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Depluming Mites
The depluming mite (Knemidocoptes gallinae) is a type of ectoparasite which infects a wide range in bird species, including chickens, ducks, pigeons, turkeys and geese.
K. gallinae burrows into the feather shafts and surrounding skin. It causes damage to the skin and feathers. The mites feed on the fluid that oozes out as a result of the burrowing.
The constant burrowing causes intense irritation and pain and often results in the bird pulling out their own feathers.
Depluming mites are usually found along the back, neck, head and wings of the bird. These mites require a host to survive and can't survive in the environment. They will spend their entire life on the bird and give birth to live young instead of laying eggs.
Depluming mites are more active during the spring and summer months and reach adulthood in less than 17 days. Chickens can carry low numbers of these mites without showing signs of infection. When a chicken becomes sick and/or unable to preen or dustbathe then the mite population can grow rapidly.
Depluming mites can often be confused with overmating from roosters since they both can result in bare spots of missing feathers along the head, neck and back of the bird.
Applied as a dust directly on the chickens, added to their dustbathing area or hanging small gauze bags of sulfur dust around the premises.
A Murillo et al., 2016
Fipronil
Spray the base of the neck, tail base, and under each wing and repeat in 30 days
B Speer; Clinical Veterinary Advisor
Pyrethrum
Applied as a powder or a spray directly on the chicken. When treating the bird, apply directly on the chicken's feathers, concentrating on the vent area. Note that it only kills the adult insects, not the larvae and eggs. Therefore, treatment will need to be repeated in 2 weeks.
G Damerow
Permethrin
Applied as a powder (0.24% permethrin) or spray (3 ounces of 10% permethrin is mixed in a 5-gallon bucket of water), directly on the chickens.
G Damerow
Diatomaceous Earth (DE) (food grade)
Apply by dusting onto the chicken's feathers or added to their dust bathing area.
Van Velden, Julia. Knemidokoptic mite infections on the Cape Peninsula population of Black Sparrowhawks. Diss. University of Cape Town (2013)
Rajabzadeh, M., S. M. Razavi, and A. R. Homayounimehr. Depluming itch in native fowls in the Iran, a potential risk for commercial chickens. Tropical animal health and production 40.1 (2008)
Titchener, R. N. Inhabitants of avian skin with special reference to ectoparasitic infestations and diseases of poultry skin.. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences 79.1-3 (1980)
Risk Factors
Not providing chickens with an area to dustbathe.
High populations of wild birds.
No quarantine procedures when a new bird is introduced in the flock.
