RED MITES AND YOUR CHICKENS

With the warmer weather coming up, we know that red mites are more active and may cause problems for your chickens. Here at Team Titan, we thought it was important to remind you about checking for red mites in your chicken houses and on your chickens! Acting fast is important for maintaining healthy and happy chickens.

What are red mites?

 Red mites, as the name suggests, are red ectoparasites. Ectoparasites are parasites which live on the skin or coat of the host - in this case, chickens or turkeys. Luckily they are visible to the naked eye. The younger and newly hatched mites may be a grey/cream colour

What do they do?

 Red mites are nocturnal and are most active during the warmer months. During the day they will live in small cracks and crevices inside of your chicken coop/house but during the night they will crawl out to take blood (to feed on) from your chickens.

What can I do to stop this?

Keeping an eye on your chickens' living quarters - with special attention to any cracks and crevices. A good idea is to check the coop at night with a torch. Acting fast is the best method to controlling and eradicating the pests, preventing detrimental effects on your chickens' health. If mites are spotted, cleaning and disinfecting the coop is necessary and checking your chickens for any bites! Contact your vet for more information.