Bugs in coop - bugs on us - UGH!

[calamtykel]

Hi - I am having a bug problem and I'm wondering if it's my shavings! They are these teeny little bugs that are in the coop - I guess they can be mites, -they are REALLY tiny and light colored. They also seem to be residing in the feed bags - if we reach our arm in, they will be on our arms. They are almost too small to see.
The coop was cleaned out this week - all shavings removed and I sprayed it all down with alcohol and water and let it dry before restocking it with shavings.

I thought we were good -

However, now oddly, we have hatched 14 new babies INSIDE the house and they have lived only in a fish tank until I just moved them to a brooder out on the sunporch. My daughter says that she was handing them and is covered in bugs now! How can this be when they haven't had access to the other chickens? Was it in the handful of shavings I pulled from the new bale in the coop?

Not sure what to think here - if the pine shavings are the culprit- and I wonder because now I think back to when I had a garage brooder a couple of months ago, stuck my hands into the shavings bag to throw in a couple of new handfuls of shavings, and my arms were covered -- or if the chickens/chicks are the culprits!

Is there an organic product to get rid of these buggers? My chickens free range during the day - I don't ever remember it being this way, but it's kind of maddening!

 

[calamtykel]

Oh - I forgot my point - I was wondering if I throw a couple of bales of cedar shavings in, would it help the problem?

 

[Imp]

Here's some info about chicken bugs

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

It is usually mentioned that "natural organic" remedies are not very effective on infestations.

Cedar shavings are not a good ideas. The oils in cedar are generally considered toxic to birds.

Imp

 

[sidetrack]

I just started my girls on Diatomaceous Earth today. I also sprinkled it on the ground where they do their dust baths and in the shavings in the coop. I have not seen any lice or mites on them, but I have noticed ants inside the run recently. There is some great info on the web on this stuff. I also dusted my dogs this morning and am going to treat their ears as they are all of a sudden shaking their heads like they might have ear mites. Google it and check it out!!

 

[pupsicle]

My coop had a mite infestation a few years ago. I don't know how the chickens felt about it, but I sure hated getting bitten by the suckers. They itch like crazy!

I read conflicting reports about DE, so I cleaned out the coop, sprinkled some Sevin dust in there as well as in the spot where they took their dirt baths, and the problem went away. I hate using chemicals like that, but I really wanted them gone.