Pest help!!

simonas011

In the Brooder
Jan 31, 2015
10
0
22
Hello, had my chickens for about a year. We were rebuilding their coop and most admit a lot of wild birds were getting in to feed until we finally got it done a few weeks ago. Yesterday my husband went to collect eggs and he came back with his arms and the eggs crawling with these tiny dot-like light brown/yellowish bugs. I don't know if they're lice or mites? We dusted the chickens with pestene in the middle of the night and are going to do a thorough clean of the coop tomorrow with malaban and more dusting.
Once I walked in the coop, they had already started crawling on my feet and legs, without coming into contact with the birds?

My main question is what are these things? Will malaban and pretene work? We took our clothes off outside, ran to the shower asap, I even wore a shower cap. Can these things infest my house too? Or will they just did without chickens to feed on? I have a newborn baby and am terrified of having an infestation in the house. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you!!

PS- I'm in Australia if that's relevant?

PPS - even though they were on us neither of us have been bitten? Not sure if we were just lucky or if these things whatever they are don't bite humans?
 
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Sounds a lot like the Northern Fowl Mite we have out here in America. The things will crawl on you without even having touched the birds. Luckily no mite or louse which lives on birds is capable of surviving on humans for more than a day or so - birds run around 105 degrees Fahrenheit on average, so at 99 degrees we are way too cold for them. They can crawl on you, which is unpleasant, but they cannot actually live on you.

The only real good thing about mites and lice is that regardless of what specific species they are, they are pretty much all very susceptible to the same control methods. Permethrin dust has been my go-to for many years until recently; it is effective in killing the mites and lice themselves, but it will not kill eggs which means multiple treatments. It's also very messy. I have however recently been made aware of some studies suggesting that when applied topically its absorbed into the bird's body and residues could be found in the fat of the bird and yolk of the egg for up to three weeks after treatment. So at this point I'm suggesting people using it consider an egg withdrawal period of 3 weeks after the final dusting of the birds.

I'll also suggest a rather unorthodox treatment which I was told about by my avian vet - WD-40. The stuff kills the mites and lice and their eggs on contact, and the only side effect I've found has been a bit of dry skin where the stuff is applied. Which I've also seen result using permethrin dust. I was skeptical at first but now I rely solely on it and it works incredibly well. I like to do one spritz beneath the vent, below the oil gland, under each wing, and on the back of the neck.
 

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