Please someone help me with mites!!!

Bulletproofluff

Hatching
Aug 27, 2016
5
0
7
Last month i noticed that i had small insects crawling over my arms after putting the hens away for the night. Since then i have been finding these mites on my body every now and again. My mother regularly spends time with the chickens and she has recently given the coop a thorough clean out.
i'm concerned that these mites are living on me, but unlike any other forum post ive read, im not getting bitten, i just find them crawling on me.
Please help, this experience has turned me borderline germ-phobic.
 
Pretty sure they won't be living on you if they're chicken related. Unless you have feathers? Jokes aside, get yourself a nice massive sack of diatomaceous earth from ebay, scrub the coop and coat the ends of the perches in neat jeyes fluid. Make sure you get everything up at the roof of the coop too, even if you have to take the roof apart, otherwise they're going to keep coming back. Then coat the perches and cracks and everything else in the earth, get yourself a cat litter tray and some old clothes and give your chicks a good old going over with the earth too. You will look like something out of a zombie movie by the time you have finished but you and your chickens should be mite free. If you're still freaking out about mites living on you (and there apparently have been some cases, but they're rare) then use tea tree oil products while you wash.
 
I'm allergic to tea tree
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but i have been taking garlic capsules and rubbing a lotion mixed with permethrin over my skin. Theyre definately chicken related because they appeared after i spent a weekend looking after the hens for my mum. I'm just confused as to why they're not biting me
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Thanks for replying, it means a lot
 
That really sucks. You could try insect repellent? And spray cedar oil around (allergy permitting though
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) on your clothes and bedding. Citronella might work too, again, allergy permitting. If they're not biting you then I doubt that eating garlic will really help, although I hear it's great for the blood pressure anyway!
 
It's just so confusing, because they're definitely chicken mites, im not sure which type, but they're not red mite or scaly leg mite. And with the amount of times I've read of them biting and leaving vicious red rashes, im so surprised that i don't have a mark on my body
 
I'm kinda killing myself laughing at the thought of you having scaly leg mite. It's cruel, but I just am. What do they look like? It wondering if they're actually lice rather than mites? It would explain their not biting you.
 
DE will not kill an infestation of mites...DE can be used as a preventative but it will not deal with mites in a coop;

Mites are very tiny and straw like in colour and they do crawl on you and itch like crazy...they will not bite you but will suck blood from your chickens at night when they are roosting...

Permethrin liquid spray for the coop and Sevin dust for your chickens will deal with the problem...

Treat all areas of the coop..pay special attention to any cracks and crevices, check the feeders and waterers for any sign that mites may also be hiding in those areas...remove and burn all bedding, treat nesting boxes and dust your chickens at dusk with the Sevin...pay special attention to under wings and around the vent areas...wear a mask when using both products...you do not want to breathe the treatment into your lungs.

After treating the animals...remove all clothing and put into a hot wash in your washing machine...have a shower and repeat all again in 7 to 10 days...

Hint...if you spray liquid permethrin onto your boots...any mites will die very quickly and then they do not get a chance to crawl all over you...use gloves when dusting the chckens...make sure that all feed and waterers are removed from the coop before treating...

I guarantee that if you follow what I have said that your coop and chickens will be mite free!
 
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some are a brownish colour, like sand, and others are really small and black. Dont worry, i also laughed at the thought of having leg mites
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They are mites..the darker colour ones have likely fed on the chickens and are engorged with blood...by any chance do wild birds have access to the coop? Wild birds are notorious for bringing mites to chickens and coop...I have an open door to the coop all day and I have CD's hanging in the doorway...no more wild birds in the coop!

I wish you luck and a mite free life...!
 
@Suzie hence the neat jeyes fluid after a good old power wash. Works a treat for me anyway, then DE to rid the lurkers.
 

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