Chicken mites?

[unbaked pegga]

I have 2 chickens. I have been noticing the last month or so that I will have a random bug bite here or there. Very small but very itchy and the itching lasts longer than a normal bug bite. Annoying more than anything else. Biting insects aren’t usually a problem the 3rd week in January. I even had the Bugman come out and check my house to see if there was any infestation of an insect. There wasn’t. So I wondered if it could be that chicken mites are biting me? I go out to the coop every day to clean it out and change the water. I have had chickens for five years and I’ve never had a problem with anything biting me. I can’t check the chickens for mites because my vision is not all that good. I can’t even drive at night. So I have no way of knowing whether or not there are chicken mites in the coop. And with it being so unbelievably cold here I can’t spray permethrin or it would freeze. I keep diatomaceous earth in the nesting material and in the run which is attached to the coop. Is there a bomb or something that I could put in the coop during the day when they’re in the run and then maybe put a bomb in the run when they are in the coop at night?

 

[azygous]

Nix on the bombs. You'll end up making your chickens very sick, if not killing them. Chickens cannot handle even small amounts of poison. Those bug bombs are so toxic, even people shouldn't be in the house when they're being used. We could survive lingering fumes later, but chickens have delicate respiratory systems so they might not survive the lingering fumes.

My eye sight is galloping off without me, too, so I understand your predicament. You can do an easy-to-detect test at night with a damp paper towel to verify coop mites. After dark, run the dampened towel over the roosting perches. Then take it back inside and look at it in the light. If you see reddish smears, you have mites in your coop. You can use permethrin poultry dust on your chickens now, and wait until it warms up to clean and spray the coop.

DE won't really do anything to get rid of these parasites.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Treating the birds with powder is a good idea but if you don't stop the source of the infestation you will be doing it constantly. Birds are packed with all sorts of diseases kept in check by healthy immune system, they literally walk a razor's edge most of the time and any stress, even the stress of moving a bird to a new coop can mean the difference between a healthy bird and the start of an epidemic in your flock. So deal with the lice or mites ASAP. At the same time if you don't stop the critters like wild birds, mice, and rats from coming in you will never stop the infestations.

 

[cmom]

Poultry dust is great and has permethrin in it. I put it in my nest boxes now and then. I have had some bouts with mites. I went for years without getting any ,then there they were. It happens. Can you have someone check the birds? I found the best time is after they roost. I have a headlamp so I have both hands free, also wear a dust mask when using the dust. DE did nothing for my birds and they were infested when I discovered them. The first thing I tried was DE but ater some time there was no improvement with the birds so then I started treating with permethrin. It worked. Weekly treatment is needed because it does not kill the mite eggs and as a bonus there is no egg withdrawal period. Good luck...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mites.1343362/post-22068029

 

[BDutch]

I learned that bird mites don’t survive freezing cold. Only the mite eggs do.
so I think this has to be another mite or lice.

Can you ask a friend or a neighbor to help or to make photograps and post them here?

 

[cmom]

I have 2 chickens. I have been noticing the last month or so that I will have a random bug bite here or there. Very small but very itchy and the itching lasts longer than a normal bug bite. Annoying more than anything else. Biting insects aren’t usually a problem the 3rd week in January. I even had the Bugman come out and check my house to see if there was any infestation of an insect. There wasn’t. So I wondered if it could be that chicken mites are biting me? I go out to the coop every day to clean it out and change the water. I have had chickens for five years and I’ve never had a problem with anything biting me. I can’t check the chickens for mites because my vision is not all that good. I can’t even drive at night. So I have no way of knowing whether or not there are chicken mites in the coop. And with it being so unbelievably cold here I can’t spray permethrin or it would freeze. I keep diatomaceous earth in the nesting material and in the run which is attached to the coop. Is there a bomb or something that I could put in the coop during the day when they’re in the run and then maybe put a bomb in the run when they are in the coop at night?

I have a lot of coops so I have a lot of birds. I did see a few mites on a bird, but just a few. I was spraying the past couple of weeks because it has been warm. Now we're having a cold snap. My bird baths were frozen over this morning, so last night was our coldest night this year at 28. I live in Florida. We get a lot of migratory birds in the winter months so I think it was birds that brought the mites. I just did some dusting because I wanted to keep the permethrin treatment going for at least one more week I Usually do either a 3 week or 4 week sprays, then I quit for awhile. Hope this helps and I hope you don't have any pests...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mites.1343362/post-22068029

 

[Aji Dulce]

Nix on the bombs. You'll end up making your chickens very sick, if not killing them. Chickens cannot handle even small amounts of poison. Those bug bombs are so toxic, even people shouldn't be in the house when they're being used. We could survive lingering fumes later, but chickens have delicate respiratory systems so they might not survive the lingering fumes.

My eye sight is galloping off without me, too, so I understand your predicament. You can do an easy-to-detect test at night with a damp paper towel to verify coop mites. After dark, run the dampened towel over the roosting perches. Then take it back inside and look at it in the light. If you see reddish smears, you have mites in your coop. You can use permethrin poultry dust on your chickens now, and wait until it warms up to clean and spray the coop.

DE won't really do anything to get rid of these parasites.

I saw several of these on the door of the run, as I was letting them out the other day. Are they mites?

View attachment 2010703

 

[aart]

I saw several of these on the door of the run, as I was letting them out the other day. Are they mites?

Probably not poultry mites....you don't see those during the day.
@Tesumph maybe able to help ID this bug.

 

[Aji Dulce]

Probably not poultry mites....you don't see those during the day.
@Tesumph maybe able to help ID this bug.

I would like to think they are not poultry mites. I haven’t been able to find a video of poultry mites for comparison. They move pretty fast.

 

[aart]

There are lots of different kinds of mites.
Poultry mites would be found on the birds or hiding in cracks and crevices in the coop during the day.

My Bug Check notes:
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).

Good post about mite ID by Lady McCamley:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-chicken-has-mites-now-what.1273674/page-2#post-20483008