??? Feed bag mites ???

[wormy270]

After a visit to the coop last night I noticed several very tiny white bugs on my arm. My first thought- LICE. So today I futher investigated my birds and coop and didnt find any lice investations on the hens. I treated them anyhow and cleaned the coop and sprayed with Permethrin.
I went into the stall beside the coop in the barn and carried a feed bag over to the feeder and noticed the skin on my face and arms starting to crawl. I dropped the feed bag and noticed the bag was covered with thousands of the tiny white bugs. Most were on the outside of the bag, but some on the inside also. I didnt see very many actually in the feed.
I disposed of the whole bag and sprayed again. Are these lice, or some kind of bug that came from the feed? They are so small you wouldnt hardley see them if they didnt move. I HATE bugs!!!!

 

[fordmommy]

That's gross. I don't have an answer, but here's a bump. I really want to know what that is. Maybe you should inclued what state you live in. Maybe that's a clue.

 

[Imp]

Last year I was trimming up some White Grass I have next to the pond. Halfway through I noticed that I was covered with little white bugs. The grass was covered and I thought it was the seed heads. Lol. They were soft not crunchy. I just finished up (with my mouth firmly closed) and just shook them off in the yard. No other variety of grass in my yard had them and they were gone in a few days. Didn't damage the grass either. Never saw them before or since. Don't know what you found, but sounds like you handled it well.

Imp- mutant albino aphids?

 

[Uppity Peon]

One thing you can do if your feed gets infested with bugs:

Store it in a good trash can with a lid. Put a big chunk of dry ice in with the feed. The dry ice will evaporate into CO2 which is heavier than air. Anything living in the trash can will suffocate from lack of oxygen. The CO2 is totally non-toxic, so the feed will be safe.

 

[Uppity Peon]

Here is some useful information about using dry ice to preserve feed and grain:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001d9t

 

[fordmommy]

I personally put all my feed in five gallon buckets with covers on them. I got them for free from a friend who gets them from her work for free.

I don't leave any feed in bags because I'm afraid that mice or rats or another pest will get into it. (chicken feed, dog food, bird food...anything)