Mary Allen
They multiply explosively, suck blood and lead to the death of the chickens. Red mites are only discovered late when the chicken owner’s hands are crawling on them. If you start checking the stability now, you can have a preventive effect.
When the weather is warm and humid, the red mite (Dermanyssus gallinae) is booming in the chicken coop. The parasites then multiply so much that the chickens even fall dead from the perch at night when thousands of red mites crawl over the feet onto the chicken body and suck blood there.
During the day, the annoying animals are not to be found on the chickens. They hide under the porch or in every little crack near the chickens’ roost. If the infestation is severe, there are small gray heaps that look like ash but move when you look closely. Only when it gets dark do the parents crawl out of the cracks over the chicken legs and onto the skin. A check after dark often shows a different picture than during the day. If you reach for the chickens and your hands are crawling, then the red mite is already active in the coop.
The red mite is about one millimeter in size, gray before eating, and then red in color. The arachnids have a development time of seven to ten days at a temperature of 20 degrees. At lower temperatures, the offspring develops somewhat more slowly. The eggs and larvae do not need blood yet. The adult mites survive at least nine months without a blood meal at temperatures of minus 20 to 45 degrees. If the mites are in a “blood frenzy”, they will lay their first eggs twelve hours after a meal, and this over the next five to eight weeks.
If you do not discover the animals in the barn, there are other signs that point to the red mite. For example, laying performance decreases, the flock of chickens is restless and, in the worst case, no longer wants to go into the coop or onto the perches in the evening because they feel so annoyed by the crawling animals.
Control by Natural Means
For poultry farmers, a new fight against the red mite begins every year, which has already made its home in even the cleanest and best chicken farms. Wild birds such as sparrows are often carriers of the red mite. It is therefore advisable to feed strictly in the stall to avoid bringing in unwanted guests.
There are numerous products for combating the red mite, which can be divided into three control variants: the biological predatory mites, the biophysical silicate powder and the
chemical acaricides.
The most natural population control of the red mite is done with its natural enemy, the predatory mite. She doesn’t mind the hens and is fine in the coop as long as it has red mites. Predatory mites are very small and can hardly be seen with the naked eye. They eat all stages of the red mite. In terms of climate, predatory mites feel comfortable in a dry chicken coop, and they also tolerate cool temperatures in winter.
How they are applied in the barn depends on the type of dust mite. There are specially designed devices for spreading, which can be installed in the stable near the perch. This allows the predatory mites to become active directly at the scene of the red mite crime. If there is too little of it, the predatory mites lack food and they have to be replaced with new predatory mites. This is why this product can also be purchased on a subscription basis with regular deliveries – for example from Andermatt Biomet.
Another biological control variant is that with liquid flavoring agents. The products, which consist of plant extracts, are given to the chickens via drinking water. This makes the blood of the chickens inedible for the red mite. The parasites lose their appetite, infest the chickens less, and eventually starve to a large extent.
If a chicken coop is infested with mites, wet cleaning and disinfection of the coop are often not enough. In economically oriented poultry farming, a stable is only cleaned when there is a change of animals, not in between. Therefore, a preventive measure is taken with effective silicate powders. The crystalline kieselguhr particles injure the skin of the red mite with their sharp parts and this allows it to dry out. The application works very quickly in the event of an infestation. However, the agent is not sprinkled directly on the animals, but in the stables. A product that is often used is called Indispron D110, which comes from Halag and can be ordered from Landi.
Chemical Club Against Bloodsuckers
This can also be done preventively, with the liquid variant being very suitable. Its consistency is like white paint that is applied with a brush in the area of the dropping board and the perch. To protect the chickens’ feet, the paint should not be applied to the chickens’ treads, but to the walls and below the perch. The white color remains and does not look very aesthetic in a wooden chicken house, but the effect is very good. Experienced hobbyists have had very good experiences with these biophysical silicates. Products are commercially available in pack sizes of one kilogram and more. The procurement costs of around 30 francs for the smallest dosage are comparable to those of organic products.
The third control method against fowl red mite is the use of chemical acaricides, which kill the mites by spraying them directly or by administering them to the chickens. The range of products is very diverse. A new product that is considered very effective and has only recently been on the market contains the active ingredient Fluralaner. The prescription product Exzolt is administered via the drinking water. It only needs 0.05 milliliters per kilogram of live weight of the chickens and is applied a second time at intervals of seven days. There is no weaning period for laid chicken eggs, for slaughter animals, there is a period of 14 days.
The product mixed with water works very quickly in an infested coop, within a few days the crawling on the chicken owner’s hands will stop and the chicken coop will be quiet for about a year.