Red Mite – Every chicken's worst nightmare

Red Mite – Every chicken's worst nightmare

By Tim Daniels of poultrykeeper.com

There is a silent killer that many chicken keepers don't find out about until mid summer when they find they have a bit of a problem on their hands.

There are sometimes moments though during my daily observations of my chickens that I notice something isn't quite right, and I know that there must be a problem in the flock that needs investigation. Perhaps it's the colour of the hens comb that isn’t as red as it should be, maybe it’s a drop in egg numbers or maybe the way hens are a little reluctant to go in to the coop as it gets dark, but somehow over the years through constant observation, I have learnt what is normal behaviour and what is the beginning of something a little more serious.

These are signs that something isn’t really right, but after inspection, it is difficult to find anything wrong with the hens themselves and they all seem to be fine! There is another possibility that usually remains hidden from view until darkness arrives and these vampires of the night mean I need to turn my attention to the chicken coop, to look for Red Mites or Chicken Mites. If you haven’t heard of Red Mite before then do read on because if you are keeping chickens, they can be particularly troublesome.

What are Red Mites? Red Mites are tiny little mites that live in the cracks and crevices of the chicken house and are particularly active during the summer months (well, from May to October actually, but it depends on how warm the weather is). They are a small mite that is no more than 0.7mm in size and after hatching start off a grey colour, turning deep red after they have hopped onto your birds for a blood feed whilst they roost at night. They can live for up to 8 months without feeding and multiply very quickly so are particularly difficult to get rid of. There is an excellent macro photograph on the Keeping Chickens website showing some Red Mites and eggs close up.

How to detect Red Mites You can often spot Red Mite around the ends of perches when removed but the easiest way to find out if you have red mite is to go out to the chicken coop at night under the cover of darkness (when the mites are active) and using a white tissue, wipe the underside of the perch where your chickens are perched. If there are Red Mite feeding on your birds, you will see smears and blood spots that will indicate their presence.

Red Mite can be controlled (they are very hard to eradicate completely) and there are many products that will help you to do this. My favourites are poultry shield (which can also be used for routine washing / cleaning of the coop as it is a detergent that helps remove organic matter) and diatom which is an organic white powder made of fossilised diatoms and is even safe for your birds to eat. You can see how I use these in my blog post “How to get rid of a serious Red Mite infestation”

Learning how to spot red mite is very important, it is without question your chickens' worst nightmare that many new poultry keepers don't hear of until they are over-run with them. Birds can die if you get a heavy infestation so regularly inspecting the hen house, especially during the summer months is a top priority.