If your chickens suddenly become reluctant to come into the coop in the evening, or stop using nesting sites, this is a sure sign that they have mites.
If your chickens have mites, you will probably notice that they are preening their feathers more often and picking at the feathers under the wings and around the anus. Upon closer inspection, you may be able to see tiny red or black specks near the anus, and when inspecting the coop, you may notice red streaks of blood or black flecks on the roost that you can feel when you run your hand across the surface.
Ways to combat ticks
There are several chemical solutions and preparations on the market to combat mites, but most of them have not been tested on chickens, so experienced owners do not recommend using them right away. Better try first complex treatment natural means. 
Spray the chicken coop and roosts for several days in a row with the following mixture: 2 cups water, 1 cup vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon of dishwashing liquid. This mixture will help kill ticks. Shake the product well before use so it separates. The chicken coop should be treated at least 1-2 times a week for several weeks in parallel with the treatment of the chickens. This 100% natural spray homemade Helps get rid of mites in the chicken coop
You can spray a layer of diatomaceous earth on the floor of the coop and nesting area, and rub the mixture into the surface of the perches. The treatment is repeated as necessary.
Wormwood (artemisia) is another effective natural remedy fight against ticks. Tie bunches of mugwort to perches, place sachets in nesting areas, or hang cuttings throughout the coop. This excellent remedy, which can be constantly used to repel ticks.
Garlic juice in combination with vegetable essential oils is a proven remedy for fighting ticks
To treat your chickens, spray them with a garlic juice spray. Poultry scientists in the UK have found that this product can kill 100% of all mites in 24 hours. It can be used to treat birds and as a prophylactic.
To prepare this natural spray, you will need:
- 300 ml water
- 30 ml garlic juice
- 1 teaspoon (total amount) of any combination of these essential oils – bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, lavender, mint and/or cumin.
Mix all the ingredients well in a spray bottle and spray the chickens with this product twice a week for prevention, or every other day for 2-3 weeks in case of mite infestation. Special attention Focus on areas around the anus and under the wings. After spraying, it is also recommended to treat the chickens with diatomaceous earth, rubbing the powder into the skin and plumage. At the same time, be careful - try not to get dust into their (or you) eyes and lungs. Simultaneous treatment of chickens and treatment of the chicken coop will help completely get rid of mites.
If a chicken has mites on its feet, the scales will not be smooth, but raised upward
If you notice such signs, spray the chickens' feet with a solution of garlic juice, and then lubricate them with natural petroleum jelly (or its analogues with natural additives). This treatment will help not only repel, but also destroy ticks - they will die from suffocation.
Iron-rich foods will help treat chickens infected with mites
Regular inspection of chickens allows you to identify signs of infection at an early stage.
The best prevention for most disease-related problems is frequent examination and knowledge of what a healthy and sick animal should look like.
Feather mites or red mites live in unkempt, damp poultry houses with poor ventilation. First, they occupy nests and bedding, after which they move onto the bird’s body. Their bites are very painful and dangerous. When biting a bird, the tick injects poison into the wound, which prevents blood clotting. This creates a painful red lesion.
Fighting methods
There are various chemicals and solutions made to control mites, but many of them have not been tested on chickens and are therefore not recommended for this purpose. It is best to first try to fight the tick with natural remedies.
To prepare the product you will need:
- 30 ml garlic juice;
- 300 ml water;
- a teaspoon of any combination of essential oils of mint, cumin, lavender, coriander, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf.
All ingredients are thoroughly mixed and sprayed on sick chickens every other day for 2-3 weeks. For preventive purposes, this remedy is used once a week. Particular attention should be paid to the area under the wings and around the anus. After spraying the chickens, it is recommended to treat them with diatomaceous earth, rubbing the powder into the feathers and skin. Care must be taken to ensure that dust does not get into the eyes and lungs of the birds.
When treating sick birds to prevent anemia, they should increase their iron intake. Foods containing large amounts of iron include:
- eggs, seafood, poultry, fish, meat;
- dandelion greens, beet tops, spinach;
- kale, broccoli, sweet potatoes;
- raisins, watermelon, strawberries, kale;
- molasses, corn, oatmeal, wheat products.
The introduction of these products into the diet of birds promotes their speedy recovery, since when infected, the level of iron in the blood decreases and the immune system weakens.
Adding to drinking water Adding a clove of fresh garlic or adding garlic powder to the food is a good prevention of infection, because ticks cannot tolerate the taste of the blood of those birds that feed on garlic.
The life cycle of ticks is 7-8 months, and at the same time they can go without food for 2-3 months. The mite development cycle is more favorable in dirty and damp poultry houses. When bitten, bloodsuckers inject a special substance that prevents the blood from clotting. After the bite, severe itching begins.
What danger do chicken mites pose?
The first thing that may alert poultry farmers is the symptoms of the bird.
