northern fowl mites vs poultry mites or what?

[lingon]

I noticed tiny fast moving reddish bugs on a newly laid egg. Checked out our hens (2 barred rocks) and near their vent their skin and feather shafts look good but every time I parted a new area I saw about 10 of these bugs quickly skitter away. I can't see any dimension to them, they look like dark red specks/dots, mostly visible because they're moving. They got on my hands when I was looking for them, and ran all around my hands. Now I itch everywhere.

We had 2 warm days (up to 50F) and typically go down to 32 at night and up to 40 at day. It seems a little early to be seeing mites, though maybe they've had them all winter and I didn't notice. No symptoms on the birds yet.

What type of mites are these? I'm off to buy permethrin, I guess?
Because of the colder temperatures, how do I keep the chickens from freezing when I spray them?
And how far away does the old bedding need to go? These are suburbia chickens, I don't have a huge yard.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They sound like mites. I personally prefer the powder. Most chickens have them at some point. They can get them from wild birds. Birds generally keep them under control by dust bathing which can be harder in winter in some places.

I will dust birds and any roost cracks, and nestboxes under the bedding weekly for 3-4 weeks to break the life cycle.

External parasites are a maintenance thing. So expect to see them again at some point.

 

[rosemarythyme]

My guess is northern fowl mites, which is very likely what I've been dealing with. I still have bite marks all over me but thankfully none newer than 10 days old.

Powder permethrin would be the way to go while it's still cold. You'll want to clean out the coop completely and spray down the roost and every crevice in the coop. Bag up old bedding for trash or burn it if that's allowed.

While I've been dealing with my issue I've been wearing disposable gloves, and keeping dedicated boots and clothes in the garage so I don't track more mites into the house. Check arms and legs for mites before heading back inside! I have a dedicated trash can by the run for dumping used gloves, poop, etc into. I also got a small can of permethrin aerosol spray and sprayed down all our outdoor shoes/boots.

 

[aart]

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

 

[lingon]

We cleaned out the coop, sprayed it well with permethrin (concentrated barn percentage) and sprayed the hens during a warm day (at much lower bird percentage). The coop still smells like permethrin.
It was relatively easy to spray the coop, but a real trauma to me (mostly trying not to get covered in mites myself) and the hens to spray them. Their vent area looks a lot cleaner/fluffier now, but I haven't been able to catch them to check, and I wanted to give them a bit of a rest.

Can I just repeat the coop spraying weekly and let the hens dust bathe a lot?
Also, should I spray their dust bathing area with permethrin? It's halfway under our deck, we don't have cats, but we sometimes see them in the area. I do have DE, but it seems opinions are varied on that.

 

[aart]

I would keep looking every night for activity both in coop and on birds.
Yes, treat again every 7-10 days for a few weeks or so....maybe depending on what you observe.
Did you determine if they are roost mites or fowl mites?
I'd skip the DE.

 

[cmom]

I agree with not using DE. When I had my mite infestation I bought a 50# bag of DE. After a couple of weeks of using DE the birds were still infested. They looked pretty pathetic and I was afraid if I didn't find something that would work I just may have lost some birds. Now I don't trust it, then I used permethrin and after a couple of weeks I saw no mites. If you have some type of mites, the best product to get rid of them in my opinion is permethrin which is very cost effective. I had a severe infestation, the birds were loosing a lot of feathers which I thought was due to molting but upon closer inspection discovered the mites. I treated the coop weekly for awhile. Weekly repeated sprayings are necessary because it does not kill the pests eggs. Permethrin works and there is no egg withdrawal period. Initially I sprayed the birds too. If you have a TSC you can get the dust, premixed spray and the concentrate. I also use the dust on the birds and in their nest boxes and spray inside of the coops, every crack and crevice, on and under the roosts, ceiling, walls, floors, anywhere the mites can hide. I buy the concentrate but I have a lot of coops so I mix it in a gallon sprayer and the wand helps me to reach the hard to reach areas. For smaller places the premixed spray is good. It took awhile for the birds feathers to come back in, but they are beautiful again. If do use the dust or spray, wear special clothing including a mask and gloves. I have a headlamp I use. Some mites only feed on the birds at night so after they go to roost I go out and with the headlamp, I have both of my hands free to inspect the birds. If you want to bathe your birds, every over-the-counter (OTC) treatment for head lice contains either pyrethrins (Rid or Triple X) or permethrin (Nix). They are effective treatment. Both only kill live pests, not eggs. Good luck...

 

[lingon]

I got a few microscope pictures of the mites, and there are still living mites on the hens, about 1/10 than before spraying.
Ignore the air bubbles, I don’t have good microscope skills.

since they’re active on the birds midday, I’m assuming they northern fowl mites. do you think?

Should I wait a full 7 days before re-spraying the hens, or do it sooner?

 

[aart]

since they’re active on the birds midday, I’m assuming they northern fowl mites. do you think?

I would assume so, yes, and also not seeing any roaming the coop well after dark, according to this.....

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

Should I wait a full 7 days before re-spraying the hens, or do it sooner?

7-10 days is the normal incubation range for eggs to hatch.
But I guess if you still see live mite active a few days after treatment, I'd treat the birds again.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Can I just repeat the coop spraying weekly and let the hens dust bathe a lot?
Also, should I spray their dust bathing area with permethrin? It's halfway under our deck, we don't have cats, but we sometimes see them in the area. I do have DE, but it seems opinions are varied on that.

I'd repeat the coop treatment if you think you didn't get them all, have a bad infestation, or if it seems you're dealing with roost mites as they're more likely to be in crevices in coop than on the birds during day (but it does sound like you're mainly dealing with northern fowl mites). Wish I could ID the microscope images, but there's photos online that maybe you can try comparing to?

I was iffy on whether or not it was a good idea to add permethrin powder to the dust bath, so I went halfway and after my 2nd dusting of the birds I let them in the dust bath and it looks like they shook off a good amount of the powder into the bath.

Since you're still seeing active mites I'd treat them again sooner rather than later. Really try to get the powder or liquid right up against the skin on back, neck, belly, under wing, and especially around vent. I had some birds that were getting them on their head so I very carefully rubbed some around base of the comb.