[chuckmad]

Hi Everyone,
I was at the coop yesterday and noticed that I have little red "bloodsuckers" (this is what we used to call them as kids, you would always find them on the top of walls) on the roof.  I could only see 4/5 but I didnt look too hard.
I was just wondering if this is Red Spider Mite? If it is what do I do to get rid of it? It doesnt seem to be bothering my chucks yet.

[Casey76]

Red Spider Mites are more of a problem to you plants than to your chooks. 

Red Mites are the problem for chooks.

[GrannieAnnie]

And if they look like what I know as blood suckers, they are something different again!  Red mite are tiny tiny things smaller than a pin head creatures!  horrid things!

[chuckmad]

Oops, I should have said Red Mites, its the chucks I'm worried about.
I can see these lads crawling around, can you see red mites?

[Aunt Sally]

... and velvet mites are the ones you find on walls.  No problem to chooks at all.

[dizzylizzie]

OWWWWW aunty sally i want your camera...did you take that?

[chuckmad]

Thanks guys, I can breath out for a little while now. 

[CattinJ]

I am confused...which one is this a picture of, red mite or red spider mite?? see below.

I saw 2 of what looked like these on top of the coop yesterday - they were abt 1mm long.   I was worried it might be red mite, so I peered inside at night with a torch and couldn't see any colonies.  The birds all seem happy to be inside and I coat the entire inside with a diatom slurry 3-4 times a year, clean everything out with a brush fortnightly and spray fortnightly with poultry shield.  The chooks also get dusted with a mite powder every 2-3 weeks.

Can you let me know if this picure is a red mite or a red spider mite?  And is there anything else I should be doing to protect my girls?

Cat