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Fowl Tick or Poultry Tick

Fowl Tick or Poultry Tick:

General Description

  • Fowl ticks are light to dark red-brown (yellowish-brown when starved and slatey-blue when engorged).
  • Adults are about 0.5-0.6 mm long.
  • Mouthparts in nymphs and adults are not visible when viewed from above since they are hidden by the front margin of the tick’s body.

The skin is wrinkled.

 

Credit: CDC

Soft Tick

Credit: Navid Drogba

 

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

  • Fowl ticks are found on an animal host, in cracks and crevices of buildings or in nests during the day and feed at night.
  • These ticks are particularly active in poultry houses during warm, dry weather.
  • Mating and laying eggs occur off the host and in sheltered areas such as bird nests.
  • Eggs will hatch 10-30 days after being laid, depending on temperature and humidity within their habitat.
  • Six-legged larvae hatch from the eggs in the selected sheltered area.
  • Larvae begin to feed for a few hours to a few days after selecting the host.
  • Larvae can be found on the birds because they remain attached and feed for 2–7 days.
  • The larvae finish feeding and leaves the host and find a shelter.
  • Nymphs and adults feed at night for 15–30 minutes.
  • Nymphs feed and molt several times before reaching the adult stage.
  • It has a multihost life cycle. This means that it has two or more nymphal stages that each require a blood meal.
  • Adults feed repeatedly, most commonly under the wings, and the females lay from 50 to 500 eggs after each meal when off the hosts.
  • Adult females may live more than 4 years without a blood meal.

Damage and Medical Implications

  • Fowl ticks are usually associated with poultry production, but roaming ticks can also invade and infest homes and attempt to feed on people and pets.
  • Adult and nymph fowl ticks most actively seek to feed at night and feed for only about 15-30 minutes before leaving their host and returning to their harborage site.
  • Fowl ticks are carriers of the spirochete bacteria Borrelia anserinawhich causes avian spirochetosis, one of the most severe diseases affecting the poultry industry.
  • Fowl tick infestation cause the following:
  • Anemia, weight loss, drowsiness, depression, toxemia, and paralysis.
  • loss of appetite
  • Egg production decreases.
  • Red spots can be seen on the skin where the ticks have fed.
  • Death is rare, but production may be severely depressed.