I'm being bitten by red mite

[Nadsyg]

I know this was a long time ago, but please tell me if you managed to get rid of the mites? I have an infestation and just when I think I'm on top of it, they turn up again. Must be hatching or something, but its driving me crazy! I can't really sleep because I can feel them crawling on me and biting me. My husband also isn't really affected, and maybe because he doesn't have much contact with the chickens. I do have two young chicks I'm raising, and have treated them both with diatoms, so will give them another dose shortly.

It has been about six weeks or longer now and I want them done already!

Is it possible my kitten may have picked them up? She has been treated with a parasite injection, so thought she would be fine but maybe she's picking them up and dropping them off in our bed?

Am getting tired of changing the sheets and having hot baths only to have more on me in the morning! Aaaah!!!

 

[SusanAddams]

Our home and coop were infested due to a mourning dove nest outside the kitchen window. Remove any wild bird nests near your home. They got in my house through a crack around my french doors... found them on a wall inside near the dove nest.

The mites were in our beds and biting us and our kids. I had 50 bites before I figured things out. I figured out what was biting us when I found one on my daughter when she was sleeping.

I washed all linens, pillows, and recent laundry at the lauder-mat... all in one day. I put baking soda and DE in our carpets, mattresses, and furniture. What a horrible mess. Then I vacuumed the mattresses and house repeatedly over weeks.

I dusted the chickens with DE and pyrethrin. I drenched the coop in DE. MULTIPLE times.

Whenever I would get an itch I would soak in the tub and usually find a mite in the water.

Finally, I got an ozone machine and ozoned each bedroom. I think that has helped prevent the return. I am going to reozone tomorrow as I found more mites on the wall inside by where the dove nest was outside... two weeks after spraying the nest daily with organic spray.

We have bagged and disposed of the nest, as sorry as we felt for the doves. While we tried to spray and save the nest, the return of the mites made it impossible.

I worry what all this dusting, spraying, and ozone could do to our health...

This is a nightmare and makes me think the eggs might not be worth having to fight this nasty issue in the future as I am guessing they will be tough to eliminate from the coop. My nerves are fried. Mites suck.

 

[ChristineDown]

This thread was originally started by me. To answer a couple of questions. Yes I did eventually get rid of the red mite on me. Once I used the sulphur bomb on the hen house I think I managed to kill all the red mite there so I stopped reinfecting myself. I kept treating myself using tea tree soap in the shower, and something called "Vosene for kids" shampoo. It's a head lice repellent for daily use which also has tea tree and eucalyptus oils in it. I continued to use bite cream until all the bites healed up and stopped being itchy. To this day I keep a few disposable plastic shower caps near the back door and I always wear one when going into the coop. I spray myself with nit repellent (which is actually for hair) but I use it on my hands and clothes before cleaning out the hen house. I haven't seen any more red mite in the hen house but you can never be too sure!

For Susan Adams: Here's how I finally got rid of the red mite in the hen house. I bought something called a sulphur candle. It comes in a tin with a wick. Wait until a dry day and the warmer the better. Place the tin in the hen house, light the wick and close the hen house up completely. (Obviously the hens need to be out of the house ) Wait until the candle has completely burned out (it tells you on the tin how long this takes) then open the house up as fully as possible. Remove any bedding and dispose of it. (Burning is best). Use a scrubbing brush or similar to remove any droppings and dirt. Then use a power washer to completely wash the house inside and out. (A power washer is one of those electric things you attach that spays water under pressure) Pay particular attention to the joins, cracks and around doors, windows etc.and remove perches ladders etc and spray them all over too. When I did it thousands of dead mites washed out of the house. The outflow was grey with them!! Once the water is running clear leave the house to dry. Once dry use new bedding in the house and sprinkle DE into cracks and crevices and under the bedding. Finally use some sort of barrier on the birds (I use pyrethrin liquid as a drop at the back of their necks - it's actually for dogs and cats but works well for red mite on chickens and comes in a little tube). Once you've done this you should be red mite clear. From what you say it might be a good idea to try to move you chicken house away from overhanging trees and also wooden fences. (Red mites could still be in those places).
Check regularly for red mite by waiting until it's dark and then using a white tissue wipe along under the hens perches. Use a firm swipe. If any red is on the tissue it means you have mites.

As for bites on you well you have my fullest and heartfelt sympathies. It took me ages to get rid of them on me. Try the things I did above. Replace your normal shampoo and the kids shampoo with a head lice repellent everyday shampoo like the Vosene mentioned above. If you can't get one, look for a shampoo that contains tea tree oil - your pharmacist may be able to help you. (By that I mean one that says it is to repel head lice and not TREAT head lice. The treatment ones are too strong to use regularly but if you still have mites on you or the kids you should start by using a head lice treatment lotion. I am in the UK and I used Hedrin but if you are in another country I am sure they will have an equivalent.) Get some bite and sting cream and apply to the bites. My bites were the itchiest bites I've ever had from anything! Also buy a bottle of tea tree oil (it's expensive but worth it) and add about a dessertspoonful to your detergent every time you wash bedding for the next couple of weeks.

Once you get your red mite under control you can start enjoying your hens again. It would be a shame to forgo the pleasure of them and the eggs.

 

[csaylorchickens]

This thread was originally started by me.  To answer a couple of questions.  Yes I did eventually get rid of the red mite on me.  Once I used the sulphur bomb on the hen house I think I managed to kill all the red mite there so I stopped reinfecting myself.  I kept treating myself using tea tree soap in the shower, and something called "Vosene for kids" shampoo.  It's a head lice repellent for daily use which also has tea tree and eucalyptus oils in it.  I continued to use bite cream until all the bites healed up and stopped being itchy.  To this day I keep a few disposable plastic shower caps near the back door and I always wear one when going into the coop. I spray myself with nit repellent (which is actually for hair) but I use it on my hands and clothes before cleaning out the hen house.  I haven't seen any more red mite in the hen house but you can never be too sure!

