Grain mite infested duck feed

[Galaxyfalcon]

We recently opened a new bag of duck feed and the next morning the container was covered in 'dust' which seemed to moving and writhing. I realized it was grain mites and was trying to figure out what to do as I watched them spilling out from under the container lid and fall to the floor like drops of water.

We did a complete cleaning of the room, dumped all our grain, washed everything, made sure everything was absolutely spotless. Went back to TSC yesterday and got some new duck pellets and scratch. This morning there are grain mites again, although not as much as before.

Has anyone else had a problem with mites? We don't have (and don't have room for) a freezer to drop bags of feed into to kill the mites. I tried throwing a scoop or two of our food-grade DE into the bins but I'm not sure if that will do anything (and the ducks hate the taste).

I'm not really worried about feeding mites (or weevils) to the ducks. I just don't want grain mites eating all the good food. Plus they're disgusting.

We only have a couple of feed stores in our area and they all likely order from the same distribution centers so I'm nervous to waste money testing feed bags elsewhere in town. Does anyone have any advice or insight? We've never had a problem with this before but apparently all the bags are infested at the local TSC.

 

[Canadian Wind]

Could you not return the contaminated feed?

 

[ruthhope]

We recently opened a new bag of duck feed and the next morning the container was covered in 'dust' which seemed to moving and writhing. I realized it was grain mites and was trying to figure out what to do as I watched them spilling out from under the container lid and fall to the floor like drops of water.

We did a complete cleaning of the room, dumped all our grain, washed everything, made sure everything was absolutely spotless. Went back to TSC yesterday and got some new duck pellets and scratch. This morning there are grain mites again, although not as much as before.

Has anyone else had a problem with mites? We don't have (and don't have room for) a freezer to drop bags of feed into to kill the mites. I tried throwing a scoop or two of our food-grade DE into the bins but I'm not sure if that will do anything (and the ducks hate the taste).

I'm not really worried about feeding mites (or weevils) to the ducks. I just don't want grain mites eating all the good food. Plus they're disgusting.

We only have a couple of feed stores in our area and they all likely order from the same distribution centers so I'm nervous to waste money testing feed bags elsewhere in town. Does anyone have any advice or insight? We've never had a problem with this before but apparently all the bags are infested at the local TSC.

I am unsure what are grain mites but my last bag -- finished 3 days ago -- of purina duck pellets had small grain beetles. I keep my open bag of duckfood outside in a metal bin with a tight lid, and I used the duckfood. The ducks just got extra animal protein in their diet. I suspect you @Galaxyfalcon and I are talking about the same critter in the feed. It is not a problem for the ducks feeding the little beetles. There are also grain moths [also known as birdseed moths/pantry moths] and there would be no problem for the ducks eating the larvae/grubs from grain moths. I would be less happy using the grain though as it tends to get webs from the moths and also I would be worried about them getting into my house and into my pantry. But the beetles aren't such a problem [that know of] .

My new sack of purina duck pellets that I have had stored in my paundry room until I opened it does not have beetles, fortunately.

 

[Galaxyfalcon]

Could you not return the contaminated feed?

They ended up giving us a refund, but the fresh bag we got was also contaminated with mites. Looking into other options now.

I am unsure what are grain mites but my last bag -- finished 3 days ago -- of purina duck pellets had small grain beetles. I keep my open bag of duckfood outside in a metal bin with a tight lid, and I used the duckfood. The ducks just got extra animal protein in their diet. I suspect you @Galaxyfalcon and I are talking about the same critter in the feed. It is not a problem for the ducks feeding the little beetles. There are also grain moths [also known as birdseed moths/pantry moths] and there would be no problem for the ducks eating the larvae/grubs from grain moths. I would be less happy using the grain though as it tends to get webs from the moths and also I would be worried about them getting into my house and into my pantry. But the beetles aren't such a problem [that know of] .

My new sack of purina duck pellets that I have had stored in my paundry room until I opened it does not have beetles, fortunately.

We've had the beetles in the food before (especially scratch) but the grain mites are much much smaller-- they look like dust. If there's an infestation, they form moving pools of 'dust'

they look like this (not my photos):

 

[Canadian Wind]

That's enough to give you nightmares!