Identifying Signs Blood-Sucking Mite Infection

This chick has a gray look. Notice the feet are nearly white!

Look under the wings

When chicks are doing poorly, it is important to make sure they are not infected with blood sucking mites.

Blood-sucking mites include red mites which attack birds only at night and hideout during the day elsewhere and northern or fowl mites that spend its entire life on the host.

The whole chick looks gray and the feet look white instead of pink. The red color inside the mouth is light pink instead of the healthy bright red.

Looking under the wing you see raw places. You can also see mites under the tail where the new feathers are growing in.

If you find northern mites on the bird, check on your hands as they are likely crawling on you!

Air Sac Mite Treatment during breeding is best done with Dr. Rob Marshall's S76. This works very well for air sac mites where the sign is clicking or respiratory distress.

But for external mites such as the blood-sucking type, using Vetafarm Avian Liquidator with its long lasting effect is the way to quickly get rid of the problem. One spray is all you need and mites are gone even if any mite eggs hatch.

Note: the case presented is northern mites.