I’m not sure if these are mites? What to do and can it affect my other animals.

[picklestheduck]

Hey everyone, wondering if my flock has mites. I have 29 chickens and 12 ducks that live together. I have a nice big run and have a duck side that I have a big pool in and everything, and then a chicken side with dust baths and a few treat dispensing toys etc. they all live together in the same enclosure but don’t really seem to care about each other. They eat and drink alongside each other but other than that go about their own little bird lives. But recently I’ve been suspecting mites, but am not really sure. I haven’t known much about them, and haven’t seen any super clear signs, but after just setting down One of my hens I found a little bug on my arm that I suspect is a mite. It was teeny tiny and like a tanish yellowish color. After that I checked a few hens for mites, and saw a few teeny bugs scuttling around, but not a ton. I don’t see any buildup or anything, and the bugs are all the yellowish color. I have a few with feathered feet, dove to be exact I believe, four brahma hens and a silkie rooster. Not sure how to go about treating them, but I’ve heard horrible things about DE so don’t worry I won’t be using it. I JUST cleaned the coop out last week and put in all new bedding… and would love to not have to redo it, but totally understand if I need to. I’ve read some stuff about Permethrine poultry dust/spray, so I’m thinking of getting and trying that, but need to ask here first. And what do I do about the ducks? Do I dust or spray them down?

Edit- we have had some heavy rains so the run has been muddy off and on but dries pretty quickly. After seeing what I believe is the mite, I quickly refreshed the dust bath kiddy pool. Not sure how much it will do.

 

[nuthatched]

@nuthatched what should I do about the ducks? Can I put the permethrine on them as well? I’m leaning towards the spray for them if they need it and dust for the chickens

I don't know why not although, I think I remember reading that you can use oral mite treatments since ducks get wet. Let me look
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mites-on-duck.1464326/

 

[aart]

Do I have to pull back the feathers to spray underneath or what?

Absolutely , it must be diluted properly and applied to the skin around vent and neck, under wings and on belly. Every 7 days for 3 weeks.
Not sure how to deal with ducks being in water, maybe keep them from swimming for a few days after treatments.

And can we eat the eggs after I use the permethrin on them?

Yes.


If they are roost mites, you must spray all the cracks and crevices in coop.
First figure out exactly what you are dealing with.



Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.

Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.

Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight, easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.

Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).

Good post about mite ID by Lady McCamley:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-chicken-has-mites-now-what.1273674/page-2#post-20483008

 

[nuthatched]

Ok thank you. I just blew it out. Why wouldn’t you recommend it?

Because it will just blow everything around vs direct scooping into a trash bag and getting rid of it.
All coops have bugs, you just need to treat the coop, not necessarilythe live bugs and wait a week before you treat again

 

[Kiki]

Ok. Thank you! I scooped and swept the coop all out before I blew it, I just used the leaf blower for the leftovers and cob webs etc. I sprayed the entire coop and all the birds yesterday. I’m going out of town for over a week so unfortunately it will be a little over seven days

Which means you are going to have to start all over again.

If you do not stay on top of treatment to get rid of these nasty things then they multiply like crazy.
You have to break the life cycle and in order to break the life cycle you must treat every 5 to 7 days.

 

[picklestheduck]

Here’s a few pictures of the little sucker. And another question, could this affect my dogs and cats? I have a barn cat that also comes in the house and a farm dog that does chores with me

 

[Ponypoor]

Are you sure it isn't a tick? It is really hard to see what it is.

At any rate, lice are species specific. Which means that poultry lice won't live on dogs or cats, or humans.

Easiest most effective way to treat is with Ivermectin.

 

[picklestheduck]

Are you sure it isn't a tick? It is really hard to see what it is.

At any rate, lice are species specific. Which means that poultry lice won't live on dogs or cats, or humans.

Easiest most effective way to treat is with Ivermectin.

Positive it is not a tick, I’ve had my fair share of those unfortunately and know this is different. Alrighty thank you I’ll look into that

 

[nuthatched]

@nuthatched so I’m currently gutting the coop, and I’m about to leaf blow it all out, and then spray it, but my question is, do I have to spray up the walls or on the ceiling at all? And what about the run? And do I have to spray evwry square inch of the floor? There is a bit of bedding in the run that has gotten tracked out of the coop from birds and now me scooping it out. And can we eat the eggs after I use the permethrin on them?

Every nook and cranny in the coop, though, I wouldn't recommend a leaf blower.

 

[picklestheduck]

I believe it is actually poultry lice. They are tan ish yellow ish