moved the run

The next step was to remove the netting – I have to admit it was a lot easier to take down than it was to put up!

Here you can see what the chickens did to the ground behind the net

With the netting gone, we had access to all sides of the coop so we gave it a big clean out. First we removed all of the bedding, and then scrubbed everything down with hot soapy water. I let the coop dry and then sprayed everything with some mite spray (we used 2 cans of the stuff). I even removed the perches as they were not being used and provided more hiding places for the mites. I have included some pictures to show you the extent of the infestation.

This is the bit of wood I put in for the new nest area

Here is a (nice?) close up of the creatures...

This is the slot that the floor slides into. There were mites all along the back edge.

When I removed the percehes, this is what was lurking behind them.

As you can see the mites were everywhere! Once I had finished cleaning out the run I moved it to a new position – ready for the electric fence. I have replaced the wooden nest area with a plastic box. Hopefully this is the last of the mites…

This is the cleanest the coop has ever been!

The run in its new position

In general the girls have seemed happier the past couple of days – I think the reason that they have been making so much noise in the mornings has been because they were being eaten alive by mites. When I let the girls out today they all seemed fine, but after about an hour I noticed that Meg was wandering around slowly and not scratching around in the mud like the others. I gave her some meal worms and some poultry spice, but she has been getting more and more lethargic as the day has gone on. She has spent the last few hours standing by herself under a tree.

Meg has been sitting all by herself for hours

I’m not sure if she is sick or just tired – the last few times that I went out to look at her she had her eyes half closed, and kept closing them for a while. I’m wondering if the mites have made her slightly anemic or something…

I hope she is just tired...

At first I thought this was chicken poop...

...but chicken poop doesn't move!

I’m not 100% sure what these are but I think they might be the dreaded red mite. Even though most of the mites were black, when I wiped them off the dust pan and brush it left streaks of red blood over it so I think they have been feeding on the girls. This might be why they keep making such a racket every morning!

A close up of the parasites

I didn’t have time to completely clean the coop today, but I spent a good hour and a half removing all of the bedding from the floor. Most of the mites were in the nest box, so after I had cleaned it out I spread a lot of stalosan f over the floor (it is a powdered disinfectant) and blocked the nest box off so that the girls can’t sleep in there. I also removed the bedding from the rest of the coop apart from the area where the girls lay (there didn’t seem to be any mites in there).

I think this weekend will be time to give the coop a good clean out – I intend to go to my local pet shop and buy some mite powder. I will then give the coop a good clean out and replace all of the bedding, and give it a good sprinkling of mite powder.

I feel really bad for the girls – there were so many mites and they must have been driving the girls nuts! When the girls went in to sleep tonight I lifted the lid of the coop slightly to see what they would do. When they first went in, they had a good look at the wood blocking off the nest box. Then they went up to it and started pecking at it – trying to find away into the section that they normally sleep in. It was really horrible to watch – they clearly wanted to go sleep in their usual spot but I think it is best to keep them out of there for a few days.