I’m being eaten alive

[ChirpyKT]

Ok- every time I go near my coop I come back with severe bites.... mites? I’ve learned that I need to wear pants (I’m in Florida and you don’t do that often) and then bathe after being out there. I’ve seen little microscopic bugs on my shirt.... I’m removing everything and spraying g down but am I battling mites? They itch like HELLLLLLLL!

 

[Aapomp831]

Definitely sounds like mites or lice. Get some DE and on a sunny day, sprinkle it all over the ground where they dust bathe. Then you’re going to have to thoroughly clean out your coop, spray it down with vinegar and sprinkle some more DE into the shavings / sand or whatever bedding you use.

 

[LizzzyJo]

Oh ouch!! What about putting out some sticky fly paper to try to get a specimen to see what you’re battling?
Does bug spray work?

 

[Chicalina]

They look like flea bites to me.

 

[Aapomp831]

Oh ouch!! What about putting out some sticky fly paper to try to get a specimen to see what you’re battling?
Does bug spray work?

NO bug spray around your chickens... it can be extremely harmful to their health and I have heard way too many stories about chickens getting caught in sticky flypaper and dying... so that’s a very bad idea.
Mites and lice hide during the day and are active at night. If you want to know what you’re dealing with, wait until nighttime and then go into your coop with a flashlight and check under feathers for bugs. That’s when you’ll see them. Natural remedies are the best... the DE is very effective but it becomes inactive once it gets wet. I know you can also off apple cider vinegar to your girls (along with fresh water) and garlics twice a week to help with external parasites. Keeping your environment clean is very important... I clean my coops out with distilled white vinegar. That’s the safest cleaning agent to use around chickens.

 

[notsopickychicky]

mosquitoes are really bad right now, are you sure they're not just those? I actually put a huge mosquito netting thing around my coop to give my girls some relief from them at night. They SWARM.

 

[Eggcessive]

They do look like raised flea bites to me as well. I would look the birds over well at night for possible mites or at anytime for lice under the vent and elsewhere. You might try spraying yourself with a deet spray before you go into the coop. Permethrin is a safe treatment for either lice or mites, but the coop also must be treated as well as bedding removed and replaced. Here is some reading about lice and mites, and what too look for:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

 

[Painted Calls]

Natural remedies do nothing to get rid of parasites.

DE is actually quite harmful for the respiratory system.

@cmom, we have mites/lice over here! Please post your mite/lice info.

 

[LizzzyJo]

NO bug spray around your chickens... it can be extremely harmful to their health and I have heard way too many stories about chickens getting caught in sticky flypaper and dying... so that’s a very bad idea.
Mites and lice hide during the day and are active at night. If you want to know what you’re dealing with, wait until nighttime and then go into your coop with a flashlight and check under feathers for bugs. That’s when you’ll see them. Natural remedies are the best... the DE is very effective but it becomes inactive once it gets wet. I know you can also off apple cider vinegar to your girls (along with fresh water) and garlics twice a week to help with external parasites. Keeping your environment clean is very important... I clean my coops out with distilled white vinegar. That’s the safest cleaning agent to use around chickens.

Bug spray on your body not on the chickens or as a bug bomb

 

[Aapomp831]

Bug spray on your body not on the chickens or as a bug bomb

Ohhhh lol I heard bug spray and pictured someone spraying their bird. Made me cringe.