Poultry diseases / Causes, symptoms and treatment, with notes on post-mortem examinations

by E. J. Wortley

MITES, DEPLUMING (SCABIES)

Fig. 16. The Depluming Mite(From Salmon.)

Symptoms. Bare patches on the bird’s body due to the loss of feathers. The rump and the breast are most frequently attacked.

Cause. A small mite (Sarcoptes lævis) found on the bird’s body near the base of the fallen feathers.

Treatment. Isolate affected birds; rub bare patches and neighboring portion of body with sulphur ointment (see page 9) or dip body of fowl in a solution of about 2% creolin.

MITES (RED MITE)
A serious pest

Symptoms. Unthriftiness of birds.

Cause. A small whitish mite, which appears red when filled with blood. These mites suck the bird’s blood at night and hide during the day in the sockets of the perches and in the crevices of the woodwork.

Fig. 17.
The Red Mite

Treatment. Examine the fowl house at night. Dust hens with an insect powder; thoroughly spray houses and perches with 5% creolin or other disinfectant, and squirt kerosene oil or turpentine into cracks and crevices. A specially constructed mite-proof perch, or one that can be easily removed, should be used.