mites

[kenny]

hi all
i was just wondering how many people on here have had mites in there cages bird rooms.......and how many have not had them at all and if you haven`t had any do you keep canarys....because i was going through some old stuff and even last week in the c&a someone was asking how to get rid of mites and they had canaries just might be that they seem to attract them as opposed to just keeping foreign birds


ken:?:

[Strawblady2000]

Hi Kenny,

I've never had a "confirmed" case of mites that I know of, externally at least, if that makes any sense.

As I treat all newcomers for external mites and airsac mites (number 1 killer of canaries and goulds), I've not noticed anything specific. I also run a treatment in the water about 1x per month.

Odd you mention this, though...which mites are you refering to? Biting/sucking mites? Scaly face? or airsac? The latter 2 are the toughest to get rid of.

While all mites can eventually be fatal, the airsac ones are the most likely to cause a problem in canaries and goulds. Bengies can have a problem with them too. Nasty little things, as they live in the airsacs and trachea of the birds...if untreated they will die. If treated they could die due to asphyxiation by the dead mites clogging the airways or via secondary lung infections from the dead mites.

Blah!

Done lots of reading on mites, so if anyone has any questions on tactics to test for mites or possible problems, please let me know!!!!

[kenny]

hi nikki
no i ahev never suffered a case of mite (external ) i just thought that it was rather odd that there were not many people reporting mite infestation of the cages,or nests etc with foreign birds but a lot of the reports come in from owners of canaries that they have killed the chicks in the nest by sucking all the life out of them i just mentioned it to see how many cases there were as i was just reading old stuff and most of the stuff i was reading about mite infestation were from canary owners....just made me wonder!


ken

[Strawblady2000]

Odd that there was only material on canaries. Here, many people have problems with them in outdoor aviaries. They are also found indoors too...but in this case, the usual transmission/infestation occurs when a new bird is introduced, so it's pretty standard to treat the new bird whilst it is still in quarantine from the rest of the flock.

I;ve heard of red mites especially sucking the chicks dry, so to speak. The poor parents get so uncomfortable, it's nearly impossible for them to even sit on a clutch of eggs.

Lots of people put poisons in their nest boxes!!!!!!! Why anyone would do this is beyond me, but they claim there are no adverse effects, etc., which I think is a bunch of hooey.

There are tricks to see if they are present. Also, a microscope can look at the feather shafts for signs of mite damage, etc.

Sad about the little chicks. It's a completely preventable demise.

[gregd]

Great topic Kenny:wink:

I had an outbreak of northern mite in my shed earlier this year. I keep norwich canaries and feeder canaries.I noticed it early, in that, a number of birds in one area of the shed were behaving differently, and thought nothing better than ivermectin. I got some from my vet and treated every bird in the shed with one drop on the back of the neck.

5 days later I went to treat the birds again and the infestation was much worse than before. It had spread throughout all of my birds.:cry:

I then redosed all of my birds with 2 drops but things actually got worse.

I got rid of them by spraying the birds with Johnsons Rid Mite spray. I used it directly on the birds and spraying up into the feathers. two treatments were given within 5 days and I removed all baths while treating.

Greg

[laurab]

I could be wrong, but I am sure I read somewhere that a camomile T bag, if put in a nest pan keeps mites at bay.

[Waxbillman]

thats right Laura

many breeders use them especially our continental friends, the mites don't like the smell or summut like that.

Matthew

[kenny]

hi matt/greg/laura
i have also heard of people putting there felts in a container with mothballs in.but i think that is a bit drastic......but as i said when i started they all seem to be canary related do you think its because of the sole use of nest felts that they get mites or have any of you had them in a foreign finch nest full of grass/sisal/raffia/coco fibre/horse hair or anything else or is it the felts that attract the mites

ken:shock:

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Ken,

This thread is excellent mate and your questions make a hell of a lot of sense,;) unfortunately some years ago I have suffered from infestations of Red and Northern Mite.
In my experience Red Mite has never resulted in any fatalities, but with Northern Mite it was a different case altogether.

I have found that Red Mite gave themselves away by the red smear when removing perches and cage floor trays, thankfully it has been many years since discovering these in my birdroom.

But with Northern Mite living on the bird they are more difficult to detect until it is too late.

