Argh mites - red/chicken or northern fowl?

[Wyorp Rock]

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.

LOL Well, I do have Prime but still price shop!
I have Roku so Prime Video (and Youtube) are our main TV watching.

 

[aart]

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.

Wait What! You have bedbugs too.... because of the flooding?

 

[cmom]

I once I thought I had bed bugs so I treated all of the furniture. It turned out I was allergic to the detergent I was using. Now I use the free and clear.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Wait What! You have bedbugs too.... because of the flooding?

Pest control said it doesn't look like it... apparently my mite bite pattern looked very convincingly like a bed bug's (well, before it turned all rash-like). But we don't fit any other parameters of a bed bug infestation - no rust/blood spots, no fecal spots, no shed skins, no actual bugs. We haven't traveled, haven't housed guests, haven't bought any furniture or second hand items recently, etc.

 

[rosemarythyme]

So thankfully a feed store I'd not tried before had permethrin dust (but no liquid) so I can at least give the birds some relief from the northern fowl mites. I did get a sprayer for use once I get some liquid permethrin. Also have Frontguard for my dogs on hand now. Hopefully we can start to get this under control without too much more fuss!

 

[aart]

Also have Frontguard for my dogs on hand now.

Flea and tick populations exploding too?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Flea and tick populations exploding too?

Nope, but hoping it'll keep the dogs from also carting in mites from the yard. They're not itchy, but I sure am!

 

[rosemarythyme]

And liquid permethrin is now on the way, mother in law ordered some via Amazon Prime. I've never been so excited to clean out a coop in my life.

 

[Riv-6]

Tagging along on this. Just found red mites in the coop this morning Alot of helpful information here! Can you spray or dust 4 week old chicks with permethrin? I haven't found any on them but wanted to treat just in case. The infestation isnt too bad yet but definitely need to take care of it today!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Tagging along on this. Just found red mites in the coop this morning Alot of helpful information here! Can you spray or dust 4 week old chicks with permethrin? I haven't found any on them but wanted to treat just in case. The infestation isnt too bad yet but definitely need to take care of it today!

If it's for sure red mites (so you found them on the roost/in crevices) you can focus the treatment on the coop. Clear out all the bedding. Burn it or otherwise bag up and dispose of it. Spray all surfaces (though I skipped the ceiling and top parts of wall though, because my coop peak is too tall) and crevices with permethrin, including roost bars and nests. After it all dries, put in new bedding (I made sure to do my spraying early in the day, so it was mostly dry by late afternoon so the chickens could go back in).