Grain mites...

[aart]

Been there done that...starting 5 years ago...only happens in the hot humid months.
Freaked me out too...now not so much...but you don't want them in your kitchen.
Has nothing to do with mold.
Freshness doesn't matter either.
Purina doesn't care, but they'll send you some coupons.
One summer they did start putting DE in the feed.
Haven't seen any yet this summer.

I now isolate my new feed bag on a tray in the garage, because bag can look fine(they wipe them down often) but within hours they will be on outside of bag again.
If I find them, I transfer feed into buckets with lots of DE(will still take a few days to kill them all) before transferring to coop bin.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/grain-mites.981212/

 

[kcan2]

@aart Do you just dump the DE in the bottom of the bin and set the bag on top? I do have some DE, but it is not food grade. Not even sure where to find food grade?

 

[aart]

@aart Do you just dump the DE in the bottom of the bin and set the bag on top? I do have some DE, but it is not food grade. Not even sure where to find food grade?

No, as I transfer the feed from the bag into 5 gal pails I mix the DE in...a small handful to every few quart scoops.
Definitely need to use Food Grade DE.
I get mine at the feed mill.

 

[Kiki]

I honestly still see one or two every now and then in that same area. I am still spraying with the permethrin and then vacuuming once dry.

I wish I could help you more. I'm sorry. They're truly a royal pain.

Just bought a new bag of feed. No problems until today. Infested again.

I'm changing feeds. This is beyond ridiculous.

Tell the feed store. They might not know they have a problem.

 

[Painted Calls]

Tell the feed store. They might not know they have a problem.

I did yesterday. They're going to contact Purina.

 

[Kiki]

I did yesterday. They're going to contact Purina.

I respond before I read the whole thread.

 

[aart]

They might not know they have a problem.

I bet they do know.
@Overo Mare did you look around at the other feeds bags in the store?
When I had then some of the bags were absolutely COVERED with them, all Purina products, others had few to none.
I told the manager and he said the feed mfg told him the were bag mites and they eat the paper bags.....um , bag are plastic. Anyway they started wiping the bags and restacking like every day. Even with the 23% pyrethrin wiped on the outside of bag the mites were still there and moving around just fine the next day. That's when I started to isolate bags and adding DE before taking feed to coop.

 

[Painted Calls]

I bet they do know.
@Overo Mare did you look around at the other feeds bags in the store?
When I had then some of the bags were absolutely COVERED with them, all Purina products, others had few to none.
I told the manager and he said the feed mfg told him the were bag mites and they eat the paper bags.....um , bag are plastic. Anyway they started wiping the bags and restacking like every day. Even with the 23% pyrethrin wiped on the outside of bag the mites were still there and moving around just fine the next day. That's when I started to isolate bags and adding DE before taking feed to coop.

After the first bag, yes. We checked every single bag over REALLY well. We also pay attention to the mill dates. The bag I dumped today was a week old when I bought it. Manager told me that when they get the feed from the dealer it's already a week old.

I then continued checking this bag every day when I would feed. Just noticed them yesterday in the new feed. I've fed about half the bag since I bought it a week and a half to two weeks ago.

I asked the manager at TSC if they'd had any complaints. He said not on "that" feed. Said he would contact Purina himself and ask if they'd had a bad batch.

I'm going to pick up some DE tomorrow when I replace this bag. Seriously thinking about switching feeds and buying smaller bags. That way I'll use them up quicker and can store them in my freezer.

I hate that I have to do that, but I've had to dump the last 3 50lb bags. I can't see wasting anymore feed or money.

 

[Painted Calls]

Any suggestions on a good substitute for Flock Raiser @aart?

Sort of fed up with Purina at this point.

 

[kcan2]

Any suggestions on a good substitute for Flock Raiser @aart?

Sort of fed up with Purina at this point.

I second this question - what is a good sub? I hated to do it, but went to TSC today and bought a *small* bag of purina flock raiser, but only because that was all they had. Would love to know other, more reliable feed options that aren't renown for housing all of these extra "pets".