The red mites are some of the biggest drains on the productivity of your kienyeji chicken farms so it is important to take measures to control them so as to reduce the stress and increase productivity in your kienyeji chicken farm.
Here are some facts about red mites in chicken:-
- Don’t underestimate the scale of the red mite infestation. One single kienyeji chicken can host tens of thousands red mites during feeding time. They feed for about 2 hours.
- The red mites feed mostly at night.
- The red mites drain the chicken’s blood. In a single night, they can suck out up to 5% of the chicken’s blood!
- After sucking the blood, they communicate through pheromones and crawl back to the crevices in the poultry house until the next feeding time.
- The red mites generally hide in the walls and crevices of the poultry house. They are also found on the flooring, in the laying boxes, perches and struts. It is important to note these as these area the areas where you will need to focus your efforts when trying to control the infestation. Sometimes, the red mites can move outside the poultry house but they will always come back in full force at night to suck the chicken’s blood.
- They multiply very quickly once an infestation has set in. A single red mite can lay hundreds of eggs.
- They can hibernate which makes them very difficult to eradicate. They can stay in the crevices for months without feeding waiting for the next flock of chickens.
- The red mites will only reproduce when they have fed on the chicken’s blood.
For successful eradication of the red mites, remove the litter after the offlaying, wash and disinfect the poultry house. In Kenya, you can use an acaricide and disinfectants. Make sure that you also wash and spray all the equipment and structures in the poultry house such as the laying nests and perches. Try and seal off the crevices on the walls which serve as their hiding places.
Red Mites can Have a Devastating Impact on Your Poultry Farm
Many farmers may not take the red mites seriously since they don’t result in mortality but the loss in productivity can be staggering. Red mite infestation will cause various production issues. You will definitely notice a certain drop in production especially with the layers. You can also see an increase in the mortality rates.
The main impact is the amount of stress that they cause to the birds resulting in poor feeding. The chickens will be noisier and more restless. With layers, this can cause up to 25% drop in egg production. There is also the drop in the quality of the eggs. You can start seeing blood spots and smears on the eggs.
The birds generally become more depressed and this will in turn lead to a reduction in the preening activity, feather cover and dust bathing. Loss of feather may result in increase feeding activity with poor feed conversion.