4 Department Circular 16, L. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



red mites. When they are not filled with blood they look gray and 

 are called gray mites. They do not stay on the fowl's body all the 

 time, like lice, but during the day hide away in cracks and crevices, 

 behind boards that are near the roosts, in the cracks of brood coops, 

 and in other places where fowls or chicks are kept. At night when 

 they go to roost, the mites come out of their hiding places, crawl on to 

 the fowls and chicks, and suck the blood from their bodies. The 

 irritation and loss of blood will cause mature fowls to become pale 

 in comb and wattles and poor in flesh; sitting hens will desert their 

 nests and spoil their eggs, if they do not die on the nests, and chickens 

 will become weak and droopy and in many instances die from the 

 attacks. 



These mites are very small and sometimes hide themselves away 

 so completely that the boy or girl may think the houses, coops, etc., 

 are free from them unless a careful search is made. Knowing their 

 hiding places, however, every club member should look for them very 

 carefully every 10 days or two weeks, especially during the summer, 

 when they breed fastest, and if any signs of their presence are found, 

 start at once to get rid of them. 



^^STICK-TIGHT' FLEAS. 



In many of the Southern and Southwestern States fowls and chicks 

 are often infested by a species of flea commonly known as "stick- 

 tight" flea, taking the name from its habit of sticking to one place 

 on the bird instead of moving about like lice and mites. They are 

 usually found in clusters on the comb, wattles, and around the eyes. 

 Chicks, when infested, often die quickly. Old fowls, while usually 

 stronger and more resistant, will cease laying, or nearly so, and some- 

 times die as the result of their attacks. 



POULTRY TICKS, OR "BLUE BUGS." 



Poultry ticks, or ''blue bugs," are common in the Southern States, 

 and are very injurious to poultry and pigeons. Their habits are very 

 similar to those of the little red and gray mites in that the adult bugs 

 crawl on the bodies of the birds and feed at night only, and during 

 the day hide in cracks and crevices about the poultry house. The 

 young ticks hatch and develop on the bodies of the fowls, only leaving 

 the birds when they reach the adult stage and. thereafter, attack 

 the chicks and fowls only when they have gone to roost at night. 

 These "blue bugs" are about the size of a bedbug and much more 

 harmful than either lice or mites. 



