Mites took over my coop in just 4 days - here's the sign I missed

I noticed my girls seemed sleepy and staying on the roost longer than usual, but I figured it was just the weather change. Then I ran a tissue under their wings and found little red specks everywhere, they had exploded in population by day 4. What specific early warning signs do you guys look for before mites get bad?

2 comments

2 Comments

michael89516d ago

I had the exact same thing happen last spring. I walked out one morning and my hens looked like they were napping in the sun, but when I checked the roost bars there were tiny red specks crawling all over the wood. By day three I could see them on my own arms after I handled a bird. Now I run a paper towel under each wing once a week, that caught a small outbreak before it got bad once.

mason_knight16d ago

@michael895 running a paper towel under their wings once a week sounds like a solid plan, but I'm just imagining you chasing chickens around the yard with a roll of Bounty now.