Emergency! Infestation, mites everywhere, including our house!!

[kristenm1975]

I've just finished reading Miss Prissy's thread about chicken mites not infesting houses, but I'm more than a little freaked out. Tuesday of this week, we noticed a bunch of almost too small to see tan, oval, almost flat critters in our bathroom. Then my husband started getting dozens of bites at night all over. Since then, I've checked the chickens and three of the 6 (all that I could catch) have mites. The ones in the house are tan with a dark dot in the middle of their back and the ones on the girls look much the same.

We had one sick chick in the house for two weeks several months ago. It's possible, I suppose, that that's when this began and it's just taken this long to show up.

My husband has had to move into a friend's place and buy new clothes. He's afraid to hug me for fear he'll get the bugs back again. He's been incredibly loving and supportive about my desire to have chickens and I'm beyond sick that its come to this. We just celebrated our first wedding anniversary the day before all this showed up.

Please advise asap! At this point, I'm afraid of losing everything we have, and I don't mean chickens. I mean marriage, house, car, and everything else that cannot be steamed or chemically treated.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Are you sure that your home doesn't have a bed bug infestation? They are pistols to get rid of. My son had them in his dorm sofa. Doesn't mean you keep a dirty house, most hitch hike in on suitcases, used furniture (did someone give you a piece of furniture or mattress within the last 10 mos or so?), etc... Here's a link to look at: http://www.bed-bugs-handbook.com/bed-bugs-pictures.html My son had to call an exterminator two times to take care of the problem. The first time they sprayed and left the sofa in. The second time my son told them to haul the sofa away and that seemed to take care of it.

 

[Oven Ready]

Have a look at this link Lice & Other Nasty Stuff . Do you spot anything familiar?

These are people lice Even nastier stuff

I was of the opinion that while chicken lice/mites can crawl about on a human (and it's itchy, it's making me itch already just thinking about it) they can't live on humans or any mammal, we're just not right for them, a quick soapy shower and any that are on you (from plucking a bird) are gone. Niot the same with human lice though, they are well adapted for life in the mammalian world.

I suspect you might have something non-chicken sourced. A doctor would be able to tell you straight away if they are human lice or not.

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

I would use a poultry dust (permethrin) in all your carpets, give it some time and vaccum up, or just fumigate....use the poultry dust on all of your birds (do it at night so you can get a hold of all of them) and in coops, runs, and nest boxes.

 

[justbugged]

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Great links.

you are so right about being itchy now. I have been waiting for my DH to bring home bed bugs. He lives in motel and hotel during the work week, and has been traveling for 12 years now. I am figuring it must only be a matter of time.

 

[kristenm1975]

I really appreciate all the links and I was so hoping to spot our bug but it doesn't appear to be any of those things. It's super super tiny, almost so small that you can't see it. The largest we have are about the same size and color of the smallest freckles I have. The smallest are unbelievably tiny.

We did get a new sofa set when we moved into this house about 4 months ago. And my poor hubby is definitely getting eaten alive when he lays on them. We just can't see them on there. We've dusted them with DE as well as all over in the bathroom where we first saw them.

We fortunately have hardwood floors instead of carpet but have held off on dusting them with DE because we have a chihuahua sniffing along and have heard that it's harmul to breathe.

We have an exterminater coming out tomorrow to see if they can identify what on earth is going on.

Thank you so much for tips and stories. I feel very isolated at the moment (and itchy) and it helps to hear from you all!

 

[tigerrrrrrrlilly]

20 mule team borax sprinkled in all your carpets and furniture really works to kill/drive out most bugs and eggs. It contains boric acid, safer than typical chemical pesticides and doesn't smell bad either.

Also IMO it is unlikely that chicken mites would be able to survive long enough to infest your house without chickens actually in your house to eat on all day... For there to be huge numbers of them and all over the bathroom even, I think it would mean eggs were surviving/hatching/growing. Sounds like you have something else going on maybe.

 

[justbugged]

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It is very unusual to have bugs like you are describing in the Seattle area. We are not known for many exotic bugs. I am going to very interested in what the exterminator has to say on it. It's rather odd too how cold it has been in the NW until today.

 

[tigerrrrrrrlilly]

Just saw your last post and that you have no carpets! By your description it does seem very strange, but still doesn't seem like chicken mites, they don't want to bite humans. I hope the exterminator helps and sorry for your poor hubby. If you can find some "Neem" soap for him, it helps with the itch and deters insects naturally.

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

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I have never seen bed bugs (knock on wood) but I have heard that they are super tiny...