Mites and new chickens

[CalgaryFarmer]

We have four one year old rhode island red production hens. We are thinking about adding one cockrele and four pullets. These would be rhode island heritage birds. After reading the mites threads I am starting to wonder if and how we should do this. I am pretty sure our hens are mite free. I asked the supplier and she said she had an outbreak last year. I read this to mean she has an ongoing problem. Maybe I am just being paranoid. Thoughts?

 

[justplainbatty]

We have four one year old rhode island red production hens. We are thinking about adding one cockrele and four pullets. These would be rhode island heritage birds. After reading the mites threads I am starting to wonder if and how we should do this. I am pretty sure our hens are mite free. I asked the supplier and she said she had an outbreak last year. I read this to mean she has an ongoing problem. Maybe I am just being paranoid. Thoughts?

You can never be too careful. I would recommend inspecting the birds you are interested in. Quarantine and bio security plays an important role too. Mites are darn hard to get rid of but can be done. (if you really, really want those birds). Probably best to find another source if you can.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

We have four one year old rhode island red production hens. We are thinking about adding one cockrele and four pullets. These would be rhode island heritage birds. After reading the mites threads I am starting to wonder if and how we should do this. I am pretty sure our hens are mite free. I asked the supplier and she said she had an outbreak last year. I read this to mean she has an ongoing problem. Maybe I am just being paranoid. Thoughts?

You can never be too careful. I would recommend inspecting the birds you are interested in. Quarantine and bio security plays an important role too. Mites are darn hard to get rid of but can be done. (if you really, really want those birds). Probably best to find another source if you can.

My thoughts are that your birds already have mites. You just may not yet have a serous mite problem. The same will likely be true of any hen raised on this planet outside of in a bank vault.

 

[CalgaryFarmer]

You may very well be right. Thanks