- the birds look sleepy;
- chickens have dull-colored earrings;
- anemia;
- scallops have a blue tint;
- the bird is not active (lethargic);
- decreased appetite;
The chickens move slowly around the house and look ruffled. The laying of eggs is noticeably reduced, but the nutrition remains the same standards. Young chicks refuse to eat, ruffle their feathers and sit. Most common cause The death of young animals is exhaustion.
Bird treatment
Poultry can be treated with special insecticides. Treatment is carried out twice at weekly intervals. It is recommended to treat birds with Sevin, Pyrethrum, Ecofleece powder. Powders are intended for treating feathers, and aerosols are for treating poultry houses and birds. Permethrin EC spray has proven itself well. After spraying the livestock and poultry house, the effect lasts up to nine weeks.
Verified the folk way an ash-sand mixture is recommended. It is scattered into basins, leaving it in the livestock walking area. The bird bathes in this mixture; the contents need to be changed every two weeks. If the mixture accidentally gets wet, it must be changed immediately. In old times wood ash washed.
Measures to combat ticks in sheds can be carried out using boiling water, fire or a blowtorch. It is necessary to treat floors, walls, nests, perches.
If there are old things in the premises where the birds are kept, they need to be thrown away; wooden perches should be replaced; it is very difficult to remove mites from their cracks.
On poultry farms, quartz lamps are used for indoor maintenance.
Products containing chlorinated hydrocarbons are prohibited for processing. Active substances can accumulate in chicken meat and eggs.
Preventive measures for the chicken coop
Having considered how to treat a bird for red mites, you need to learn the rules for combating possible infection. 
Regular inspection of the bird is required; it is carried out from the first days of spring until the end of the autumn season. You should promptly clear the chicken coop and pallets of droppings, change the litter regularly, and make sure that cobwebs do not accumulate. It is necessary to periodically scald drinking and food containers with boiling water. Walking areas should be sandy and always dry. The walk should be in an open area.
Disinfection of premises should be carried out at least once a month. Preventive measures require sand and ash.
If containers are delivered from another poultry farm, they must be checked for mite infestation. Metal cages for eggs have a plastic lining, which is considered a weak point among farmers; it needs to be cleaned chemicals, and wash in hot water. Farmers advise that prevention reduces the risk of tick infection.
The easiest way is to act in advance rather than later suffer with the removal of pests, especially since some species are difficult to remove. A simple inspection of the birds and the place where they are kept will save not only the livestock, but also their owners from many problems. When purchasing young animals, you need to thoroughly inspect the bird for ticks. One infected chicken can cause a lot of trouble. It's best to play it safe. Before releasing a new bird into the chicken coop, it is better to treat it for tick prevention.
Chicken mites are capable of annoying the inhabitants of the chicken coop much more than other blood-sucking mites. At the slightest suspicion of their presence in the poultry farmers, the poultry farmer should carry out a diagnosis and get rid of the annoying parasites as quickly as possible. How to do this is described in the article.
The chicken mite is divided into several varieties that differ from each other appearance, size and habitat on the bird’s body.
- Very small arthropods that cannot be seen with the naked eye. These include: Knemidocoptes, Epidermoptes, Cytodites. They feed on skin flakes and various animal secretions. They cause leg and body scabies and live in the trachea and lungs of birds.
- Larger representatives of the species. The size of lice and fleas. This ixodid ticks, Persian and red chicken. Representatives attack chickens only for the purpose of biting and feeding on blood. The rest of the time the arthropods spend on the walls, perches, and floor of the chicken coop.
It is not so easy to spot small mites in feathers, so owners often rely on signs of damage.
Attention! Chicken mites can drink the blood of people caring for poultry. Frequent bites lead to allergies and dermatitis.
Having settled in a chicken coop, the red mite causes significant trouble to its inhabitants. Regularly feeling bites, adults reduce egg production, and young animals grow poorly. If arthropods take up residence in the nests, the chickens will stop visiting them. Constant, albeit small, blood loss leads to anemia, which is easily determined by the pallor of the earrings and combs.
Attention! Too many red bloodsuckers lead to the death of birds.
The fact that there was a red one in the chicken coop chicken mite, can be suspected based on the following signs:
If such signs appear, each bird should be carefully examined. If it is a red mite, then small black and red specks are visible on the body and feathers. A red tick looks like this:
- Oval body 0.6-0.7 mm long.
- The arthropod has 4 pairs of legs of different lengths.
- The color of the body is red. After the tick has eaten blood, it turns dark purple.
Advice. The tick is clearly visible on white paper. In order to detect the blood-sucking insect, the leaf is passed along the walls and perches. Maximum accumulation in litter.
Chickens affected by mites and the chicken coop premises are treated with an insecticidal agent. It is recommended to burn walls and perches indoors blowtorch. On the walking area, containers with sand and ash are installed, where the birds can “swim”. For prevention, aromatic herbs are scattered on the floor: wormwood, chamomile, tansy.
Diseases and treatments
Attention! If ticks are found, you should contact your veterinarian. The specialist will select the necessary medications and prescribe treatment.
