Ready steady red mites – act NOW!

Keeping hens is a real privilege. You get to see their little personalities turn into big characters and as each becomes bolder, you start to fall in love with hen keeping even more. But there’s one thing about hen keeping that no one likes. Pesky red mites.

These sneaky critters are extremely good at hiding themselves out of sight in cracks and crevices; you think you’ve found them all but discover they have just relocated to a different hiding place.

Red mites love the summer warmth and are tiny at 0.6 to 1mm in size. If you find one in your hen house before it has had its meal of blood it will be grey, and you could easily be fooled into thinking a cluster of mites is a pile of dust. Fast forward to dusk when all your birds are roosting and nodding off to sleep and red mites show their true colour (literally). Just like tiny vampires they climb onto any nearby hen and drink their fill. Once they are satiated, they head back to their hiding place, now red.

If they are so good at hiding, how can you tell if your hens are sharing their homes with unwanted guests?

If you find your hens are reluctant to go to bed at night that is usually an indication you have unwanted visitors. Other signs include increased preening, pale combs and wattles due to anaemia, scratching and feather pecking.

A good way to check is to place a piece of white towelling material at the ends of the perches. Red mites will hide inside the folds of the towelling thinking they are well hidden but obvious to the casual observer. A scrunched-up plastic bag in the corner of the hen house will provide a similar result. Running your hand along the underside of a perch (look for red streaks on your hands) and checking the end of the perches routinely will also help.

How do you get rid of these unwanted guests, or better still, stop them from moving in in the first place?

Back in the 1940’s this involved attacking your hen house with Creosote, dusting birds with sodium fluoride and creating a dust bath with flowers of sulphur. Fortunately, things have moved on since then, and where possible we advise to go natural. Your best friend should become Diatomaceous Earth, a fine white powder consisting of the fossilized remains of tiny diatoms (prehistoric bugs). The powder is 100% natural and so safe that food grade Diatomaceous Earth can actually be eaten. Dust your hens with the DT powder and use a liberal amount in your nest boxes so that every time your hens get in to lay, they are self-medicating.

Other chemical-based products are available and should always be used with care and as directed by the manufacturer. Don’t like chemicals? It is possible now to purchase tiny Androlis predatory mites which feed off the red mites but are harmless to your hens. However, the most recent advance in red mite treatment is a product available from your vet which can be added to drinking water and kills 99% of mites instantly. If you have a particularly bad infestation this may be the best option but do ask your vet.

Dustbathing is also a natural way to keep parasites at bay. Normally, hens dig a hole in dry soil but if you want to preserve your garden, give them a helping hand. Make a dust bath using a child’s paddling pool, a large litter tray or similar, add in dry soil, wood ash, sand and of course Diatomaceous Earth and watch your hens enjoying a spa day – they will love it! And the red mites won’t.