Hay use...

[Shadrach]

The problems with using hay and badly cut and kept straw are not well reported.
There is a mite that lives in hay and straw that can be extremely irritating to humans and livestock. The symptoms are often mistaken for a Scaly Leg Mite infestation.
The straw mite, as it's called here where I live has a life cycle of about a week. In order to thrive they need a moist and warm environment. They will live in less ideal conditions but once breeding they produce hundreds of offspring that are ready to feed from birth.
Normally they are not too much of a problem for chickens; most roost and bars and not in nest boxes full of straw.
The straw mite can become a major problem for a hen sitting on eggs in a straw nest though.
The conditons the hen keeps the eggs in (humidity and temperature) make ideal breeding conditions. Because these mites are so irritaing the sitting hen pecks at her legs. This produces on their legs the equivalent of humans scratching at a straw mite bite. Bear in mind there may be hundreds of bites on the hens legs. The straw mite is very small.
I've had a few hens here have serious problems with straw mites when sitting on a clutch of eggs.Their legs end up bleeding and with pecked off scales. There are various treatments but most have some toxicity which you really don't want in a nest of newly hatched chicks.

I should also point out the red mites are translucent. They only go red after they have fed off the chicken. it's the chickens blood you can see through the mites skin that gives them the red colour. If you are searching for mites during the day you need to be aware that they may not be red. No red mites are black.


https://mitetreatments.com/straw-itch-mites/

 

[aart]

The straw mite

Fascinating!
Never heard of them.
Thanks!

 

[aart]

I believe they are lice,

Make sure what you are dealing with before treating.

My Bug Check notes:
Have you checked them over real well for mites and/or lice?

Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.

Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.

Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight(and wear your glasses if you need them), easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.

Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).


Good post about mite ID by Lady McCamley:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-chicken-has-mites-now-what.1273674/page-2#post-20483008

 

[Shadrach]

Fascinating!
Never heard of them.
Thanks!

What's interesting is the straw mite is much more evident in hay than it is in second cut straw.

 

[Duckfarmer1]

I use hay for bedding. I've never had problems using it. We don't use it in warmer weather, although I have used it to bed nests year round without problems.

Tiny bugs sound like miltes. Generally treating your birds and any wood cracks with a pyrethrim, or permatherin based poultry dust or spray is best. I wouldn't use DE either. We do use barn lime to dry places out and on our poop board. Treat weekly for 3-4 weeks. Wild birds will bring in more so generally mites is a maintenance issue.

You don't usually see feather loss from mites and lice unless it's scaly leg mites. Can you share these pictures?

With lice you generally will see egg clusters next to the skin on the feather shafts.

There is depluming mites, which I've never seen or dealt with.

Ok. I looked for old pictures but I must have deleted them. So I got a few birds. The first bird is Whitey. She is what started this. I knew shew was having vent issues and found bald spots. My older birds looked ragged but I blamed it on the rooster and molt. It’s on necks and bellies Sometimes when you lift back wings you see it going to underneath the newer birds like from dec and on seem to be ok So far but of course we treated them all but that is why my husband thought it was the rooster or molt they are younger and were separated he is now gone but we have young ones hubby thinks they will beat up the hens too much

 

[Duckfarmer1]

Make sure what you are dealing with before treating.

My Bug Check notes:
Have you checked them over real well for mites and/or lice?

Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.

Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.

Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight(and wear your glasses if you need them), easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.

Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).


Good post about mite ID by Lady McCamley:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-chicken-has-mites-now-what.1273674/page-2#post-20483008

This is excellent, but my concern is that we just dusted the heck out of the chickens Saturday. If I do this tonight. Will they still be alive to give me an accurate idea of what I am dealing with? When would you do the paper towel test?

 

[aart]

Bare patches are not always caused by bugs.

This is excellent, but my concern is that we just dusted the heck out of the chickens Saturday. If I do this tonight. Will they still be alive to give me an accurate idea of what I am dealing with?

Just keep checking every few nights.

When would you do the paper towel test?

Pretty well explained in my notes.

 

[aart]

What's interesting is the straw mite is much more evident in hay than it is in second cut straw.

Not too surprising, colloquial names are often not real accurate.
I find it most interesting that a plant eater would bite an animal....omnivorous insects<shrugs>
There are lots of different kinds of mites out there.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Ok. I looked for old pictures but I must have deleted them. So I got a few birds. The first bird is Whitey. She is what started this. I knew shew was having vent issues and found bald spots. My older birds looked ragged but I blamed it on the rooster and molt. It’s on necks and bellies Sometimes when you lift back wings you see it going to underneath the newer birds like from dec and on seem to be ok So far but of course we treated them all but that is why my husband thought it was the rooster or molt they are younger and were separated he is now gone but we have young ones hubby thinks they will beat up the hens too much
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Where exactly are these bald spots? The neck one I can see. I might think you have a feather plucker. What are you feeding?

Also what type of roosts do they use?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I'm personally not seeing any evidence of parasites (at least on screen).

What I am seeing is molt (bare necks) and mating breakage (vent area). My girls all have bare strips on their behinds.

Never hurts to dust them. You could always give several rounds of Ivermectin. If no resistance has built up, it will clear both internal and external parasites, just in case.

But that looks like healthy skin to me with at worst a feather picker. How much room do your girls have? What is your protein percentage in the feed? For non foraging ability (and most birds clean out small lots very quickly), I like to use a 20% protein in the winter for feather regrowth to prevent the weeks and weeks of molting.

My thoughts.
LofMc