Post by marleen4 on Apr 4, 2014 23:21:04 GMT
In the Southern hemisphere the birds are getting ready for winter. If I reflect on the breeding season, I have learnt most about red mite.
This year we survived a massive mite infestation in the breeding boxes. I was late in understanding the nature of the problem, as I had not experienced this before. All the budgie chicks in one box died, presumably due to anemia. This was not happening again so I treated the chick in another box to the point of fearing I was going to poison them. The chicks got Ivermec drops in the neck every second day, and each time the box was thoroughly sprayed with insecticide diluted for birds. These chicks made it, fortunately. I'm still treating all birds in this aviary with Ivermec once a month, as they seem to scratch themselves more than the birds in the other aviary where there was no infestation. So far so good, hopefully the winter will be cold and deal a harsh blow to whatever is left of the mites.
Researching the life cycle of a red mite has been surprisingly difficult. Understanding how they live and breed across the seasons would really help in getting on top of the problem, but so far I have not been able to find the right website. I'll certainly not let this problem get out of hand again!
Due to the infestation I did not sell the chicks until I got the mite under some form of control. Last week I sold the first batch, with moist Ivermec necks to prevent accidental spread. The second lot will go next week. It will be hard to let them go because we fought a hard battle together, and they proved me right for near-poisoning them!
Another question, will such harsh chemical treatment affect their fertility? They look perfectly happy. If anything, they may be a bit smaller in size than expected, but this can be coincidence. I would like to keep a couple of the females, but not sure whether this is wise?
This year we survived a massive mite infestation in the breeding boxes. I was late in understanding the nature of the problem, as I had not experienced this before. All the budgie chicks in one box died, presumably due to anemia. This was not happening again so I treated the chick in another box to the point of fearing I was going to poison them. The chicks got Ivermec drops in the neck every second day, and each time the box was thoroughly sprayed with insecticide diluted for birds. These chicks made it, fortunately. I'm still treating all birds in this aviary with Ivermec once a month, as they seem to scratch themselves more than the birds in the other aviary where there was no infestation. So far so good, hopefully the winter will be cold and deal a harsh blow to whatever is left of the mites.
Researching the life cycle of a red mite has been surprisingly difficult. Understanding how they live and breed across the seasons would really help in getting on top of the problem, but so far I have not been able to find the right website. I'll certainly not let this problem get out of hand again!
Due to the infestation I did not sell the chicks until I got the mite under some form of control. Last week I sold the first batch, with moist Ivermec necks to prevent accidental spread. The second lot will go next week. It will be hard to let them go because we fought a hard battle together, and they proved me right for near-poisoning them!
Another question, will such harsh chemical treatment affect their fertility? They look perfectly happy. If anything, they may be a bit smaller in size than expected, but this can be coincidence. I would like to keep a couple of the females, but not sure whether this is wise?