Content
Ticks are a very ancient and very numerous group of living organisms that live all over the world. The overwhelming majority of tick species are poorly studied, and no one can guarantee that science already knows all types of ticks that exist today. There may be a couple hundred more undiscovered species of ticks. During their existence, in the course of evolution, mites have adapted to consume organic matter in any form in which it can be found. Some types of mites are content with dead skin particles under the beds, others drink blood, others consume feces, and still others feed on plant sap. Each individual mite species is strictly specialized in its food niche, but together they consume everything that can be used as a power source. Chickens are also a good source of food. And not just for ticks. For this reason, there are quite a few types of mites that parasitize domestic chickens.
Chicken mites
Ticks in chickens can parasitize under the skin, on the skin and in feathers. The main subcutaneous mite is a parasite that causes knemidocoptosis. Ticks such as the red chicken tick, ixodid, and northern bird ticks can parasitize the skin. In the feathers of chickens, 3 - 5 species of so-called quill mites can live.
Knemidocoptosis
The scabies mite affects primarily chicken legsclimbing under the scales on the paws. The skin on the paws coarsens and becomes covered with bumps, taking on the appearance of a so-called calcareous paw.
The disease is caused by the microscopic subcutaneous mite Kmemidokoptes mutans, which crawls under the scales and bores labyrinths of passages there. The tick feeds on lymphatic fluid, skin scales and inflammatory exudate released as a result of its activity. Up to 20 thousand individuals of this type of tick can live on one chicken paw.
In the photo under the letter "a" there is a male tick, "b" and "c" - a female from the side of the abdomen and from the back.
Ways of transferring a tick from a sick bird to a healthy bird
The mite is transmitted through direct contact with a sick bird, through care items and through the "folk remedy for parasites" - ash and dust baths, since this parasite is able to remain viable in the fallen off skin scales. The tick loves dirty chicken coops. On the floor in the litter, he is able to maintain viability for up to 2 weeks, and in winter up to several months. Moreover, females survive even in a 10-degree frost. Prefers ticks from immunocompromised chickens. The mite is viviparous, the female hatches 6 - 8 larvae during its life cycle. Outbreaks of this tick activity occur in spring and autumn.
Symptoms of the disease
The incubation period is 5 - 6 months, so the owners usually skip the infestation of chickens with mites. Explicit signs become noticeable only on young hens 5-7 months old. Due to the fact that the tick on the legs gnaws at the passages in the epidermis, the skin of the paws coarsens, the scales lag behind the paw. Feeling itching and pain, chickens begin to peck at their paws. Bumps form on the paws. A secondary infection sits on open wounds. In advanced cases, the fingers die off. Fortunately, the Knemidocoptes mutans does not rise above the shins. But it's too early to rejoice, because another species of the same subfamily - Knemidocoptes laevis - prefers to live in the skin at the base of the feathers, causing symptoms similar to scabies.
Knemidocoptosis treatment
Knemidocoptosis is treated in the same way as any other subcutaneous mite. For treatment, acaricidal preparations are used according to the instructions attached to the package. Aversectin ointment works well against subcutaneous mites.
From folk remedies, you can use any oily liquid. The essence of such treatment is to block the access of oxygen to the tick. Ornamental bird lovers often use petroleum jelly. But petroleum jelly needs to be smeared on the paws every day. This is possible for a parrot, but not for the owner of even a couple of dozen chickens. Therefore, it is more profitable for chickens to use specialized preparations that do not require daily use.
How to get rid of Knemidocoptes mutans mites on chicken feet
To prevent further spread of the tick, the baths are removed, their contents are, if possible, ignited on fire, the baths themselves are treated with acaricidal agents. The coop is cleaned and washed as much as possible, and then burned in it. sulfur checker... All other means will not be able to penetrate all the cracks where ticks can lurk. Simultaneously with disinfestation, when using a sulfur checker, disinfection also occurs. The destruction of mold fungi and pathogenic microorganisms is only beneficial for chickens.
Feather mite (syringophilia)
They are fundamentally different from the subfamily Knemidocoptinae, which live in the skin. Feather mites live directly in the feather blades, which is why they have the second name "quill mites". There are so many species of feather mites that they already have a narrow specialization in the place of residence. Some live only in first-order flight feathers, others in second-order flight feathers, and so on. The feather mite in chickens is not exclusively chicken parasite... It also affects guinea fowl, pigeons, parrots, turkeys, ducks and some other birds, causing syringophilia.
Usually, the feather mite worries only the owners of ornamental birds, since with relatively small amounts of mites, it does not cause any particular inconvenience to the chickens, and it is too troublesome to check the chickens' eyes. Quid mites often settle on tail feathers. These ticks live in colonies of several hundred individuals in the middle. Since its size is microscopic, its presence can be detected only by indirect signs.
In the photo, the tick Syringophilus bipectinatus under the microscope. A dark gray mite with an elongated body. The length of the parasite is up to 1 mm. The mouth apparatus is a gnawing type.
