Are these standard mites or?

[iamrobotbug]

hello all,
Just found some feathers on the ground from one of our pullets and when I picked them up and was looking at them I noticed that they have a lot of these tiny white (or maybe light brown, hard to say with the black feathers) bugs on them. Initially just looked like dust but then I watched them moving around. Are these a common chicken issue with a common over the counter fix?

 

[cmom]

If you have mites the best product to get rid of them in my opinion is permethrin which is very cost affective. There is another good choice but very expensive, Elector PSP. I had a severe infestation last year and 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 with permethrin because it does not kill the mite eggs. Permethrin works and there is no egg withdrawal. 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. Good luck...

 

[aart]

View attachment 1884526 hello all,
Just found some feathers on the ground from one of our pullets and when I picked them up and was looking at them I noticed that they have a lot of these tiny white (or maybe light brown, hard to say with the black feathers) bugs on them. Initially just looked like dust but then I watched them moving around. Are these a common chicken issue with a common over the counter fix?

It's hard to know if those bugs were on the chicken or just outside on the feathers.
I can't zoom in close enough, without focus fuzzing out, to tell what they are.
They kind of look lice shaped, rather than mite-like.
Get a magnifying glass out then hit the internet for examples.
There's a lot of bugs around, very few bother chickens.

Check the birds themselves before 'treating'.

Have you checked them over real well for mites and/or lice?

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).

 

[cmom]

@aart is correct. I use a headlamp so I have the use of both of my hands. I never had mites until last year and I thought the birds were molting but upon closer inspection discovered mites. I assume they were brought in by wild birds. Since the birds never had them before, I freaked out and did some research and the BYC community was so helpful. At first I tried DE but saw no affect. I bathed the birds with flea soap twice and it helped but didn't get rid of them all. The birds seemed to enjoy their baths. I only had one coop affected. Then I bought some permethrin and sprayed all of the coops thoroughly. It took awhile and I repeated spraying and I was seeing less and less and the birds started looking better. You may never have any pest but likely sometime or other you might. I have had birds for many years and last year was my first time. This year I have had some a couple of times but caught it earlier. I have had some birds attempt to build nests in a couple of the coops but I took the bird nests out and treated the coops. I have been spraying every week or two. We had several days of rain so I didn't spray because I want it to dry after I spray. Hopefully your birds are fine.

 

[iamrobotbug]

It's hard to know if those bugs were on the chicken or just outside on the feathers.
I can't zoom in close enough, without focus fuzzing out, to tell what they are.
They kind of look lice shaped, rather than mite-like.
Get a magnifying glass out then hit the internet for examples.
There's a lot of bugs around, very few bother chickens.

Check the birds themselves before 'treating'.

Have you checked them over real well for mites and/or lice?

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).

I haven’t caught the chickens to inspect them directly yet, but on further research and looking at the suspect feathers, it’s seeming like they’re more likely lice than mites, if only based on color and size (the Internet describes mites as brown or red and these are white) Whatever they are definitely seems to be on the feathers already rather than coming from the ground, because the feathers I picked up were super fresh and they still have these bugs all over them after 8 hours of sitting on a table out back. I would think if they weren’t chicken bugs they’d have jumped ship at some point.

I didn’t raise the chickens as pets and never handle them, so they have zero interest in being caught or held, but I’ll have to try going out there at night and taking a closer look. Should I give them a good while to fall asleep first?

 

[aart]

Should I give them a good while to fall asleep first?

I wait until well after dark....see my post above.

 

[cmom]

Ditto...