I have suffered two cases of Northern Mite in my old birdroom, but thankfully it was dealt with rapidly, the first case was after my Dad bought some New Colour CANARIES!! Very soon after their introduction they went to nest and we lost one of the adults and one of the chicks before realising why.:shock:

The second case was after rescuing a Jay from a RSPCA centre where it was housed with several Wood and Feral Rock Pigeons, when I saw the bird constantly begging for food I pointed out to the staff there that the bird needed feeding, this bird was passed on to me after the staff admitted they didn't know what to feed it.:mad:

Sadly when I came home from work the next day to feed the Jay at lunch time it was already dead, before I could remove the bird from the cage the Mites had reached my shoulder.:shock:

I consider Northern Mite as the Mother of killer Mites which fortunately are rare visitiors.

A tip from Pigeon breeders is soaking nest felts with Creosote, something that is no longer possible if you don't have a good stock of this?

Paul.

[kenny]

hi paul
i have been in someones shed when they have had northern mite and my face was itching within minutes of going in the place.my father in law used to melt down carbolic soap and paste the felts in the nest pan with it then sew the felts in and he didnt have much trouble with them.the thing that is foxing me though ,,,,,,,is why is it mostly canaries or just canaries they seem to attract all the mites under the sun including feather lice.....by the way i am in no way putting canaries down its just that i wonder why its just these birds that get most of the mites following them around and not foreign finches surely it cant be just the nest felts that attract them....this needs further exploration!

ken

[jmilanes]

I have only today read all entries re red mite in canaries. I have been breeding canaries for over 50 years and it was only on the first year that I was troubled by red mite. The reason being that after that very bad experience I always used carbolic soap which I form into paste (like butter) and with it stick the felt to the nest pan. As carbolic soap now is not available I found that lifeboy soap, the redish one does the same trick.
Another important note is to watch from where you are getting your wild plants, for at times they are the sourse of northern mite infestation as wild birds might have been resting near them or even feeding on the same stuff that you will be taking home for your birds.

[kenny]

oh my god joe ,i thought for a minute my father in law had come back from the dead then.that is the exact way he used to do his nest pans and i used to sew them in for him as he had trouble with is hands
ken8)

[jmilanes]

Hi Ken,
I only hope that I was of some help.
Good luck in your breeding.

[kenny]

hi joe

thanks mate

ken8)

[chris]

hi all,

we've got a major problem with these little buggers (red mite), so far they've actually caused the death of 2 12 week old chickens, unfortunately the problem didn't become apparent until the second death as we caught the chick while it was still alive and it was crawling with millions of the things:shock:

funny thing is until now i've never seen a red mite nor had a problem with them, looks likely that they came in on either the chicken coop as that's where the infestation is/was, or possibly on 2 hens we bought a few weeks ago.

the stuff my dad had bought while labbelled as mite powder and red mite concentrate, doesn't actually kill them!:-x instead in small print on the back it is a natural repellant. when we sprayed the stuff over the birds i thought it was odd nothing happened and now i know why... however when sprayed on the coop nothing at first then 5 mins later the whole thing was black with them from all the cracks they had been hiding and breeding in. not many left now though as when we realised the spray did jack all we got the blow torch out and well.... crispy mite:lol:

we expected much the same with the second hutch we built ourselves, however there were barely any there i think i counted 10! this is most likely down to the second hutch being built better and sealed with paint on both sides (inside n' out). there were a few on the perches in the cracks but they got the same treatment as the rest of em.

the cream legbar and blue laced wyandotte chicks were in a bad way with mite also, fortunately we caught them in time and both are recovering now happily running around. they were treated with the spray that does jack at first, then the powder that also does jack all second, then after realising the mistake got a good spray of johnsons anti mite under the feathers where the most mite were and over the back. both chicks were kept in my shed overnight and during the day with a light hanging over them, some feed and a drinker full of honey water - which is probably what bought them back from the dead

needless to say i'm seriously p****d off with the red mite stuff we bought, even more p****d off that they've taken 2 chicks, but hopefully we've got the problem under controll from here on

interesting observation on how only the chicks seemed to have trouble with the mites even though they were over all the birds the adults seemed to cope rather well..

Chris

[Strawblady2000]

Chris, bu chance, does the spray contain pyrethrin?

I use a spray that has this in it during the quarantine period and one in a while in the birdroom.

