Grain mites

[Cody.RouenDucks]

Is anybody else having a really hard time with grain mites this year? We have had them all summer and we are constantly doing a thorough clean in the coop because every time we buy chciken food they come back. Does anybody know what to do besides putting DE in their food?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Is anybody else having a really hard time with grain mites this year? We have had them all summer and we are constantly doing a thorough clean in the coop because every time we buy chciken food they come back. Does anybody know what to do besides putting DE in their food?

DE is already in many feeds and approved by the FDA at a rate of up to 2%... as an anti caking agent.

I would source my feed from a different location, for starters.

I might consider using a permethrin spray in the vicinity around where you store your feed.

@azygous, seems like I remember you having some experience in this area?

 

[azygous]

Oh yes. I have a very intimate relationship with grain mites, having accidentally sniffed some of the critters up my nose as I was looking at them through a magnifying lens.

Grain mites are in everything of a cereal nature - wheat bran, flour, pancake and cake mixes, and especially chicken feed. However, they usually do not come to life in a scary way unless the conditions are right. The temperature needs to be warm and the humidity high.

Even a major grain mite hatch in your bags of chicken crumbles shouldn't be a danger to your chickens unless the moist warm conditions have caused the feed to start growing mold. A good way to prevent grain mites is to keep the feed in a cool, dry space, bags secured shut against absorbing moisture from the air.

Use your nose to detect if the feed has absorbed so much moisture as to render it moldy and a health danger to your chickens. There's a very big difference between fresh feed and damp, moldy feed. The grain mites are an important clue that the feed could be going bad. I wouldn't worry about the grain mites so much as the quality of the feed.

 

[Folly's place]

Old feed isn't a good thing, and old feed with critters in it can't be wonderful. The grain mites aren't as nasty as the idea that the feed is old, possible moldy, and has lots of grain mite poo in it. Yuck!
Mary

 

[Cody.RouenDucks]

Thank you all so much for these replies! We've tried everything from different food, DE, and moving our containers but cant seem to get rid of them. I guess this is just part of where I live. It seems like it's always 80 and humid in Iowa.

 

[GC-Raptor]

I keep my feed in my hallway near the back door year round. That avoids temperature swings between night and day and humidity and dampness.
I just scoop out the feed I need into a container.
I've never had feed get moldy or bug ridden.
But keeping it at room temperature will not keep it fresh forever.
I bought a 40# bag of feed last winter that was two months past mill date, it went bad three months later.
It got a strong smell and egg production dropped.
Yeah I had 5 chickens at the time and I bought the bag when I still had half a bag.
So I am currently buying a Non-Medicated Start and Grow that I can get in a 25# bag.
I offer them Oyster Shells separately for the Calcium they need.
I now buy fresh feed after I empty the current bag. GC