HELP....Red mite in my compost bin!!

I'm currently treating the chucks for red mite, checked my compost bin and they're all over and in it. Any advice would be welcome, i'm stuck with what to do about this one. Thanks.

 

Red mites will not live on the compost heap. Are you sure these are not red spiders (blood spiders.)? We have a lot of them hatching out at present. With a magnifying glass you can tell the difference between a mite and a spider. Mites have 10 legs and spiders only 8.

 

I thought they were the same thing!!

 

Nope! Red mite live in your chicken house and come out at night to feed on the chickens, then retreat back to any little crevices (but you probably know that!).

If you've a bad infestation, it might have travelled to the compost bin with any old bedding you've put in there. They might survive though for a while, but they'll need fresh blood eventually. How far is the chicken run from the compost heap?

I've also heard they can travel in wood chips you get free from a tree surgeon. I spend all summer waging war on these pests!

 

it's quite distance away but it must have gotten there with bedding as you suggested, I'm hopeing they die off, I come in the flat after being in the garden covered in the little things, Have looked and they have 8 legs but aren't red! i'm guessing that's because they're away from anything to draw blood from( apart from me when I miss a few and wake up with one on my arm, lol) The ones in the coop are mainly Grey(well the ones that survived the spraying(chucks have been dusted and so is there bedding)) apart from the babies that must be born bright red?

 

They're only red when they've fed (on blood). Mostly they look like grey dust.

If it's far enough away, they should die soon. The cold weather coming soon :( should help too, but it doesn't totally eradicate them. Sounds like they're coming from the bedding.

BTW Dettol dilutes slightly in water is a good way to get rid of them in the henhouse, followed by power washing.