Argh mites - red/chicken or northern fowl?

[rosemarythyme]

Welp, so much for my record of being mite free... my recent floods washed all sorts of random stuff onto my lot, and apparently mites were one of those things. Not completely sure what type I'm dealing with: red/chicken mites or northern fowl mites? I saw some on the birds this afternoon after doing a spot check on 3 birds (bird 1 had some mites on a freshly molted feather, bird 2 had mites around vent and some scabbing which I could possibly indicate northern fowl mites?, bird 3 was clear pf mites on vent and under wings) but there were also a number of mites spread out on the roosts when I checked this evening. Due to cool weather conditions and fact that mites were on birds that were out in the run, I am assuming these are northern fowl mites, but with all the mites on the roost does that mean I could possibly have both types?

My current plan is to get some permethrin to treat the birds, clean out the coop and nests, replace the roosts and maybe dust coop with a bit of sevin (iffy on this as it's no longer considered approved for poultry). Hoping that'll do the trick? It's going to be impossible to clean out the run, so should I simply concentrate on treating birds and coop interior?

ALSO, has anyone who has had mites (either red/chicken or fowl mites) had problems with them biting people too? Hubby and I have been getting chewed up (since we don't know the cause we have the pest company coming to do a bed bug inspection, just in case), but now I'm wondering if it's been the mites getting into our clothes and then chomping on us? I actually found a couple mites in the sleeve of my jacket today! I'm so paranoid now that we've been accidentally bringing mites into the house that I've decided that I will handle all chicken duties for now, and am keeping a set of clothes in a bag in the garage + disposable gloves + boots out back, exclusively for chicken use for time being.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My current plan is to get some permethrin to treat the birds, clean out the coop and nests, replace the roosts and maybe dust coop with a bit of (iffy on this as it's no longer considered approved for poultry).

Sorry to hear about your troubles.
If you are worried about using Sevin, you can use a Permethrin based poultry dust. You should be able to find that at Tractor Supply.

These may help you i.d. the critters, but yes, my understanding is poultry mites and lice could bite humans which would be an irritation for sure, but we (humans) are not suitable hosts so they won't live on us - nonetheless good idea about changing out clothes in the garage.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/lice-and-mites-pictures.1155789/https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/ectoparasites/mites-of-poultry

 

[casportpony]

but with all the mites on the roost does that mean I could possibly have both types?

Yes.

ALSO, has anyone who has had mites (either red/chicken or fowl mites) had problems with them biting people too?

They bite me too.

but now I'm wondering if it's been the mites getting into our clothes and then chomping on us? I actually found a couple mites in the sleeve of my jacket today!

They are bad this way. They will get in you hair, on your skin, and your clothes.

 

[aart]

OhMan that stinks!
Permethrin.
Dust the birds and spray the coop(soaking the cracks and crevices).
You could spray the birds too depending on temps.
You can get both dust and liquid at TSC.

 

[cmom]

I wouldn't replace the roosts but spray on and under them. I had a severe infestation nearly two years ago which was my first mite infestation. I thought the birds were molting but they weren't getting their feathers back in. I tried DE to no avail and the birds actually got worse. I knew I had to do something asap. I got a container of concentrated premethrin and mixed it with water in a gallon sprayer. I sprayed the inside of the coops soaking it in the permethrin. The wand worked well for me so I could get to the hard to reach areas. After a couple of weeks the birds started getting their feather back in. I continued spraying for a couple of more weeks. I didn't take a before picture which I wish now that I did to show how bad the birds looked. There were some birds that didn't seen to be as infested and hadn't lost a lot of feathers but everyone got sprayed. I think if I hadn't treated when I did I may have lost some birds but luckily they all pulled through. I did bathe some of the heavily infested with flea shampoo which did help some. I didn't think about using the people over the counter lice shampoo at the time. Nix has permethrin in it. Good luck...
This is the sprayer I used.

 

[cmom]

I have shade/rain tables. Especially in the hotter weather the birds like to get under them. I did spray under them and I have also put the dust under the tables.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thanks for the responses!

So bed bug guy already came and went ( guess we got first priority today) and he's pretty sure we're free of bed bugs and agrees the mites are the likely issue as no sign of bed bug stains or fecals, we haven't traveled or had traveling visitors, no new furniture, etc. He gave me some quick treatments tips for both mites and bed bugs inside the house and told me to contact him if things don't improve this week after doing those things.

Unfortunately I don't have a TSC close by (so as a last resort we'll make a weekend trip) but I'll drop by a couple of feed stores today to see what they've got for treatment (ugh my old feed store closed, that doesn't help!)

Thankfully the infestation doesn't look TOO bad yet, nothing like the photos I've seen online, no one is scratching or preening noticeably or has feather loss, but I definitely want to get on this asap. One bird has more mites than the others but she's recovering from a respiratory issue so I think she's more susceptible. The birds are still roosting without issue. As it's still fairly cold I want to avoid having to bathe the birds if at all possible.

Also thankfully have the dogs scheduled for routine vet visit today so as a precaution I'll put the dogs on Frontline for a few months as they like to visit the chicken run.

They bite me too.

They are bad this way. They will get in you hair, on your skin, and your clothes.

Ugh it's so bad on me. Hubby's lucky, he has only a few bites whereas I'm starting to look like I have a rash in the worst spots. Going to be doing a lot of laundry plus hot soapy showers in the future! Also adding a shower cap to my "chicken gear" in the garage.

I wouldn't replace the roosts but spray on and under them.
This is the sprayer I used.

My roosts are just branches from the yard and I built the roost system to be easily removable/replaceable so glad I have the option to take it out if needed! And I'll look for a sprayer unit as well since it sounds like soaking the coop in this stuff is the best bet.

I have shade/rain tables. Especially in the hotter weather the birds like to get under them. I did spray under them and I have also put the dust under the tables.

Good point, I have a lot of clutter in the run so all that should get treated as well!

 

[casportpony]

Ugh it's so bad on me. Hubby's lucky, he has only a few bites whereas I'm starting to look like I have a rash in the worst spots. Going to be doing a lot of laundry plus hot soapy showers in the future! Also adding a shower cap to my "chicken gear" in the garage.

Yeah, I get it like that too. One year we had the red mite in our horse barn and the poor mare got them all over her too.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Unfortunately I don't have a TSC close by (so as a last resort we'll make a weekend trip) but I'll drop by a couple of feed stores today to see what they've got for treatment (ugh my old feed store closed, that doesn't help!)

Check your pricing online with TSC compared to Amazon (if you have an Amazon account), it may be cheaper and faster to get something shipped.

I hope you can get them treated and have no more problems.
I'm sorry they are causing you to break out too.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Check your pricing online with TSC compared to Amazon (if you have an Amazon account), it may be cheaper and faster to get something shipped.

I hope you can get them treated and have no more problems.
I'm sorry they are causing you to break out too.

Good thinking, might be a good time to "sign up" for Amazon Prime!

In a way I'm glad they're causing me to break out because otherwise I wouldn't have noticed the mites for a while longer, until it was very severe. I spot check birds regularly but if not all the birds are equally affected, means mites can slip through (1 of 3 I checked had no signs of anything). Since the birds were all roosting without complaint I didn't think of checking roosts either.