emmaw298 Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Just wondering, has anyone ever heard of a chicken contracting harvest mites?? I posted recently about finding red mites on the bottoms of my hens (they now all have them). However, I know its unusual to find them on the hens themselves and also I haven't been able to find any infestations anywhere in the eglu which seems strange.. The look like tiny little red/orange dots around the base of the feathers around their knickers. I would say about the size of a grain of sand - really tiny, but noticeable because of their colour. We live rurally and recently both of my cats developed skin irritation that the vet diagnosed as harvest mite infestation which is apparently quite common at this time of year (due to the harvesting, surprisingly!) and they look like tiny, bright orange things that can live on the skin of animals and cause irritation. A good blast of Frontline seems to have done the trick. So I'm wondering if this is what is on the chickens...? I powdered them in red mite powder yesterday and will wait to see if this has an effect. Anyone else heard of such a thing? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest_mite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Have a look at **this article**. It specifically says that: Young harvest mite larvae attach themselves to the skin of people, domestic animals, wild animals (including reptiles), poultry and birds. Looks like you might be right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmaw298 Posted September 1, 2008 Author Share Posted September 1, 2008 Thanks Egluntine, an interesting article - seems that could be the problem then, hopefully red mite powder will help. This last bit made me laugh though!: 'Do not wear dog or cat flea collars on your ankles or cattle ear tags on your shoes to ward off harvest mite larvae. It is very dangerous resulting in chemical skin burns and toxic effect to the wearers'. I've got visions of me and OH going round with flea collars and ear tags on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Thanks Egluntine, an interesting article - seems that could be the problem then, hopefully red mite powder will help. This last bit made me laugh though!: 'Do not wear dog or cat flea collars on your ankles or cattle ear tags on your shoes to ward off harvest mite larvae. It is very dangerous resulting in chemical skin burns and toxic effect to the wearers'. To say nothing about it doing a great deal of damage to one's street cred. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
