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Ticks are a very ancient and very numerous group of living organisms that live everywhere on the globe. The vast majority of tick species are poorly understood, and no one can guarantee that all types of currently existing ticks are already known to science. There may be a couple hundred more undiscovered species of ticks. During their existence, in the course of evolution, ticks have adapted to consume organic matter in any form in which it can be found. Some types of ticks are content with dead skin particles under beds, others drink blood, others consume feces, and 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 food source. Chickens are also a good source of food. And not just for ticks. For this reason, there are quite a few types of ticks that parasitize domestic chickens.
Ticks that parasitize chickens
Ticks in chickens can parasitize under the skin, on the skin and in feathers. The main subcutaneous mite is a parasite that causes knemidokoptosis. On the skin, mites such as the red chicken tick, ixodid, and northern bird mites can parasitize. In the feathers of chickens, 3 – 5 species of the so-called quill mites can live.
Knemidocoptosis
The scabies mite primarily affects the legs of chickens, climbing under the scales on the paws. The skin on the paws becomes coarse and covered with bumps, taking the form of the so-called calcareous paw.
The microscopic subcutaneous mite Kmemidokoptes mutans causes the disease, climbing under the scales and drilling labyrinths of passages there. The tick feeds on lymphatic fluid, skin flakes 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” the male tick, “b” and “c” – the female from the side of the abdomen and from the back.
Ways to transfer a tick from a sick bird to a healthy one
The tick is transmitted by direct contact with a sick bird, through care items and through a “folk remedy for parasites” – ash and dust baths, since this parasite is able to remain viable in the fallen off skin flakes. The tick loves dirty chicken coops. On the floor in the litter, it is able to remain viable for up to 2 weeks, and in winter up to several months. Moreover, females survive even in 10-degree frost. Prefers mite of immunocompromised chickens. The tick is viviparous, the female displays 6-8 larvae during the life cycle. Outbreaks of activity of this tick 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 a mite. Clearly pronounced signs become noticeable only on young hens aged 5 to 7 months. Due to the fact that the tick on the legs gnaws 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. Fortunately, 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.
Treatment of cnemidocoptosis
Knemidokoptosis is treated similarly to any other subcutaneous tick. 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 liquids. The essence of such treatment is to block the access of oxygen to the tick. Ornamental bird lovers often use plain Vaseline. But Vaseline 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 and faster for chicken breeders 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, bathing baths are removed, their contents are calcined on fire if possible, and the baths themselves are treated with acaricidal agents. The chicken coop is cleaned and washed as far as possible, after which a sulfur bomb is burned in it. All other means will not be able to penetrate into all the cracks where ticks can hide. Simultaneously with disinfestation, when using a sulfur checker, disinfection also occurs. The destruction of mold fungi and pathogenic microorganisms for chickens is only beneficial.
Feather mite (syringophiliasis)
They are fundamentally different from the subfamily Knemidocoptinae, living in the skin. Feather mites live directly in the feather mites, which is why they are called “quill mites”. There are so many types of feather mites that they already have a narrow specialization in their 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 a chicken parasite. It also infects guinea fowls, pigeons, parrots, turkeys, ducks and some other birds, causing syringophiliasis.
Usually, the feather mite only worries the owners of ornamental birds, since with relatively small amounts of the mite, it does not cause much inconvenience to the chickens, and it is too troublesome to check the feathers of all chickens. Quite often the mite settles on the tail feathers. These ticks live in colonies of several hundred individuals in a hole. Since its dimensions are microscopic, its presence can only be detected by indirect signs.
Pictured is the Syringophilus bipectinatus tick under a microscope. A dark gray tick with an elongated body. The length of the parasite is up to 1 mm. Mouth apparatus gnawing type.
