do chickens eat chiggers?

Probably not. They are way too small and birds are the chiggers preferred food source. Try this article for how to deal with chiggers:
http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/arthopo/chiggers/

 

Akane, thanks for the link about chigges! My mother (to this day) insists that chiggers crawl into your skin and lay eggs. I truly believe that this is one of the reasons that I am phobic about parasites. (((Shuttering at at the thought)))

 

I found that link about a month ago and it was very helpful. While building my coop I must have gotten a few chiggers on me because my ankles were raw from the itch. I didn't see anything else it could have been, so I assume chiggers. I am not allergic to poison ivy and the symptoms were as described in the link and went away after 7-10 days.

Don't know what the cause was because my lawn is kept short which is where the coop is being built and I am always in that part of the yard and never got them before. I am concerned now about the coop being placed there now because of the possibility of the chiggers. Would DE kill the chiggers if they were in that area of the yard if I dusted? I have about another month before I put the girls out there but don't want to intentionally put them in a known infested area until it's under control.