Originally Posted by Ridge Runner

mites eat dead skin, not hair. It is a fungus of some kind, I've killed 2 longbeards with a burnt red paste substance in the beard about midways, which I assume if left long enough would cause the beard to break at the point where the substance was and leave those blonde tips. I've also killed gobblers that were 20+#'s and had a 2" beard with the blonde tips. We've always called this condition "Red Rot" have no idea what causes it.
RR