Poultry and Pets > The Hen House

Red mite photo.

(1/8) > >>

joyfull:
I thought that I ought to put this photo up again that Hillfooter posted just to show everybody what red mites look like. The ones in the photo are red showing that they have recently been feeding. If you squish them you get a blood smear. If they haven't fed then they are grey. They really are tiny.

here is the link.

Spana:
Can i add my photos as well  :) They might help someone who doesn't know what to look for.



The before feeding stage. They are so small that unless you know what you are looking for they are easy to miss.





They need to have a blood feed before they can breed, so if you can catch them at the before feeding stage you save a lot of work and stress for your chickens :)

joyfull:
Thanks Spana, great to see the before feeding photos  :)

andy46:
Thats a good idea for all us newbie chicken owners who would not know what they where looking for thanks xxx

GREEN FINGERED NOT:
Hi  I ended up with a bad infestation over a year ago as my chicken shed is a 6x4 garden shed that has been adapted, it has a tar roof and is awaiting its new non tar roof in the next few weeks.  As I do not normally go in after dark I really had not noticed the mites and it took some work to get rid of them.  I sprayed every day and also used very soapy warm water as the mite has a waxy coat.  However I also went in every night and did a lot of squishing with my hand and then had a shower straight after as well as washing the clothes I had on - all a great phaff but worth it for the chickens - The easiest option would have been to burn the shed and replace it with a new one, however, with the cost implications of that it was not practical at the itme so tried those options as well as powder on the floor and end of perches in the shed and have not had any visible return of the mite - I do make sure that once a week a go into the shed at night with a torch and shine it along the perch to see if there is any movement.  Hope you never have a problem with them. :wub:

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page