They say a good way to check for the red mites is to (if your setup allows for it) drape a white sheet over the cage. The mites that crawl over the birds and bite at night will hide during the day...when you check the sheet, you will see tiny specks on it.

Erradicating the mites involves complete spraying of cage/aviary, etc/ as well as perches and greenery.

Wonderful thread, by the way!

[chris]

Hi Nikki,

the detterent spray contains natural oils etc to repell the mites but doesn'tkill them, smells like olbas oil if you get that in america.

the johnson's anti mite contains pyrethrin and does the job very well, never goes very far though as the can is never big enough

i keep finding mites on me now:shock: :-o better get the johnsons out :lol:

Chris

[laurab]

What are the little black crawly things???

[chris]

hi laura,

possibly feather lice but i'd need a photo? the lice are elongated whereas the mites are more round but can be black/red or grey/brown depending on if/when they fed

Chris

[laurab]

I'll try a macro shot tomorrow.

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Chris,

I'm sorry to hear of your losses and near losses,:sad: I hope you have managed to treat all of the birds in time to avoid any more problems.

For next year I suggest you use Harkers Duramitex, this the best Anti Mite treatment for larger birds and their housing etc, it is sold in concentrated form which also makes it a cost effective treatment to prevent and treat Mite infestation.

And then there is the Ivemectin Anti Mite treatment that is administered directly onto the skin on the back of the birds neck.

Ken has already brought to our attention that Canaries kept in birdrooms can be magnets for Mite infestations, but the same can also be said regarding Pigeons and Poultry if not kept under control.:roll:

All the best mate, Paul.;-)

[Waxbillman]

spray ardap in the shed and that, also treat your birds with moxidectrin that should do it

Matthew

[kenny]

paul
i have used duramitex for years i even add it to the emulsion paint i use.you get a lot for your money with it also.
laura
you can tell if you have feather lice if you hold a birds wing to the light and the feathers have lines in them going across the grain..its feather lice.

chris
thank god you have nearly got them under control as there is nothing like mites especially when you yhink they have gone and they come back again

ken http://www.harkersltd.com/loft_hygiene.htm

this is the link for harkers ....chris there is a lot of stuff on here for chickens.but it tells you all about duramitex and how to use it best

[chris]

Hi Kenny, thanks for the link that's gone into the favourites folder and i'll try to get my hands on some. i reckon that stuff used in combination with the repellant should do the trick, the repellant forces all the mites out of the cracks etc then they're easy to pick off with the spary, or in our case a blowtorch

Matthew, any idea where i can get moxedectin from?

there are still a few mites about but nowhere near as many as before so i'd say we've got things under control. however they're still not completely erradicated yet and i wont give up until they are

Chris

[kenny]

hi chris
there is a link here for moxydectin mate dont know whether its any good to you
http://www.pets-megastore.com.au/advanced_search_result.php?search_in_description=1 &keywords=moxidectin&sort=2a&page=2

ken

[Waxbillman]

thanks for finding a link ken

Moxidectrin is good stuff and can be used for any birds providing you don't eat the eggs or meat withing a certain time

Matthew

[chris]

hi kenny,

i'm not living in australia just yet matey:lol: thanks anyway though. is australia the only country that sells this stuff as i'm fast getting the idea that they are

Chris

[Waxbillman]

hello Chris

you can get it through the post i'me sure it cost about a fiver when i got mine

Matthew

[kenny]

hi chris
sorry mate
i didnt know it was just australia, i was just looking for the product not the place of origin

ken

[Strawblady2000]

Hiya Every9one,

Moxidectin is sold here too. Sold under the name of SCATT.

I dont know how much shipping would be, but it is usually $12.95 US for a bottle of it. 1 drop per bird and the residuals last for 3 weeks.

You can order it from here under the shopping link:

www.ladygouldianfinch.com (http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com)

Laraine ships internationally. If it works better to find a couple people to order a couple supplies and split the cost of shipping, it may save some money. I think Jimmy did this with the s-76 (ivermectin)

There are a few articles about mites, moxydectin andivermectin as well. Click on the Articles link. or do a search for mites on her site. She raises gouldians, but has the most valuable info!

Lots of stuff on the site for sure! There are a handful of other places here that sell it, but I'm not sure who else would ship internationally. Laraine does.