Have you got red mites in your chicken houses?

Most poultry keepers findred mites on their chickens very distressing. Eradicating them can be difficult. Farming is a funny business. It is trying to manipulate natural systemsto mankind's end. Sometimes this can be with catastrophic results, such as theencroaching deserts or the decreasing rainforests. Even in sustainable systems,such as organic systems, we are manipulating nature. This manipulationsometimes causes opportunities for other life forms to excel. Such is the casewith red mites. By putting, what were basically jungle fowl into groups insmall wooden sheds we created the opportunity for red mites to thrive.

A few facts about red mites

Red Mites do not live onchickens; they just feed on them by sucking their blood, and then for just anhour or two at a time. After feeding, gorged and red, (they are normally a greycolour, and if they haven't fed for a long time, white), they crawl back to theconvienient nooks and crannies, that we have made for them, to lay their eggs.These larvae can hatch and mature into egg laying adults in as little as3-4days. Hence, especially in warm weather, you can have an explosions of thered mite population to the point which is called an infestation.

The red mites havenumerous ways of finding your chickens in the first place. They may have comeon the birds, although, as mentioned, they normally do not stay on the bird.They can survive without food for 8-10 months, so if your house previously hadchickens they could still be there. In warm weather they can even survive inthe grass. It is possible that they can be carried around on the clothes ofpeople or on poultry equipment; they can certainly be carried by wild birds.

The cumulative effect ofproviding food for thousands of these bloodsuckers will affect the bird. Theywill become anaemic, listless, egg production will fall and you will noticemore eggs being layed on the floor, as the birds will want to avoid theinfestation in and around the nest boxes. Feed consumption will increase andbirds will sometimes appear reluctant to go in at night. There could be anincrease in vent pecking and cannibalism. Eggs maybe stained with crushed mitesor mite faeces.

You won't find any miteson the birds, but if you go into the house with a torch at night you should beable to see them moving around. They seem attracted to white cloth; if you hangone up in the house you can often see them on it in the morning.