Siringophilosis symptoms
Tick infection occurs through contact with sick birds and contaminated feed. Also, the tick can be transmitted when infected feathers fall out on the floor of the chicken coop. The incubation period of the disease is 3 months. Mites enter the feathers, penetrating through the channel at the base of the feather, and destroy the arch and papilla, causing inflammation of the surrounding tissue. The disease manifests itself in young chickens 5 - 7 months of age. Feathers begin to break off and fall out.
Untimely molt and self-spreading are possible. Reduced fatness and egg production in chickens.
How to determine if quill mites are in feathers
An accurate diagnosis can be made only after examination under a microscope, but it is possible with a high degree of accuracy to confirm or refute the suspicion that a quill mite has appeared in the feathers. To do this, a suspicious feather with a dark inner quill is pulled out of the chicken and a longitudinal cut is made from the quill. In a healthy eye there is nothing but air and chitinous partitions. If there is something inside the ochin, the contents are carefully cleaned onto a piece of paper and examined. It is possible under a magnifying glass.
A viscous, sticky brown substance - blood. It has nothing to do with the quill mite, but it is necessary to look for the reasons for the appearance of blood in the quins. The contents of the ochin with a mite are dry, dusty, yellow-brown in color. The color of the contents of the ochin is given by the excrement of the mite.If there is dry content in the pit, the hens are treated with acaricidal preparations.
How to get rid of mites from feathers
Previously, the issue of combating the quill mite was of little concern to the chicken farmers, since the mite did not even have time to appear in broilers, and in layers it did not reach a critical mass. But if earlier the lifespan of the laying hen was a little more than a year, now there are many expensive breeds of chickens, whose owners are not ready to send the breeding stock to soup in a year. Therefore, the question of what to do to get rid of the quill mite becomes relevant for chicken farmers.
The quail mite lends itself well to the action of acaricidal preparations, but it is protected by the quill of the feather, into which the agent cannot penetrate.
Scientifically based treatment of chickens from syringophilia has not been developed, since on an industrial scale this mite was of little interest to anyone. The owners of ornamental birds were closely involved in the issue of getting rid of the tick, using the poke method to find ways to combat the quill mite.
They fight quit mites with medications that are absorbed into the skin or by adding ivermectin to water. The feathers are said to grow clean on the next moult. Dosage for parrots: 1 ml of ivermectin preparation per 100 ml of water in a drinking bowl. But this is the dose for the parrot. For chicken, you may need to adjust your dosage.
On the video, the parrot is being treated, but the principle is the same: treat the feather and skin at the base of the feathers with an acaricidal preparation.
If we are already fighting a quill mite, then it is imperative to maintain cleanliness in the chicken coop. The dropped feather must be removed and burned, as it can be a breeding ground for ticks.
Red chicken mite
The most famous chicken grower and, perhaps, the easiest type of ticks to fight. It is a nocturnal gamasid mite. Symptoms of its appearance may be: the reluctance of chickens to spend the night in the hen house (chickens also behave in the presence of bedbugs), scratching, self-spreading and, most importantly, strange small tubercles in the head area.
In the photo, the arrows indicate the sucked ticks.
Chicken mites can literally sprinkle the chicken.
But the main thing is that they are outside and you can quickly rid the chickens of ticks.
In small numbers, red mites do not pose any particular problems for chickens, but these mites have a habit of multiplying at a very high rate, quickly infecting the entire chicken coop. In large quantities, in addition to the transfer of diseases, ticks cause exhaustion, decreased productivity in layers, and anemia. When attacking chicks, ticks weaken them so much that the chicks fall to their feet and eventually die. Chicken mites mate and multiply outside the host in secluded cracks, which can always be found in any poultry house.
Ixodid ticks
If I may say so, they are loners. Hanging ixodid ticks on chickens in bunches, like chicken ticks, is possible only with a very strong infection of the area. However, after the collapse of the Union, insecticidal treatment of forest and meadow lands also stopped, so today ixodid ticks are experiencing an outbreak in numbers.
In the photo there is a sucked ixodid tick. The advantage of these ticks is that they are large and well visible even to people with poor eyesight. In extreme cases, ixodid ticks can be found by touch. For these mites, it doesn't make much difference when to attack the host. Having sucked, they fall off and lay eggs, infecting the chicken coop and walking.
The methods of dealing with chicken and ixodid ticks are similar.
How to deal with ticks in chickens
To get rid of chickens from chicken and ixodid ticks, birds are treated with preparations intended for this.For example, with Butox solution. To combat ectoparasites, the industry is constantly developing new substances, removing old ones from production. Therefore, in order to find out how today it is possible to treat chickens correctly and safely for the health of birds, this question will have to be asked in a veterinary pharmacy or veterinary service.
Acaricidal drugs are safe for humans, but they are mainly developed for pets that are not eaten.
Chicken coops are treated with the same solutions. But this does not give a 100% guarantee that all ticks will be destroyed, since if the solution does not enter the cracks, the ticks are more likely to survive. These formulations are good for handling chicken run. In the poultry house, it is better to use sulfur checkers.
Conclusion
Careful attention to chickens and frequent inspection of the livestock will help prevent the massive spread of ticks among birds, protecting them from self-spreading and infected wounds.
