Interesting stuff I learned about Depluming mites from my poultry vet today.
I always thought these mites were pretty rare in poultry, but it turns out they are actually quite common. They only seem rare because like other parasites, the birds learn to control Depluming Mites. If the bird is healthy enough, these mites never cause problems and thus are rarely dealt with.
However if the bird is in a weakened state for any reason, these mites can over take the bird and then they do cause issues. Hence, old and birds that have been sick a long time can look pretty ratty.
The Depluming mite lives much of it's entire life inside the feather shafts nearest the skin, consuming the feather from the inside out. They do travel from feather to feather on the skin of the bird, however most of their lives are spent deep within the shaft of the feather. Interestingly enough, they do not lay eggs but bare live mites. They do not crawl around on your roost bar or hide in corners of nest boxes, but are transferred bird to bird through direct physical contact. These mites are very similar to the Leg Scale Mite and are invisible to the naked eye.
As the mites are busy burrowing into the feather shafts and consuming the juices of newly growing feathers, this causes irritation and the bird will over preen and even pluck their own feathers. Each time a new feather grows and is plucked by the bird due to these mites, eventually the feather follicle can become damaged, atrophy and never grow another feather.
If you suspect these Depluming Mites in your flock, you can pluck a couple of feathers near the area you thing this is happening. Take an exacto knife and split the feather right down the middle from top to bottom. If you have a heavy infestation, you should see some hollow places or a completely hollow shaft. Of course not every feather will contain these mites and a small infestation might not be seen this way and would require a microscope.
Ivermectin is the only treatment for this mite since it is not possible to access them from the outer skin with powders or sprays, being that nearly all of them are up in the feather shafts.
Just some fun facts for you Mite Lovers!!
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