558 HORSE, SWINE AND POULTRY DISEASES 



Description of the Mite. The chicken mite is commonly con- 

 sidered a form of insect life, although it is not, properly speaking, an 

 insect. It is sometimes called the chicken tick or poultry tick. It 

 would probably be better to apply the term tick to this parasite and 

 reserve the word mite for the true itch mite of chickens, the Sar- 

 coptes mutans Robin and Lanquetin. The mite has an average 

 length of one-twenty-fifth of an inch and its width is about four-fifths 

 of its length. It has eight legs by means of which it can move very 

 rapidly from place to place. In color it is light gray with small dark 

 spots showing through the skin. About one in fifty or one hundred 

 shows a distinctly red color, varying from a light to a dark red. This 

 red color is due to engorgement with blood. The common white 

 louse of the hen, Menopon pallidum Nitsch, is longer than the mite 

 and of a yellowish-white color. 



The mites are of peculiar and stealthy habits of life, rather un- 

 like that which one naturally expects from a parasite. Indeed, they 

 are only semi-parasitic, and, as a rule, remain upon the fowl only 

 long enough to secure a meal. They are very active in their move- 

 ments and seem to be ever on the lookout for a victim. On account 

 of their vigorous and vicious habits they may be styled the wolves of 

 the insect parasites of fowls. The mites hide in crevices and under 

 objects in the henhouse during the daytime while the chickens are 

 outside and lie in wait for their return. They lay their eggs and the 

 young are hatched in these hiding places. A barrel affords an excel- 

 lent hiding and breeding-place as the mites lodge between the staves 

 and under the hoops. In the nests they are to be found under the 

 straw or other nesting material. It is a noteworthy fact that a place 

 which shows only a few mites on the surface may contain vast num- 

 bers in the crevices or under objects. Often they become so plentiful 

 that they overflow the hiding-places and appear in hordes upon the 

 exposed surfaces. They have been observed so thickly- settled as to 

 cover the upper edge of an inch board and down the sides for a dis- 

 tance of two inches throughout four feet of its length and at the same 

 time in almost as great numbers in neighboring places. On one occa- 

 sion when the upper border of the nest box was covered by mites as 

 above described a hen went upon the nest to lay. Within ten min- 

 utes three-fourths of the mites had left their position on the box. On 

 lifting off the hen and examining her, she was found to be swarming 

 with mites. 



Introduction of Mites Into a Flock. There is no doubt that 

 mites may be carried from one premises to another upon all sorts of 

 intermediate bearers. To provide against infection of a flock in this 

 manner any new fowls which are brought in from infected premises 

 should be quarantined and treated by dusting with pyrethrum pow- 

 der until all the mites have been destroyed. 



Extermination of Chicken Mites. The best remedy against the 

 chicken mite is to spray with kerosene emulsion. The emulsion is 

 made as follows: Take one-half pound of hard soap and shave it into 

 a gallon of soft water and put it on the fire and bring it to a boil. By 

 this time the soap will have dissolved. Then remove the soap solu- 



