What are the little crawly things in the coop?

[zephyr66]

Hi all...

This is a little gross, but gotta tell the whole story. I went out to clean the coop today (we're in Southern California) and haven't given it a good cleaning in a few months. Had my baseball cap on (it has the little holes on top) and took the broom and brushed the walls, rafters and perches really well. I then went to the garden and after about 15 minutes noticed my head was itching really badly. eeewwww! took off my cap and inside the cap were several tiny little crawly things a little smaller than a grain of sand. I washed my hair immediately and they were gone. But, when I went down to the coop later and knelt down to check on something a few of the things were on my hands. they are tannish, yellowish, flesh colored. Does this sound like mites? I have organic chickens but if this is the case am not sure if mites can be dealt with organically. Don't even know if they are mites. Any guesses?

Sylvia

 

[Suzie]

From your description it seems you may have a mite infestation... DE will not rid you of the problem. You would need to use Sevin / Permethryn to rid the chickens and their habitat from the mites.

The dust will treat the chickens and you will also need to dust/spray the coop including nesting boxes... ensure that you dust or spray any cracks and crevices as the mites will collect there until the chickens ( or a warm human body ) enter and then they will become active... sucking blood from your chickens and making them very ill if the problem is not treated... the mites will crawl onto your clothing and find a warm place.. i.e. your head, ears etc....

You can use DE on areas where the chickens dust bathe to help kill any that are in the area.

You will also need to treat everything again in 7-10 days time to kill any mite eggs that may have hatched.

 

[sourland]

Suie has given good and accurate advice.

 

[animallover505]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/146550/organic-method-for-treating-chicken-lice

 

[AlicBird]

I had mites last summer too! I bought this spray for mites. I cleaned out the coop and sprayed it everywhere and then I sprayed the chickens everyday under their feathers on their neck and under their wings. They went away within a few months. Good Luck!