Causes and symptoms of chicken feather mites, how to get rid of them

Chicken feather mites cause a lot of discomfort to birds. It has many varieties and forms. Each of them has its own characteristics. For birds, they all pose danger, harm to health, disruption of egg production, and body weight gain. To control pests, you need to recognize the symptoms and take certain measures.

Types of chicken mites

Feather mites come in many varieties. Every farmer should know what the parasite looks like and conduct preventive examinations. If a disease is detected, treatment is immediately prescribed.

Microscopic mites

Micro mites cannot be seen without a microscope. However, their presence on the chicken’s body has visual manifestations. Since the parasites feed on particles of the epithelium and secretions of the chicken, bald spots are noticeable on the body. The bird is partially going bald. Her condition worsens, egg production decreases, and feather quality deteriorates. Micro mites are especially dangerous for young birds and chickens. They differ in location:

• cytodites - affects the respiratory tract and lungs;
• Knemidocoptes - causes scabies throughout the body;
• epilermoptes - feeds on epithelial particles and causes itching.

Constant discomfort causes stress in birds. This affects egg production and body weight gain. Infection with a microscopic mite is fraught with complications:

• breathing problems;
• baldness;
• nodular inflammatory processes;
• loss of appetite;
• severe stress;
• behavioral disorders.

Important! Sometimes the disease appears as a change in behavior, for protection it is recommended to carry out prevention and regular examinations.

Medium size pliers

Medium-sized ticks are much easier to recognize. They are divided into red, Persian and ixodid. They are easy to spot on the head of the bird. Insects use chickens as a food source. They bite only at night, as they are afraid of sunlight.

Pests can often be found in home chicken coops. Sometimes infection also occurs in agricultural production. The industry carefully monitors preventive measures, since it is not profitable for them to lose egg-laying hens.The more sick they are, the lower their productivity.

Red tick

They live in bedding, poultry houses, perches, straw and cages. Ticks have an orange-yellow color, an elongated body, and 6 legs. The entire body is covered with characteristic villi.

Ticks turn red only when they are pumped of blood. They bite at night. Bite sites can be seen on the back of the head and combs of birds.

It is difficult to get rid of insects, as they can survive without food for about 6 months.

Females lay 20-22 eggs at a time. New individuals emerge from them. Pests do not die from severe frosts, but simply enter a dormant state. Red mites most often breed in damp and dirty chicken coops.

Persian tick

This type of tick is common in warmer regions. It affects poultry houses and rarely penetrates industrial areas. It is one of the most dangerous species, as it carries diseases dangerous to the health of chickens:

• salmonellosis;
• tuberculosis;
• pasteurellosis.

The tick drinks the chicken's blood, then regurgitates some of the digested food, toxins and pathogenic bacteria back into the blood. After which the individual becomes infected. All these diseases can lead to the death of birds.

Salmonella causes a severe infectious disease in humans. It can be contracted from birds and their eggs.

Ixodid tick

They penetrate the chicken's body while walking. There is no danger for birds. However, they are carriers of diseases for humans: Lyme Borelliosis and tick-borne encephalitis. They also bite people and pets.

They are rarely found in large numbers. Ticks bite birds, get food and crawl back into the grass to find a new victim.

Reason for appearance

No matter how much you would like to create the safest possible living conditions for your birds, this will not always work. Insects enter the poultry house for several reasons:

• penetration of rodents and wild birds into the chicken coop;
• replacement of new livestock already infected with ticks;
• due to poor ventilation in the room;
• increased humidity in the chicken coop, stagnant water;
• if the number of chickens is too large for the chicken coop;
• in the absence of a sand bath for birds;
• a person can carry ticks on clothes or shoes from the street.

To prevent disease in chickens, it is recommended to regularly inspect small crevices, livestock, and bedding in the poultry house. They most often hide there. Checks are done in the evening. To do this, point a flashlight with a bright light at the area being tested. If pests are present, they will begin to scatter in different directions. Then they begin to carry out chemical and sanitary treatments of the room. At this time, it is better to evict the chickens from the chicken coop.

