Cleaning out the chicken coop and getting rid of the bird mite (red mite or Dermanyssus gallinae). The chickens have been spending as much time as possible out of their coop … the weather has been getting warmer and warmer … all of this means mites!
When fishing the eggs out of the coop, occasionally, some of these little blighters are crawling over the shell.
Honestly, I hate them. I have to get into the coop and shovel all of the straw and nesting material out, then give it a thorough brushing over. Then it’s spray over with malathon (an insecticide that kills the mites). When the malathon has dried, I put in new straw and nesting material and then powder the lot with a lice and mite powder.
I also cleaned out the chicks run and gave them a new load of straw and some nesting material. The chicks aren’t nesting yet, but they are pretty close to it, so they might as well have some clean nesting material.
After the clean out … it was into the shower for a thorough cleaning … twice! Also, off with the cleaning clothes and into a tub of hot water for them!
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