Chicken mites and dirt baths

[elaines03]

Hello I'm a new member and new to raising chickens. Ours are two months old and we have twelve. I've been reading about mites. Mine don't have any that I'm aware of but if they get them can they transfer to humans? I like to pet my chickens but am concerned about mites getting on me if they get them. Also do I need to but special dirt in the chicken run so they can take dirt baths?
Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

Mites do happen in chicken yards. Just keep it as clean as possible and keep an eye out for them. You can use DE once a month in nest boxes and dust the roost bar top and bottom once a month to help keep them out of the coop. Unless you have a huge outbreak of them, they will not get on you. Most mites hide in the cracks of the roost bar or nesting boxes and come out at night to suck the blood from the chickens or lay eggs. They then get off the birds when they are done. And they love to lay their eggs beneath the roost bar.

But you may never encounter these things. I have never once had a single mite on my birds. So don't be too concerned about it. Yes, if you don't let your birds out of the run, you can provide them with a big tub or even a very large plant pot with dirt in it for bathing. This always helps to keep the mites at bay and the skin healthy.

Enjoy your flock and welcome to ours!

 

[elaines03]

Thanks TwoCrows for the advice.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! TwoCrows gave you some good advice on mites. Keeping an eye open for them and making checking/looking for them on the chickens and in the coop a routine thing is the best way to avoid a problem, it is a lot easier to nip an infestation in the bud than to have to deal with a full blown one... I like to use a magnifying glass to check since they are so small. There are a couple of articles in the Learning Center on them https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/mites-chicken-pests-how-to-protect-your-chickens-from-mites and https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/mites-lice-treatment-and-prevention

 

[1muttsfan]

Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan

I agree with the above posts. I have never had mite problems, but keep a close eye on my birds for anything that looks abnormal.

 

[gander007]

 

[ALJhappychicken]

Some mites can feed on humans, but those can't lay eggs and reproduce on humans as they do on chickens. My coop as infested once. I dusted the birds,coop, an run with Sevens Dust because I was desperate. Didn't get any mites on me. I pet my spoiled hens often (even when they were mite and lice infested). I think that I really killed all the parasites with the dust.

 

[drumstick diva]

You've received a lot of good advice, so I will just say Welcome to BYC