askHELTIE HELTIEhorse® Guest blog Finecto+: Is keeping chickens with horses dangerous?

Guest blog Finecto+: Is keeping chickens with horses dangerous?

People who have animals at home usually don't just keep one type of animal. Often, it becomes a whole stack of animals that run around and live together. With chickens, there are often problems with mites, especially red mites can be a huge nuisance. Is it dangerous to keep chickens and horses together? Finecto+, specialist in the control of red mites, explains!

Guest blog

29 September '23 • 2 min reading time

What are red mites?

Red mites is actually the wrong name, they are actually mites, but generally the name red mites is used. These mites occur on birds, poultry, and also on reptiles. But especially with chickens, red mites are a huge nuisance. Infection usually occurs by adding a new chicken, but wild birds often bring an infestation of red mites as well. Red mites are extremely persistent, a real nuisance, they reproduce very fast, so within a week a few red mites can become 10,000 red mites. Red mites are hardly visible during the day, they are active at night when the chicken is roosting. The red mite then comes out of its hiding place and walks to the chicken to drink blood. Once full, the red mite returns to its hiding place to digest the blood and reproduce.

Red mites need bird/chicken blood

To survive and reproduce, red mites need blood, specifically the blood of chickens and/or birds. This blood has the right composition for red mites. The blood of humans, dogs, horses, goats and other mammals can be taken in by the red mite, but they cannot utilize it. So, horses in the vicinity may be bitten by red mites and experience irritation, but the red mite cannot do anything with it.

Horses and chickens can be kept together

Horses and chickens can be kept together just fine, often it is even a beautiful sight to see them wandering through the pasture or the stable together. Of course, they both need different types of housing, but they do not get in each other's way. Red mites and other mites from chickens are not dangerous for horses. However, they can cause irritation and itching in horses. Red mites do bite and this can cause itching, especially if a horse is sensitive to it. It is preferable to keep the chicken coop separate from the horses. This way, you don't have to worry about the red mites getting to the chickens and causing irritation there.

What if there are red mites on your horse?

If there is an infestation of red mites in your horse's stable, we recommend cleaning the stable thoroughly with a high-pressure sprayer. Disinfection is not necessary, as it does not kill red mites. Since red mites cannot swim, a lot of water is already a very good method. Also, do not use straw anymore, as it is the ideal place for red mites to hide. Instead, opt for flax or sawdust. You can use a weed burner to destroy any nests. In addition, you can give your horse an internal supplement that acts as a repellent against mites and makes the blood indigestible for mites, preventing them from reproducing. And of course, treat the chickens and their coop too!

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