Main symptoms

Tick ​​infestation is accompanied by a number of symptoms. Only by carefully observing the behavior and condition of chickens can you determine what they are sick with. Shows the following symptoms:

• baldness;
• a chicken tries to tear out its feathers with its beak;
• birds are afraid to enter the chicken coop in the evenings;
• bites are noticeable on the body;
• the chickens are acting restless;
• refuse to breed in their usual place;
• loss of appetite occurs;
• egg production decreases;
• birds do not gain weight or even lose it.

Not all symptoms are always pronounced. Therefore, it is recommended to monitor the condition of the chickens, check the body for bites, and monitor the weight and condition of the feathers.

Important! When infected with mites, a chicken changes its behavior almost immediately.

Methods for diagnosing parasites

You can diagnose ticks visually by examining the places where the insects live:

1. Mites that settle in the holes of feathers. Most often they are located under the wings on the neck, in the area of ​​the eyes and beak. When affected, the chicken sharply loses weight and egg production decreases. Bald spots are also observed on the body.
2. A microscopic mite is almost impossible to notice. It is localized throughout the body. Manifestations can be noticed after 2-3 months, when bumps appear on the paws and the fingers become deformed. Before this, the bird behaves restlessly, as it experiences constant itching and discomfort.
3. Red tick. More often than others, it affects the body of a chicken. You can notice it when looking through the feathers, it will run across the skin. The check is done in the evening. There will also be bite wounds on the skin.

How to get rid of chicken mites

You can destroy harmful insects using chemicals and folk remedies. Each farmer decides for himself what to use. Chemical products are much more effective than natural ones.

Chemicals

Before using chemicals, the chicken is examined for wounds. If they are, then they are lubricated with any healing agent. Traditional medicines used:

• "Iretrium" is a powder consisting of crushed chamomile flowers. They sprinkle it on the body of the chicken at the rate of 15 g per 1 kg of individual.
• "Sevin" - also used as "Iretrium".
• Aerosol "Ecofleece" is an insecticide that destroys insects in 2-3 days.
• The drug "Ivermerk" is used according to the instructions, as a therapeutic and prophylactic agent.

Folk remedies

Many farmers believe that the use of chemicals in the fight against diseases is harmful to the health of birds and affects the quality of eggs, so they prefer to use folk remedies.

Wood ash and sand

Mix wood ash and sand in equal proportions. They leave it in the chicken coop, the birds take such baths themselves. Wood ash kills ticks.

Plants

Strong-smelling plants are hung in bunches in the chicken coop to repel pests. Suitable for this:

• sagebrush;
• mustard;
• mint;
• parsley;
• garlic;
• onion.

How dangerous is the parasite for chickens?

If treatment is not carried out, the chicken will gradually become completely exhausted. Her psychological health will be affected. Constant itching causes stress in the bird. Egg production and weight gain sharply decrease. The feathers deteriorate and the chicken becomes bald.

If you do not treat the birds, this will lead to their death from exhaustion.

Danger and methods of protecting people

Not all ticks are dangerous to humans. Ixodid ticks are carriers of Lyme Borelliosis and tick-borne encephalitis. For pests to enter the human bloodstream, direct contact through the blood is necessary. If there is a population of mites in the chicken coop, it must be destroyed using insecticides.

Persian ticks also carry salmonellosis. It causes disease in birds. If you do not notice the symptoms immediately and eat meat or eggs from an infected bird, then a serious infectious disease will develop in the human body. To prevent this, you need to thoroughly heat-treat chicken meat and eggs.

Prevention measures

To prevent tick infestation in chicken coops, certain manipulations are carried out:

• monitor the ventilation in the room;
• carry out preventive examinations and treatments;
• reared chickens for meat are weighed daily;
• monitor the behavior of birds;
• monitor egg production of laying hens;
• monitor the cleanliness and order in the poultry house.

Mites can cause serious damage to the health of chickens.Birds are susceptible to their infection and react to the disease with a decrease in productivity. This has a huge impact on the industry. The behavior of individuals changes, they experience itching and discomfort. They constantly try to get rid of it by tearing out their feathers.