eknielsen
In the Brooder
Apologies in advance to anyone who gets itchy from reading this, I got itchy writing it!
I’ve recently noticed tiny bugs that make their way onto me every time I go out to the coop, and I can’t figure out that they are. They’re fast but I haven’t seen them jump. They’re so small that I can’t tell how many legs they have, though I think they may have antennae. They also appear to be dark brown or black in color and not red or beige, but again they’re so small it’s hard to tell. They haven’t bitten me, and they’re hard to even tell they’re there, it feels like the tiniest hair moving on your skin.
I checked my broody hen who’s been spending all her time in the nest box around her vent and feathers and wasn’t able to see anything there. I checked a couple of other chickens and found no evidence of them. I’m planning on looking again after dark, but so far I haven’t noticed any signs of them on the chickens themselves. I also looked in the nest boxes and on the roost bars/coop walls and wasn’t able to spot any. The only place I’ve seen them is on myself and also oddly enough on the outside of the little wyze camera i have set up inside the coop, though that might be because it’s white and plastic which makes them easier to spot.
I’ve looked at images of red mites, northern fowl mites, poultry lice and bookmites and it’s not any of them. The only other relevant info I can think of is that I use sand in my coop rather than traditional bedding, and it’s also been very rainy and humid here for the past month.
Here is a video of two of them on my hand from earlier this evening. They’re so tiny it’s impossible to take a photo of in focus.
Any ideas? I’d really appreciate any suggestions for pest type or even just general treatment ideas.
I’ve recently noticed tiny bugs that make their way onto me every time I go out to the coop, and I can’t figure out that they are. They’re fast but I haven’t seen them jump. They’re so small that I can’t tell how many legs they have, though I think they may have antennae. They also appear to be dark brown or black in color and not red or beige, but again they’re so small it’s hard to tell. They haven’t bitten me, and they’re hard to even tell they’re there, it feels like the tiniest hair moving on your skin.
I checked my broody hen who’s been spending all her time in the nest box around her vent and feathers and wasn’t able to see anything there. I checked a couple of other chickens and found no evidence of them. I’m planning on looking again after dark, but so far I haven’t noticed any signs of them on the chickens themselves. I also looked in the nest boxes and on the roost bars/coop walls and wasn’t able to spot any. The only place I’ve seen them is on myself and also oddly enough on the outside of the little wyze camera i have set up inside the coop, though that might be because it’s white and plastic which makes them easier to spot.
I’ve looked at images of red mites, northern fowl mites, poultry lice and bookmites and it’s not any of them. The only other relevant info I can think of is that I use sand in my coop rather than traditional bedding, and it’s also been very rainy and humid here for the past month.
Here is a video of two of them on my hand from earlier this evening. They’re so tiny it’s impossible to take a photo of in focus.
Any ideas? I’d really appreciate any suggestions for pest type or even just general treatment ideas.
