I'm going crazy!
We discovered tiny (.5 mm or less) black bugs in the chicken tractor about 1 wk ago. They crawl mostly on me (and the chickens). My 6 kids aren't bothered or don't notice them. They (or something else) are biting me at night and I am itchy all night and wake up with new small red bumps around my underarms and upper thighs. I haven't actually seen any bugs on the bed. The chickens are chewing on themselves and only gently getting each others bugs. Other than that they look fine. My kids are the ones who have been locking the chickens up at night and filling their food and water most of the time so I don't know when this started. They also spend a lot of time holding them and watching them inside the run part. I'm 6.5 months pg and haven't been going outside much because of the heat (near Houston). They are almost 20 weeks so hubby has checked for eggs every couple of days and hadn't noticed them.
Yesterday we bathed the chickens in about 3 gallons of water mixed with about a cup of Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Castille soap and a few drops of Eucalyptus oil (stuff I had). They were rinsed twice, the 2nd rinse had a LITTLE tea tree oil in it. I wanted to let the soap sit on them for a while but one of my helpers kept disappearing so some of them got rinsed pretty quickly. After we were done they still seemed to have a few live bugs on them but it was better and they looked beautiful. My husband jet sprayed the chicken tractor (with water) and said the number of bugs was disgusting. After spraying and cleaning everything out he sprayed the whole thing with Garlic Barrier and a little neem oil (things we had). When we still saw a few bugs crawling on the wood my husband sprayed an orange oil and Dr. Bronner's mix I had for the garden. We finally got food grade DE and sprinkled that all over everthing with a sifter and today we'll squirt it more thoroughly in the cracks with a mustard bottle (pointed spout). It hasn't really smelled much and I've been too tired and hot to check on the coop part. I really wish I had done the DE from the beginning. Also, they now have a dust bath with ashes and DE but we haven't dusted the individual chickens with anything yet because I (the director) got tired and hungry. The 6 patches of grass/dirt where we rotate the tractor were also sprayed with garlic barrier and later sprinkled with DE. We all immediately showered when we came in last night and threw the clothes and towels in the wash. This morning I was the one to let the chickens out into the run part and fill the food and water (QUICKLY) and I have had more bugs on my face and hands than ever!!! They have been around my desk and on the leather couch (which I haven't done anything about). Atleast that's where I catch them on me.
So, what are these evil things and what do I do? I know about all the chemical treatments and I don't want to use them or have my kids (15yo-3yo) handling the chickens who've been dusted with them. I guess I want to know if there's anything else natural first and how to get them out of my house!
Sorry so long!
p.s. They were extremely cute sitting in the sun wrapped in towels. They must have been in shock. Most of them just sat there and a couple took a short nap. There are 14, by the way.
Yesterday we bathed the chickens in about 3 gallons of water mixed with about a cup of Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Castille soap and a few drops of Eucalyptus oil (stuff I had). They were rinsed twice, the 2nd rinse had a LITTLE tea tree oil in it. I wanted to let the soap sit on them for a while but one of my helpers kept disappearing so some of them got rinsed pretty quickly. After we were done they still seemed to have a few live bugs on them but it was better and they looked beautiful. My husband jet sprayed the chicken tractor (with water) and said the number of bugs was disgusting. After spraying and cleaning everything out he sprayed the whole thing with Garlic Barrier and a little neem oil (things we had). When we still saw a few bugs crawling on the wood my husband sprayed an orange oil and Dr. Bronner's mix I had for the garden. We finally got food grade DE and sprinkled that all over everthing with a sifter and today we'll squirt it more thoroughly in the cracks with a mustard bottle (pointed spout). It hasn't really smelled much and I've been too tired and hot to check on the coop part. I really wish I had done the DE from the beginning. Also, they now have a dust bath with ashes and DE but we haven't dusted the individual chickens with anything yet because I (the director) got tired and hungry. The 6 patches of grass/dirt where we rotate the tractor were also sprayed with garlic barrier and later sprinkled with DE. We all immediately showered when we came in last night and threw the clothes and towels in the wash. This morning I was the one to let the chickens out into the run part and fill the food and water (QUICKLY) and I have had more bugs on my face and hands than ever!!! They have been around my desk and on the leather couch (which I haven't done anything about). Atleast that's where I catch them on me.
So, what are these evil things and what do I do? I know about all the chemical treatments and I don't want to use them or have my kids (15yo-3yo) handling the chickens who've been dusted with them. I guess I want to know if there's anything else natural first and how to get them out of my house!
Sorry so long!
p.s. They were extremely cute sitting in the sun wrapped in towels. They must have been in shock. Most of them just sat there and a couple took a short nap. There are 14, by the way.