GlennLee-
The first time I found mites, I could actually feel and see them on me after I would go in the coop. This time I had no idea there were any until I was out doing a head count right after dark and happened to look at the bedding right at the doorway and saw them crawling. I did the same to the other coop and saw them there as well. In both cases, I never saw any mites on the birds but I believe these were Red Mites, which hide in crevices during the day and come out at night. In the very small areas of the coop that I checked I no doubt saw close to a hundred so I had to assume they were feeding on something, which of course would be my 60 bird buffet. The turkeys may be the only ones that would be exempt since their perch is outside and there would be no where for the mites to hide nearby.Or rather, I suppose they could hide but the odds of some venturing to where the turkeys are to even discover them would be slim.
I lost a lot of chicks lately and I'm not sure if it was an issue with the hatchery I got them from or if the mites were getting to the chicks. Obviously little chicks do not have a whole lot of blood to begin with so any loss can be significant. I did look them over multiple times and never saw signs, but I treated the brooder thoroughly just in case. I have two chicks in the house that weren't doing so well and I took them out to the run to dig around with the broody hen and her chicks. Well, they are very attached to me so I ended up squatting down and playing mama hen for them, digging through the bedding so they could grab at tidbits. I got down about 3" under the deep litter and saw what I believe are mites and lice! I'm not sure what do about that, if anything. The run is deep litter, built up from whatever shavings get cleaned or thrown out of the coops, grass clippings, leaves, pine needles, etc. It really helps keep the odor and manure under control so I like it but this is discouraging if it is harboring these parasites. Obviously I don't want to just start putting pesticides everywhere, so I am hoping once we get a good cold spell maybe I can go and turn it over and expose them all to the cold and maybe that will do them in. I don't know if topical treatments on chickens work similar to dog and cat drops, where they kill or repel for 4 weeks because that would be my other option once everyone is old enough. The downside is I read that they can go for several months without eating. The ones that I saw in the run were red, so they are getting food from somewhere!
Also, regarding incubators... My first guinea egg incubation was terrible. After a few hatches though I was getting very good results. When the mamas went broody, I found that the eggs that spent more time in the incubator than under the broody had better hatch rates (all of the eggs spent some time under the broodies and some time in the incubator). I think the temperatures were more consistent, as was the turning of the eggs. However, you have to take into consideration my location and the time of year that that occurred. It seems it was too humid out and the eggs under the broody retained too much moisture, which can drown the babies as they try to hatch. Someone who lives where it is very very dry might also have issues. My chickens are able to get near 100% hatch rates on any eggs they sit on (once fertility is accounted for), but even in the incubator the guinea eggs are a bit different from the chickens and require a bit more care.I think it also makes a difference that the chickens sit on eggs in the nest box while the broodys have theirs on the leaves and dirt, which has more moisture and less insulation, I think. Earlier in the season the shells seemed to be especially hard and thick and that was an issue at hatch as well. In summary, my primary incubator is a Farm Innovators 4250 Digital Forced Air with Automatic Turner from Tractor Supply, and when I am hatching a lot and want to stagger hatches I also have a Chinese incubator that I took a chance on from Ebay and have used with good results. I incubate at about 40% humidity and then for hatch get up to 65% at a bare minimum, preferably closer to 75%. Throughout the hatch you have to learn to keep an eye on the air cell and adjust the humidity according to that. I also find that even though my incubator does not run hot they hatch in 26 days plus or minus a day, though they go for the full 28 with a broody.
