Grain mites?!

[Morgan282]

So, I just started working at tsc, well, I’ve never seen this in any of my feed bags or anything but I saw a whole bunch of little things crawling on some bags at the tsc I work at, i told my manager and she said they’re just grain mites. Gross!
She said they would come home with someone if they were to but the feed and that they don’t touch you or your animals so there’s no need to worry. Is this really the case? I have a major fear of like mites and parasites burrowing under skins and such.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The species of mites that eat grain aren't the same ones that are animal parasites.

 

[azygous]

I have a meal worm farm. Grain mite eggs reside in all cereals and feeds. They generally don't hatch unless the temperature is quite warm and the humidity level is at a certain level. When those conditions are just right, the eggs hatch, yes, even in your kitchen cupboard, then you have mites.

Mites tend to go on "walk about" once they become very numerous, and end up on the floor beneath the feed where they hatched. They look a lot like fine saw dust, and are not visible as bugs to the naked eye. You need to use a magnifying lens to see that they are alive and indeed walking about.

They are harmless to humans and harmless to your chickens. However, if the conditions were right for the mites to hatch in the feed sack, the conditions are also right for mold to grow, and mold will kill your chickens.

However, I'm doubtful it was actually grain mites you saw, and the other employee may have misinformed you. There are larger beetle-type things call grain weevils. They also live in feed that is getting on in age, and they are easily visible to the naked eye. But, like grain mites, they are harmless. You've probably whipped some up into pancake batter on weekends past and never realized you were getting an extra protein boost.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

 

[Onehappykat]

So, I just started working at tsc, well, I’ve never seen this in any of my feed bags or anything but I saw a whole bunch of little things crawling on some bags at the tsc I work at, i told my manager and she said they’re just grain mites. Gross!
She said they would come home with someone if they were to but the feed and that they don’t touch you or your animals so there’s no need to worry. Is this really the case? I have a major fear of like mites and parasites burrowing under skins and such.

Hi Morgan! Just wanted to let you know that what you saw was in fact grain mites! My family farm was infested after buying several bags of Sweet feed from TSC! Found them in the barn first then realized that after purchasing chicks along with Purina chick feed, we found them in the bag! It was to late at this point because we were raising the chicks in the house and the bag had infested the house. By the time we figured it out, they were everywhere in the house. My mother became very sick from being bit and I spend over $1000 getting rid of them. We contacted TSC and they admitted to be infested, Along with several other stores within an hour circumference of me. The Agriculture Dept came in and shut our local store down from selling the feed and pull everything from the shelves. The company knew about the infestations and did nothing to inform their customers. I have not been back! So yes what you saw was in fact grain mites! I hope they took care of their problem!!

 

[Onehappykat]

I have a meal worm farm. Grain mite eggs reside in all cereals and feeds. They generally don't hatch unless the temperature is quite warm and the humidity level is at a certain level. When those conditions are just right, the eggs hatch, yes, even in your kitchen cupboard, then you have mites.

Mites tend to go on "walk about" once they become very numerous, and end up on the floor beneath the feed where they hatched. They look a lot like fine saw dust, and are not visible as bugs to the naked eye. You need to use a magnifying lens to see that they are alive and indeed walking about.

They are harmless to humans and harmless to your chickens. However, if the conditions were right for the mites to hatch in the feed sack, the conditions are also right for mold to grow, and mold will kill your chickens.

However, I'm doubtful it was actually grain mites you saw, and the other employee may have misinformed you. There are larger beetle-type things call grain weevils. They also live in feed that is getting on in age, and they are easily visible to the naked eye. But, like grain mites, they are harmless. You've probably whipped some up into pancake batter on weekends past and never realized you were getting an extra protein boost.

Hello. Just wanted to say that yes what she saw was in fact grain mites! My local TSC along with several other close stores were shut down by Agricultural Dept and bags pulled from shelves. I know this because we were infested by the mites and reported it to the store. They admitted it and said they were following protocol for handling the problem. Definitely was not grain weevils.