For Susan Adams:  Here's how I finally got rid of the red mite in the hen house.  I bought something called a sulphur candle.  It comes in a tin with a wick.  Wait until a dry day and the warmer the better.  Place the tin in the hen house, light the wick and close the hen house up completely.  (Obviously the hens need to be out of the house )  Wait until the candle has completely burned out (it tells you on the tin how long this takes)  then open the house up as fully as possible.  Remove any bedding and dispose of it. (Burning is best).  Use a scrubbing brush or similar to remove any droppings and dirt.  Then use a power washer to completely wash the house inside and out.  (A power washer is one of those electric things you attach that spays water under pressure)  Pay particular attention to the joins, cracks and around doors, windows etc.and remove perches ladders etc and spray them all over too.  When I did it thousands of dead mites washed out of the house.  The outflow was grey with them!!  Once the water is running clear leave the house to dry.  Once dry use new bedding in the house and sprinkle DE into cracks and crevices and under the bedding.  Finally use some sort of barrier on the birds (I use pyrethrin liquid as a drop at the back of their necks - it's actually for dogs and cats but works well for red mite on chickens and comes in a little tube).  Once you've done this you should be red mite clear.  From what you say it might be a good idea to try to move you chicken house away from overhanging trees and also wooden fences. (Red mites could still be in those places). 
Check regularly for red mite by waiting until it's dark and then using a white tissue wipe along under the hens perches.  Use a firm swipe.  If any red is on the tissue it means you have mites. 

As for bites on you well you have my fullest and heartfelt sympathies.  It took me ages to get rid of them on me.  Try the things I did above.  Replace your normal shampoo and the kids shampoo with a head lice repellent everyday shampoo like the Vosene mentioned above.  If you can't get one, look for a shampoo that contains tea tree oil - your pharmacist may be able to help you.  (By that I mean one that says it is to repel head lice and not TREAT head lice.  The treatment ones are too strong to use regularly but if you still have mites on you or the kids you should start by using a head lice treatment lotion.  I am in the UK and I used Hedrin but if you are in another country I am sure they will have an equivalent.)  Get some bite and sting cream and apply to the bites.  My bites were the itchiest bites I've ever had from anything!  Also buy a bottle of tea tree oil (it's expensive but worth it) and add about a dessertspoonful to your detergent every time you wash bedding for the next couple of weeks.

Once you get your red mite under control you can start enjoying your hens again.  It would be a shame to forgo the pleasure of them and the eggs.

thanks for your description!!! Great advice
I didn't know red mites like wood so much. :/

 

[sikhan74]

Hi,

I've had chickens for a few years now, and have always managed to deal with the red mites to the point that I knew they were there and would kill them as best as I could using various methods. This year however, the infestation has been really bad, and whilst I have cleaned out the coop, I fear that they are now on me and worst still in my house. I find at least 1 a night on me which I quickly kill, and then spend thI night itching. It has been a week since I sorted the coop out but I am still itching. Please help! If they are in my house, where do I begin to look for them and if there worst has happened, how do I get rid of them? Thanks

 

[sikhan74]

Hi, I thought I'd posted earlier but mustn't have done. I have a problem with notes biting me. I'm worried they are in my house as well as the coop. How can I go about finding out if they are in my house and then getting rid of them? I'm finding at least 1 a day crawling on me. Please help.

 

[tdhuria]

Hi Sikhan 74

Did you have any luck with saving yourself from red mites? I am worried that I have got myself into trouble whilst cleaning Coop couple of days ago!!!

Thanks
T

 

[Catwomanju]

Thank you to everyone who replied to my red mite problem. The thing is I think the hens and coop are fine. But I am not!! The red mites are still on me after TWO hair shampoos with nit shampoo and numerous showers with different solutions including tea tree oil soap. I have about 30 bites that are very itchy! I have changed all my bedding, all my clothes etc. How do I treat myself??

Hello Christine, I know that this post is very old and am so sorry you had to go through this, but your story touched me and I'm interested to know how it ended because in January of last year I started being bitten by red mite and am allergic to the bites! In fact, several bites every day until winter nearly finished me and my hen-keeping -even with the "help?" of antihistamines and calamine lotion -and my partner and I both have the scars to prove it! It was absolute agony so I really REALLY appreciate your frustration with trying to do everything right whilst still suffering. We pressure-washed and steamed the house daily, burned bedding, diatom powder everywhere, countless expensive anti-mite sprays etc -even dunking perches in a large fish tank with soapy water for hours didn't/couldn't finish them off, hoovered and sprayed in our home (chickens wandering in and out in the summer); it felt like we were fighting the indestructible and eventually I think it was the extreme Isle of Man winter weather that really called a halt. Red mites took over our lives in 2023 so at the end of the year, on specialist advice, we invested in a recycled plastic, mite-resistant house from Green Frog Designs at huge expense and mite-repellant hemp bedding. Imagine our despair therefore when it started again this January and we decided that, logically, they had to be in OUR house now somehow so we hoovered frenetically and fumigated the main living areas which indeed appeared to do the trick. However, lo and behold, my partner has another bite this morning after picking up one of the chickens yesterday. Now we are thinking of treating their food or water as I cannot bear the thought of getting up close enough to apply powder or spray directly to the birds ... have you ever heard of this? ANY thought or advice from yourself or others who have been through the same thing would be most welcome as we are panicking now with the prospect of yet more of this nightmare infestation, and holidays and visitors looming. I should add that our 5 dear chickens continued to lay well and appeared to remain in pretty good health with their bright red combs although we knew they must be similarly afflicted