Recently, my chickens have gotten a case of northern fowl mites. It is only 4 of them (they are in a separate coop). I was so devastated and shocked that they got them. They are all good now, but I wanted to share some information about the mite. So, let’s look at the mite side…
Mites are tiny, 8 legged arthropods. They are all very small, and can range from 0.1mm-6mm. This is very small! But the northern fowl mite is about 1mm. Now, this may seam like a normal sized insect. But to the naked human eye, it is about the size of a grain of sand! Here is a picture of a mite on my finger!
So now that you know the size of the northern fowl mite, you may be wondering where the heck do these come from?!? Well, they come from wild animals! Specifically, birds and rodents (mice, rats, etc.). They can also come from other backyard flocks! Say you buy a bird. Sometimes, the bird is carrying a few mites. This is pretty uncommon, but is not impossible. Once your bird has them, they have a life cycle of around 5-7 days. But beware, they reproduce rapidly! So unless you treat it, it will be a forever problem! They usually live on the birds vent. They will collect dead skin and build small “houses” of skin cells, blood and and other mites.
What are the signs of mites? Lots of times, they will build nests right around your birds vent!
This is because mites like moist areas. They will lay eggs here and build a colony. The mite most commonly lives on birds, but a colony can live off a bird for 2-3 weeks. This is due to the lack of food for them to eat. The northern fowl mite also can have colonies on the poultry’s belly, neck or legs. These areas are less common though. Some other signs of mites include soiled feathers around the vent area, decreased egg laying, a pale comb, bloody eggs or frequent preening.
So how do you treat northern fowl mites? Well, it is actually not that hard!
Here's how I did it! This was very effective and helpful for them!
-You want to first clean your whole coop. This means changing shavings, food, water and cleaning thoroughly.
-Now, you will want to spray your coop down with mite killer. I used Elector PSP. This is a $160 mite and egg killer. It quickly worked! This may be a little pricey, but it is a great tool! You can get a small bottle for 20 dollars here. You mix this with water, so the smaller 9ml bottle for 20 dollars will work for over 50 birds!
-Once you finish that, you will want to wash your birds. Make sure you scrub the vent and try and remove all scabs (they usually just flake off in water). This will make it so you are less likely to have eggs still on your bird. If it is winter, use a blow dryer to quickly dry them.
-spray them with PSP around the vent and on the belly. This is where the mites most commonly live. You may want to check their head, neck and feet for mites too!
-spray them for a few days until all mites are gone. Check them very closely for a few months after until you have not seen any sign of mites on them for a good bit.
You can also use a variety of things you already have at your house! This is a good BYC thread on other ways to kill mites!
Under the microscope:
Before I finished treating my birds, I wanted to collect some samples of mite skin buildups and mites to look at under my microscope. I like science, but was unsure if I wanted to see what it looked like. Surprisingly I was not as grossed out as I thought I would be!
SCABS (mite houses):
Now let’s look at a mite! These were harder to take clear pictures of due to the size.
Well, I hope you learned about the northern fowl mite! Hopefully, you got some information to help your birds as well!
Sources:
Virginia tec.
The poultry site
Merck Manual
Images:
All are original and taken by me!
Mites are tiny, 8 legged arthropods. They are all very small, and can range from 0.1mm-6mm. This is very small! But the northern fowl mite is about 1mm. Now, this may seam like a normal sized insect. But to the naked human eye, it is about the size of a grain of sand! Here is a picture of a mite on my finger!
So now that you know the size of the northern fowl mite, you may be wondering where the heck do these come from?!? Well, they come from wild animals! Specifically, birds and rodents (mice, rats, etc.). They can also come from other backyard flocks! Say you buy a bird. Sometimes, the bird is carrying a few mites. This is pretty uncommon, but is not impossible. Once your bird has them, they have a life cycle of around 5-7 days. But beware, they reproduce rapidly! So unless you treat it, it will be a forever problem! They usually live on the birds vent. They will collect dead skin and build small “houses” of skin cells, blood and and other mites.
What are the signs of mites? Lots of times, they will build nests right around your birds vent!
So how do you treat northern fowl mites? Well, it is actually not that hard!
Here's how I did it! This was very effective and helpful for them!
-You want to first clean your whole coop. This means changing shavings, food, water and cleaning thoroughly.
-Now, you will want to spray your coop down with mite killer. I used Elector PSP. This is a $160 mite and egg killer. It quickly worked! This may be a little pricey, but it is a great tool! You can get a small bottle for 20 dollars here. You mix this with water, so the smaller 9ml bottle for 20 dollars will work for over 50 birds!
-Once you finish that, you will want to wash your birds. Make sure you scrub the vent and try and remove all scabs (they usually just flake off in water). This will make it so you are less likely to have eggs still on your bird. If it is winter, use a blow dryer to quickly dry them.
-spray them with PSP around the vent and on the belly. This is where the mites most commonly live. You may want to check their head, neck and feet for mites too!
-spray them for a few days until all mites are gone. Check them very closely for a few months after until you have not seen any sign of mites on them for a good bit.
You can also use a variety of things you already have at your house! This is a good BYC thread on other ways to kill mites!
Under the microscope:
Before I finished treating my birds, I wanted to collect some samples of mite skin buildups and mites to look at under my microscope. I like science, but was unsure if I wanted to see what it looked like. Surprisingly I was not as grossed out as I thought I would be!
SCABS (mite houses):
Now let’s look at a mite! These were harder to take clear pictures of due to the size.
Well, I hope you learned about the northern fowl mite! Hopefully, you got some information to help your birds as well!
Sources:
Virginia tec.
The poultry site
Merck Manual
Images:
All are original and taken by me!
