What are Red Mites?

Red mites (D. gallinae) are small parasitic blood-feeding mites that affect birds that roost at night such as chickens, turkeys and pigeons. They are more active in the warmer season.

Mites generally reside in small cracks and holes in housing, and are active at night, gaining access to the bird to feed. After feeding they return to crevices away from direct light, to mate and lay eggs, which then causes a rapidly growing population of red mites in only a matter days.

Whether you keep poultry, fancy fowl, or pigeons, an infestation of mites can cause a huge problem in your bird housing system. 

What problems do they cause?

If your housing becomes infested with mites, your birds can become seriously affected.

Issues may arise such as:

• Skin irritation, loss of feathers
• Increased stress response in your birds
• Decrease in egg productivity
  
• If the infestation has existed for a while, the bird may become anaemic which could result in death.
  

What to look out for?

• Symptoms to look out for are a pale comb and a restless unhappy bird.
  

• Blood stains on eggs can occur from laying hens eggs squashing mites when laid.
  

• Excessive preening, poor feather quality. 
  

• Lifting perches or equipment to see blood stains or mites hiding underneath. 
  

• Running a plastic card along crevices can also reveal blood stains.
  

• Wooden housing fixtures are porous, so mites can hide more easily in the wood than metal or plastic surfaces.

What to do if an infestation has occured?

• Remove your birds from the housing and use a mite control product in the house or loft. 
  

• Ensure the surfaces to be treated are dry before product application.
  

• Apply a control product in and around the housing, paying attention to in corners, holes and crevices where mites may reside.  
  

• The mites do not live on the birds so removing the birds from the area does not get rid of the problem, mites can live in housing for up to 9 months without feeding.