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We all know about the dreaded Red Mite, so here’s some information about the Parasite and how to get rid of them!

This parasite has eight legs, is an arachnoid and therefore related to spiders, and is easily visible to the naked eye. However, a chicken fancier seldom gets to see the mite, because during the day it keeps a low profile in the nooks and crannies of the roost. Red mites are active at night and react to body heat. They only appear when your chickens are roosting. They then get onto the skin of your birds, drinking their blood. Although red mites are rather common, these parasites are far from harmless. They can carry diseases like avian diptheria, Newcaslte disease, fowl pox or fowl cholera. Furthermore they attack your chicken’s condition. If a henhouse contains many red mites, experts can sometimes smell them and tell their presence by the light gray ‘dust’ in the coop, which is the cast-off-skin of the mites.

To prevent your coop from being visited by mites you should see to it that the inside of the coop is as smooth and even as possible, by whitewashing it or treating it. A usual spot for the red mite is at the bottom side of the perches. Check it and clean it if necessary.

A single treatment is seldom effective – often you have to treat your animals and their coop several times in a row. These parasites are very persistent and can survive for a long time.

Prevention Products:

Harkamectin will help prevent lice and mite problems from the inside, as the drop of liquid penetrates the skin and enters the bloodstream. This is then transferred to the mite when the bird’s blood is sucked, however this is not licensed for poultry and should only be used on the recommendation of your vet.

Stalosan F is another superb product and works wonders as a general disinfectant and odour-killer. It’s also effective at controlling insects and their eggs but, like any other powder, doesn’t penetrate cracks and crevices as effectively as a liquid spray.

Poultry-Shield is a safe liquid concentrate, diluted before use, for spraying onto the Red Mite and their eggs. It is essential that Poultry-Shield actually makes contact with the mite and their eggs. The reaction on contact is the break up of the wax coating causing dehydration and death of the mite. Poultry-Shield at the same time penetrates the protective coating of the mite eggs producing a similar reaction.( Reference to The Complete Encyclopedia Of Chickens by Esther Verhoef & Aad Rijs)

This is just a bit of information I have gathered, check out the forum for more information from our poultry enthusiasts!