Northern fowl mite

The Northern Fowl Mite (Ornithonyssus bursae), is an oval shaped mite about 1mm in size. Like the red mite, it starts off life a pale grey colour and feeds on the chicken by sucking its blood turning the engorged mite a black/brown colour. This feeding irritates the bird leading to much stress and a likely drop in egg numbers. Birds may lose weight and become depressed. If the number of these…