Are these Northern Fowl mites? Could she have gotten them from being in a grassy area and not being able to dust bathe?
Background: we’ve had a chicken in a crate in the house for a little over a week while she healed from a wound. A few days ago we started putting her in a chicken “playpen” in the grass outside so she could be a chicken, but was safe from our rooster or other hens pecking at her. Yesterday, we noticed these dark specks crawling all over the outside of the crate and on a white bowl that we had food in. They are super tiny and look more like moving specks of dirt. Our chicken also had a lot crawling around her when we inspected her vent. We’ve had chickens for 5 years, but we’ve never dealt with mites before. We inspected our 9 other chickens who “free range” in a 1/2 acre pasture and didn’t see anything?
Background: we’ve had a chicken in a crate in the house for a little over a week while she healed from a wound. A few days ago we started putting her in a chicken “playpen” in the grass outside so she could be a chicken, but was safe from our rooster or other hens pecking at her. Yesterday, we noticed these dark specks crawling all over the outside of the crate and on a white bowl that we had food in. They are super tiny and look more like moving specks of dirt. Our chicken also had a lot crawling around her when we inspected her vent. We’ve had chickens for 5 years, but we’ve never dealt with mites before. We inspected our 9 other chickens who “free range” in a 1/2 acre pasture and didn’t see anything?
