Essentially a horror story - how do I get rid of these chicken mites??

[the_peanut_coop]

I've never had trouble with pests before. The girls free range and dust bathe often, and in Utah it's very dry so we don't often get a lot of bugs. However last night I was going to bed and holy cow there were tiny bugs all over me. (Horrific experience for me personally, haha) I cleaned myself up and went to bed. In the morning I inspected the coop ( which we clean often) and they're are infact tiny little black/brown/ red pressure all over. I checked the birds and some of them were clean, but the fluffier ones like my Brahma and my wyandotte had some mites on their breasts. Cleaning out the coop is the first step, but what should I do to get rid of them for good???

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Permethrin based poultry spray or dust.
Treat birds and housing.
This post gives more details.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/coop-pests.1493907/post-24921944

 

[Blue Raptor]

I've never had trouble with pests before. The girls free range and dust bathe often, and in Utah it's very dry so we don't often get a lot of bugs. However last night I was going to bed and holy cow there were tiny bugs all over me. (Horrific experience for me personally, haha) I cleaned myself up and went to bed. In the morning I inspected the coop ( which we clean often) and they're are infact tiny little black/brown/ red pressure all over. I checked the birds and some of them were clean, but the fluffier ones like my Brahma and my wyandotte had some mites on their breasts. Cleaning out the coop is the first step, but what should I do to get rid of them for good???

You could try this, but Wyorp Rock probably knows better!
https://www.amazon.com

And be sure to have someone check your hair to make sure you got all the mites!

 

[DonyaQuick]

The mites that are on the birds - are they under the feathers on the skin or mostly on the outside? If on the outside of just a few chickens but otherwise swarming other areas of wood in particular, it could be mold/grain mites. I had a battle with those last year. When out of control, they can make horrible thick piles that look like dust bunnies until you get in close and realize it's moving. Even if grain mites, once they get to that level permethrin is the only thing I tried that had any effect.

 

[the_peanut_coop]

The mites that are on the birds - are they under the feathers on the skin or mostly on the outside? If on the outside of just a few chickens but otherwise swarming other areas of wood in particular, it could be mold/grain mites. I had a battle with those last year. When out of control, they can make horrible thick piles that look like dust bunnies until you get in close and realize it's moving. Even if grain mites, once they get to that level permethrin is the only thing I tried that had any effect.

So they're on the breasts off the birds under the feathers but this is also in the coop.

 

[the_peanut_coop]

I'm headed to the country store to get some permethrine spray now

 

[Geena]

So they're on the breasts off the birds under the feathers but this is also in the coop.

Can you get a closer up pic? Zooming in they don't really look like NFM to me, maybe could be Red Mites? I've never had to deal with those thank goodness, but I've heard you need to take a very aggressive approach with them. It would probably be best to identify what you are up against so you know how to handle the situation.

https://www.amazon.com

Wow, over a dollar an ounce for active ingredients - clove oil 0.06% and cottonseed oil 0.05%

 

[the_peanut_coop]

I've bought the concentrate and diluted it to 0.5 percent. The coop that been through sprayed and I'll get the girls in a few minutes...

 

[the_peanut_coop]

So how quickly effective is permethrine?

 

[DonyaQuick]

So how quickly effective is permethrine?

It should be pretty immediate on contact with the bugs. You'll need to do a follow up treatment in a week or two since I don't think it affects eggs.