House infested with chicken mites

[Msm1707]

We have had chicken mites through the house, my daughter getting bitten several times. Only realised it was coming from the chooks when we went to the coop. They were literally jumping out of the soil around our feet. This all happened so quickly. We have sprayed the coop and run with the following which we got from our stock feed place. We have dusted the chooks, dogs and new bedding with DE. Inside I have bombed with a flea bomb in each room and hot washed all bedding and soft items in the rooms. Do we need to redo the house after a week or two as well? Or just the coop and chooks? Are the eggs still good after this treatment? Thanks everyone.

 

[getaclue]

DE is a deterrent at best. ACV is a great source of calcium, both for humans, and animals. IF you don't have an infestation, using deterrents is good, but when you've got a full blown infestation, it's time to use something that's quick, and effective. I agree that overuse is not good. BTW, DE causes respiratory issues, so even be careful using that.

 

[gpresdo]

Chemicals are very bad...... for animals, me, environment......period.

We use DE as de-wormer also for our registered Angus herd. Also we use apple cider vinegar...1 gallon per 100 gallons of water for de-worming as a switch off...it works. We are experimenting with this mix for de-worming our flocks. Juror is still out.

We currently de-worm our flocks with food grade DE by mixing it with laying pellets and clean oats .....about every 3/4 months...or when messy vent feathers are present,or dirty egg shells.
A vet in Texas advises he has not used chemicals on his cattle herd for the past 18 years...DE and/or apple cider vinegar...only....for de-worming.

Use natural methods ......as possible.....worms develop defenses for the chemicals....but not DE or apple cider vinegar....per the scientists.

Example;...no yard/lawn should be allowed to use, pesticides, herbicides...only agriculture operations...sparingly...as required.

Chemicals are the last thing we should go too....... to solve a problem.

 

[gpresdo]

DE is a deterrent at best. ACV is a great source of calcium, both for humans, and animals. IF you don't have an infestation, using deterrents is good, but when you've got a full blown infestation, it's time to use something that's quick, and effective. I agree that overuse is not good. BTW, DE causes respiratory issues, so even be careful using that.

As with chemicals....even apple cider can cause excess acid and gastric conditions......all must be used wisely...also.
Yep...DE to be used only with proper breathing control and with animals outside.

 

[RiverOtter]

Whitewashing the coop will kill me tes in the wood and their eggs. You want 3 parts barn/hydrated/masonry lime (NOT garden lime) and one part salt mixed with enough water to bring it to the consistency of fresh milk. It will paint on not looking like much, but dry bright white. It will flake and rub off over time, so plan on doing it once a year.

 

[aart]

They were literally jumping out of the soil around our feet.

@Msm1707 are you sure they weren't fleas?
Mites don't live on the ground...and they don't jump.
Curious .......
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[Msm1707]

@Msm1707 are you sure they weren't fleas?
Mites don't live on the ground...and they don't jump.
Curious .......
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!
View attachment 2079178

Thanks I’ve updated it. I live in Perth, Western Australia. I’m not sure if anything to be honest. I googled the pictures of both and they looked more like mites but they are so tiny. Also the jumping things I thought were the adults are actually some sort of native beetle and it was just a coincident that I saw them on the same day. So not jumpers just very small.

 

[aart]

There are SO many insects around, and most of them won't harm poultry.
But it can be freaky when a big hatch happens and they're biting you.
They are hard to ID, especially the tiny ones.
I catch 'em on cello tape so they can be observed and photographed.

 

[RiverOtter]

Thanks @parvani , for being so kind and for all your well wishes. We're all doing pretty ok. The animals are all otherwise staying fat and healthy and weathering the current ice storm like champs. Bracken's illness was sudden and caused by an issue she's had for a couple of years, but still took us nastily by surprise and it will take a while to recover from her loss, but that her lovely 9 month old foal is with us and doing well is a huge comfort. I take a minute to come here so often because folks here are so positive, and you exemplify that. It is a comfort to me.

Years ago I was waking up with what looked like bites all over me. I washed the bedding and sprayed the mattress before I put the bedding back on and still was having issues. It turned out to be the laundry detergent that had some ingredient that was the problem. I switched to the free and clear and no more issues. I'm not suggesting that, only that I had a similar issue and that was my problem. A friend had the same issue and thought he had bedbugs or something and threw out his matress and bought another mattress before he found out it was the laundry detergent. Good luck...

Recently, I grabbed a box of cheap powdered bleach because i was in town, had hauled everything to the laundromat (because might as well when I'm doing pillows and blankets anyway, nothing washes pillows like those big machines!) and gave my family a solid month of hives and hell. Like everyone else I thought fleas/bites/bedbugs, and did replace my son's mattress (which was likely a good idea anyway) but now I know, check for a contact allergy first!

 

[rosemarythyme]

to me it sounds like both cases were more than mites. Lots of peeople have pointed out mites don't bite people so to get 200 bites and them living in a bed I would suspect lice, fleas or even bed bugs.

Fowl mites do bite people, they just can't live off our blood. Doesn't stop them from trying.

In my case the bites I got did look very similar to photos online of bed bugs, (clustered small red prickly looking bites) so I had my pest company come and check for bed bugs, but they confirmed there wasn't any evidence of those and in the meantime I did manage to "catch" one mite from the bed to show the pest guy and he confirmed that it a mite.