Mites - Will there always be a few? Or are zero mites possible?

[TheFugitivePen]

New chicken keeper here

I was checking our six-month-old pullets for mites last night and may have found evidence of mite eggs (either that or it's just dirty butts from poop, dirt, and First Saturday Lime). However, I did not see any irritation on their skin, dust on feather stalks, or near their vents. But I may have seen one or two mites in a nest box.

Should we treat mites as a zero-tolerance policy? Or will there always be some regardless of preventative measures?
Or do you only treat when you believe you're heading toward infestation? At what point do you seriously treat the coop, run, and hens for mites as opposed to just treating them preventatively?

I just want to keep my birds as happy and healthy as possible, and I believe an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure .... but I also don't want to overdue it and spray their coop the moment I find a mite if there will just always be a few stray mites in the coop regardless.

Thank you so much!

 

[K0k0shka]

an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

This is generally true but not when it comes to chemicals. Spraying with chemicals is not prevention, it's treatment, and you should only treat if you actually have mites. Any unnecessary application of chemicals desensitizes the pest and builds its resistance to the chemical, thus rendering the chemical ineffective in the long run. Like antibiotic overuse and resistance in livestock. Only treat if you have a real problem. Prevention would be something like good biosecurity - when visiting other people's flocks, or local farms, shows, etc. or when acquiring new birds; keeping your flock away from wild birds (who can carry mites), and so on.

With mites, if you find some, you'll soon find more, and then even more, and eventually you'll end up with an infestation, because they reproduce quickly and won't just go away unless you intervene. So there's no "normal amount" of stray mites to just always have. You need a zero tolerance approach, but you need to be sure you are actually dealing with mites, before you go trigger happy and douse the premises because some butts looked dirty Get a flashlight at night after dark (better yet, a head lamp so you have both hands free), and take a good close look at your chickens - part the feathers around the vent until you see skin, look under the wings, base of the neck. Mites are active at night so if you do have mites, you should be able to see them crawling. If the concentration is high enough, you'll be able to feel them crawling on your hands, too.

 

[TheFugitivePen]

This is generally true but not when it comes to chemicals. Spraying with chemicals is not prevention, it's treatment, and you should only treat if you actually have mites. Any unnecessary application of chemicals desensitizes the pest and builds its resistance to the chemical, thus rendering the chemical ineffective in the long run. Like antibiotic overuse and resistance in livestock. Only treat if you have a real problem. Prevention would be something like good biosecurity - when visiting other people's flocks, or local farms, shows, etc. or when acquiring new birds; keeping your flock away from wild birds (who can carry mites), and so on.

With mites, if you find some, you'll soon find more, and then even more, and eventually you'll end up with an infestation, because they reproduce quickly and won't just go away unless you intervene. So there's no "normal amount" of stray mites to just always have. You need a zero tolerance approach, but you need to be sure you are actually dealing with mites, before you go trigger happy and douse the premises because some butts looked dirty Get a flashlight at night after dark (better yet, a head lamp so you have both hands free), and take a good close look at your chickens - part the feathers around the vent until you see skin, look under the wings, base of the neck. Mites are active at night so if you do have mites, you should be able to see them crawling. If the concentration is high enough, you'll be able to feel them crawling on your hands, too.

Thank you!
I saw a social media post about mite infestations, so I thought I'd take a look.
And yes! That's why I came to you all, the experts! I know I can get a little trigger-happy when it comes to reacting to pests lol. I certainly don't want super mites resistant to chemicals.
Thanks for the input and advice! I really appreciate it!

 

[K0k0shka]

Thank you!
I saw a social media post about mite infestations, so I thought I'd take a look.
And yes! That's why I came to you all, the experts! I know I can get a little trigger-happy when it comes to reacting to pests lol. I certainly don't want super mites resistant to chemicals.
Thanks for the input and advice! I really appreciate it!

Good luck! And don't get freaked by social media posts - some people blow this out of proportion and say you need to burn everything and start fresh, blah blah. It's not that big of a deal. If you catch them early (and even if you don't), you can exterminate them very effectively if you trash all the bedding, spray the coop and the chickens down once every 3-4 days for several applications total, and then bring fresh bedding in when everything is done and dry. I've done this with permethrin spray and it got rid of all the mites. Permethrin is a lot cheaper than the crowd favorite - elector PSP, it's easier to find, and in smaller quantities, but it's no lesser than it at all. It's very effective, and safe - safe to eat the eggs, too.

 

[room onthebroom]

Zero mite tolerance is always my goal.

If you see mites & your infestation isn’t too bad yet you might be able to get away with dusting your birds & their nests with a permethrin based poultry dust. I like the Prozap brand. Get it deep into their feathers (back of the neck, vent area & under their wings.) Check them in a few days & redust if necessary.

If you wait till the infestation gets bad you’ll have to treat the birds and also spray down the whole coop with a permethrin based liquid.

 

[aart]

New chicken keeper here

I was checking our six-month-old pullets for mites last night and may have found evidence of mite eggs (either that or it's just dirty butts from poop, dirt, and First Saturday Lime). However, I did not see any irritation on their skin, dust on feather stalks, or near their vents. But I may have seen one or two mites in a nest box.

Should we treat mites as a zero-tolerance policy? Or will there always be some regardless of preventative measures?
Or do you only treat when you believe you're heading toward infestation? At what point do you seriously treat the coop, run, and hens for mites as opposed to just treating them preventatively?

I just want to keep my birds as happy and healthy as possible, and I believe an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure .... but I also don't want to overdue it and spray their coop the moment I find a mite if there will just always be a few stray mites in the coop regardless.

Thank you so much!

I would not treat unless you see live mites/lice on the bird...
...or roost mites on the roosts well after dark
Keep checking every other day or so.

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

 

[StinkyAcres]

My method may not be for everyone, but the way I find mites on my birds is by running my arms through their feathers. If there are mites I can feel them crawling on me.

 

[TheFugitivePen]

My method may not be for everyone, but the way I find mites on my birds is by running my arms through their feathers. If there are mites I can feel them crawling on me.

But, I mean, if it works, it works! Can't shame it just because it's not for the squeamish

 

[rosemarythyme]

Just wanted to add, make sure what you're treating for is an actual issue. 1 or 2 unidentifiable tiny specks with legs could be aphids (we've gotten aphids raining down into the run - super nasty), baby spiders, other types of mites that aren't harmful (I get these reddish ones that crawl around but aren't red roost mites), etc. Gross but not an issue. I fight off the urge to just eradicate them if I can't ID an actual problem.