Symptoms of syringophilia (Siringophilosis)
Infection with a tick occurs through contact with a sick bird and contaminated food. Also, the tick can be transmitted when infected feathers fall on the floor of the chicken coop. The incubation period of the disease is 3 months. The mites infest feathers, entering through a canal at the base of the feather, and destroy the bow 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 molting and self-pecking are possible. Reduced fatness and egg production in chickens.
How to determine that quill mites are wound up in feathers
An accurate diagnosis can only be made after examination under a microscope, but it is possible to confirm or refute the suspicion with a high degree of accuracy that a quill mite has appeared in the feathers. To do this, a suspicious feather with a dark quill inside 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 hole, the contents are carefully cleaned on a piece of paper and examined. Maybe under a magnifying glass.
Viscous sticky brown substance – blood. It has nothing to do with the dead tick, but it is necessary to look for the reasons for the appearance of blood in the dead. The contents of the pit with a tick are dry, dusty, yellow-brown in color. The color of the contents of the sink is given by the excrement of the tick. If there is dry content in the pit, chickens are treated with acaricidal preparations.
How to get ticks out of feathers
Previously, chicken breeders were not very concerned about the issue of combating the mite, since the mite did not even have time to appear in broilers, and in laying hens it did not reach a critical mass. But if earlier the life span of a laying hen was a little over a year, now there are many expensive breeds of chickens whose owners are not ready to send breeding stock to the soup in a year. Therefore, the question of what to do to get rid of the tick mite becomes relevant for chicken breeders.
The quill 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 for syringophiliasis has not been developed, since few people were interested in this mite on an industrial scale. The issue of getting rid of the tick was closely dealt with by the owners of ornamental birds, having groped for ways to deal with the mites at random.
Fight the mites with the help of preparations absorbed into the skin or by adding ivermectin to water. They say that with the next molt, the feathers grow clean. Dosage for parrots: 1 ml of ivermectin preparation per 100 ml of water in the drinker. But this is the dose for a parrot. For chicken, you may have to adjust your dosage.
On the video, the parrot is processed, 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 struggling with a tick, then it is imperative to maintain cleanliness in the chicken coop. The fallen feather must be removed and burned, as it can be a breeding ground for ticks.
Red chicken mite
The most famous chicken breeder and perhaps the easiest type of tick to fight. This is a gamasid mite, leading a nocturnal lifestyle. Symptoms of its appearance can be: unwillingness of chickens to spend the night in a chicken coop (chickens also behave in the presence of bedbugs), scratching, self-pecking and, most importantly, strange small tubercles in the head area.
In the photo, the sucking ticks are indicated by arrows.
Chicken mites can literally sprinkle 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 cause much 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 carrying diseases, ticks cause malnutrition, reduced productivity in laying hens, and anemia. When attacking chickens, the ticks weaken them so much that the chickens fall to their feet and eventually die. Chicken mites mate and breed outside the host in secluded crevices, which can always be found in any poultry house.
Ixodid ticks
If I may say so, they are singles. Hanging ixodid ticks on chickens in clusters, 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 ceased, so today ixodid ticks are experiencing an outbreak of numbers.
In the photo, a sucked ixodid tick. The advantage of these ticks is that they are large and clearly visible even to people with poor eyesight. In extreme cases, ixodid ticks can be found by touch. For these ticks, there is not much difference when to attack the host. Having sucked, they fall off and lay eggs, infecting the chicken coop and paddock.
The methods of dealing with chicken and ixodid ticks are similar.
How to deal with ticks in chickens
To rid chickens of chicken and ixodid ticks, birds are treated with preparations intended for this. For example, a solution of “Butox”. To combat ectoparasites, the industry is constantly developing new substances, removing old ones from production. Therefore, in order to find out how chickens can be treated correctly and safely for the health of birds today, this question will have to be asked at a veterinary pharmacy or veterinary service.
Acaricidal preparations 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 XNUMX% guarantee of the destruction of all ticks, since if the solution does not get into the cracks, the ticks are very likely to survive. These preparations are good for handling chicken paddock. 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-pecking and infected wounds.