HELP!! What are these CRITTERS?

[reesepoultry]

Please help me, I keep finding microscopic bugs in my incubator. What are they. They keep crawling on my eggs and on the walls of my bator. I keep sqaushing them but everytime I open my bator I only find more. They are really hard to see. Are these mites maybe.

 

[swtangel321]

Could they be fruit flies ??? And food/fruit near the bator ??

Can you see what color they are ? Do they fly ? Jump ?

 

[reesepoultry]

Quote:
Nope, not fruit flies. They can only crawl. they don't fly or jump. They are so little you can barely see them. They are like a brown or tan color. no fruit by the bator. I have it in my bedroom so no food near it.

Michelle

 

[swtangel321]

where did the eggs come from ?? Your hens ? Shipped ?

They sound like mites/lice to me !!! You should check your hens (look under there wings, can see them good there)

 

[reesepoultry]

I have my own and ones that were shipped. None of my chickens are kept in cages. They are all on the ground in sawdust. Could they still get mites. Also is the mites killing my eggs. How can i get rid of the dang things. they seem to be coming from nowhere. When i started noticing them my hatch rates have been poor since i saw them.

 

[swtangel321]

Yes, your birds can have them !!! They prob do (this is the time of year for them) !!! You need to start checking them (like I said... pick them up and look under there wings and near there vents) Then if you see them (at this point it wont hurt even if you dont since they are on the eggs) Go to your local feed/TSC and get some poultry dust for mites/lice and dust them all !! Then repeat dusting in 10 days to make sure they are all gone !! Make sure to get under the wings and around the vent VERY well !!! It is VERY important to get rid of them since your birds can get very sick/weak from the mites/lice if the bugs aren't taken care of !!

I have found a good way to dust is to get a $4 tote from Walmart put the bird in it and dust in there, that way its not such a waste of dusting powder !! Also helps if there are 2 people doing it... Then you will need to clean and dust the coop ( I know you said they "free range" but they sleep in something right ? ) Another thing you can use for the coop dusting is DE (food grade) ask for it at your local feed store, just make sure its food grade.

As far as the eggs go.... Im not sure on how to get rid of them on there.... I had a hen sitting one time who had mites with eggs under her... I dusted her and the mites on the eggs died also... never had them in the bator... After this hatch i would bleach the bator and put it in the sun.

Hope someone else can give you more ideas on what to do with the eggs !! I guess at this point I might think about dusting the eggs and cleaning the bator since when the chicks hatch they will get the mites on them.

 

[reesepoultry]

Could it make my hens stop laying eggs? Thanks for the help I will check tomorrow morning. Then dust them.

 

[swtangel321]

I think so !!! but not 100% sure on that !! Keep me updated in the AM when you check !!

 

[reesepoultry]

I just went outside in the barn and checked a couple hens and didn't see anything. This is very odd......

 

[Akane]

By definition you can't see microscopic bugs without a microscope

They do sound like some type of lice or mite. They shouldn't harm the eggs but if the chicks hatch before you get them under control they could easily kill chicks. Treatments to kill them could also kill chicks. You need to check your hens and get them treated so you can then clean up the incubator before the chicks hatch. It shouldn't take much to get rid of them in the bator once there isn't a source to keep bringing them in. Most likely they are being picked up on your clothes and other items taken out to the coop. Parasites won't live long without a host to use as a food source so if they are lice/mites they can't live in the incubator since they can't feed on eggs. Either that's not what they are or they are being brought back in from the coop frequently. A bad parasite infestation could definitely stress the chickens enough they'd stop laying.