Fleas? Mites? Now on me!

[mcbridb]

I've been reading through the other posts regarding fleas and mites on my chickens. I've had most of mine for 1 1/2 years now, the others I've had for about 6-8 weeks. We have indoor only cats. Yesterday after doing work in the coop I suddenly have these little bug things showing up in my hair (waist-length) and on my arms. I've checked the chickens and don't see any signs of bugs on them. They do have broken and missing feathers around their necks which I had attributed to them attacking each other. Could these be lice and/or mites? Can they get on us? How do I get rid of them? I'm a bit confused by all the threads I've been reading. How do I get rid of them off of me?

 

[clairabean]

Could they be human lice? Have you checked your scalp?

 

[welasharon]

If they tickle when they walk and you can't really see them on you....then, yes, you have mites. They are crawling aroung looking for that chicken that they were just enjoying! Get you some seven dust and dust them and the coop/nests etc well and then do it again in 10 days.
They will come off in the shower.

 

[mcbridb]

I had checked my son and my husband and used a mirror to check myself. I wasn't sure if they were fleas as my daughter had come at Christmas and brought her two puppies who have had flea problems in the near past. But that has been a little while so wasn't sure. I have been spending a lot of time in the coop this last week as I was treating the girls for worms and wanted to closely monitor them. Then yesterday after checking a few of them for bugs (necks and butts) I suddenly have bugs. Was freaked and hubby is ticked. Now I need to treat everyone--animal and human. Thanks for the info. Will be going to the feed store in the morning and getting the suggested stuff.

 

[nurse_turtle]

What do the bugs look like? I though most poultry lice/mites were specific to chickens...

 

[welasharon]

They don't bite/live on people but they will crawl on you short term. Flip a chicken over and check near the vent at the base of the feathers. Look quick! They move fast. If it is mites they will be brownish bugs that move fast. If they have lice they will have egg casings near the feather base but I don't think the lice crawl onto people....not that I am aware of anyway. Other than that...I don't know. You can see them on you?

 

[mcbridb]

I felt something crawling on me. The three I saw on myself were tiny, 2 were kind of brown and 1 was kind of clearish tan. They were quick buggers and couldn't be squished. Which prompted me to think of fleas. Haven't had a problem with fleas since our cats never go outside. The chickens were the only culprits I could think of that would have given me something.

 

[welasharon]

Quote:
Most likely mites. If you want to make sure take your shower tonight and then in the morning walk back out there and hold a couple chickens....after a while you can feel them tickle as they move along! Seven dust will fix it. Humans need no special treatment....just a shower and they will be gone....wash your clothes too!

 

[citychickx6]

Quote:
Did you bomb the house?
My SIL brought them to my house 8 years ago and OMG it took 3 times bombing and dipping all the cats to get rid of the stinking things.
They can live in the carpet and the drapes and the furniture as well as on the cats. Yes the ones she brought us were ON MY CATS and came from her DOG. They did not show up on my cats for 4 months!
Very hard to get rid of. I ended up ripping all the carpet out of the house and bombing the house repeatedly.
DO check the birds very closely since you felt it after you were in the coops.

 

[mcbridb]

When I went to let them out this morning I caught Peaches (my original RIR) and flipped her upside down and looked around her vent. There were brownish flecks running around at the base of her feathers. Yuck! So I'm guessing that's fleas/lice they have. I couldn't hold her longer to look close to see about the egg sacks thing. She really doesn't like to be held. I will be going to the feed store to get the Sevin dust.

My newest question is that since I have 12 chickens and 1 guinea fowl, if I dust the chickens, coop and run and can't catch Jenny (guinea fowl) how long before they are all reinfected? Jenny will tolerate me near (within 2 feet) but that's close enough for her. I think the new chickens I got 6-8 weeks ago had the fleas/mites because mine had never had them before. Hubby is really upset because we've had lots of problems since I got the new ones (and he gave up his shed for the new coop).