Is it just me that gets all itchy when I find Red Mite in my chicken shed?!

Red mites in your chickens can cause a number of problems from reducing egg production and causing itching and irritation to anaemia and even death in the worst case scenarios. They do this by biting the birds and sucking their blood.

Red mites are only red because they drink blood! A mite that hasn’t had a feed isn’t actually red!

Luckily there are several ways that they can be treated if you do get them in your coop.

The most important step is to keep a constant eye open for them. Red mite don’t live on the chickens in the day so you won’t be able to find them on the birds if you check them in the daylight. Instead these mites hide in the nooks and crannies of the coop in the day and drop onto your birds at night so it is important to stay vigilant and continue to assess the cracks in your coops. Red mite traps are also available, or just placing double sided sticky tape in certain areas of the coop to trap them as the walk over it at night!

If you find Red Mite in your coop first off, don’t panic! It’s alright, we can fix it.

First thing to do is to take your birds out of it in the day time. Next take the coop apart as much as possible and clean it all. Using disinfectant is great if you can get some. Remember these tiny little mites live in the tiny nooks and crannies so getting a pressure washer and disinfectant into these bits is crucial to clean off the eggs as well as the mites.

You can treat the birds by giving them diatomaceous earth to dust bathe in as well as getting some Exzolt from your vet. This is a really good medication that kills red mites as soon as they next bite your chickens.

Any other tips and tricks or questions please comment below!