Is this a pest? What is growing and moving in the feed??? video

[Jenbirdee]

Purina Flock raiser
i can’t read the date the bags codes are stupid now
Getting close to the bottom of the bag
I use it up in one or two month from when I buy it
anyway i was shocked to see this today
I rushed around, taking away the geeseFeed the chicken feed the ducks feed.
I gave them some new pellets we have instead of the crumbles
In the meantime, I want to know what the heck this is?? And if they ate some already, which I believe they did —- how bad is it and what should I do?

 

[DonyaQuick]

Oof that looks like a really bad infestation of grain mites. They could have come from the feed or just the environment if you had a lot of warm wet weather. Good news is that grain mites won't hurt the birds at all, they just degrade the feed and nutrition, although sometimes when in the source of the feed they also are a signal of feed being exposed to some moisture in storage which can be a mold risk not just a mite mess. When grain mites get really out of hand, they form dust-bunny-like clumps like that. Controlling them can be tough once they are that abundant since they'll usually be all over where the feed was, not just in the feed itself.

Grain mites are usually a warm humid weather thing I believe, so winter in your region should eventually knock them back even if they remain hard to get under control until then. Typical anti-mite treatments like permethrin had basically no impact on the seasonal grain mite issues I've had. I've found food grade DE to be more effective (in part since you can mix a bit into the food that they want to get into) but with a really bad outbreak, honestly they are just really hard to get rid of fully until it is cold.

 

[Jenbirdee]

Oof that looks like a really bad infestation of grain mites. They could have come from the feed or just the environment if you had a lot of warm wet weather. Good news is that grain mites won't hurt the birds at all, they just degrade the feed and nutrition, although sometimes when in the source of the feed they also are a signal of feed being exposed to some moisture in storage which can be a mold risk not just a mite mess. When grain mites get really out of hand, they form dust-bunny-like clumps like that. Controlling them can be tough once they are that abundant since they'll usually be all over where the feed was, not just in the feed itself.

Grain mites are usually a warm humid weather thing I believe, so winter in your region should eventually knock them back even if they remain hard to get under control until then. Typical anti-mite treatments like permethrin had basically no impact on the seasonal grain mite issues I've had. I've found food grade DE to be more effective (in part since you can mix a bit into the food that they want to get into) but with a really bad outbreak, honestly they are just really hard to get rid of fully until it is cold.

what is a good miticide ?

 

[DonyaQuick]

what is a good miticide ?

There are basically only two (I'm aware of anyway) that are poultry safe: Permethrin and Elector PSP. Neither can be used in food and the birds really shouldn't eat on treated ground either. Both chemicals require repeated applications to beat back mites of any sort. Elector PSP is hugely expensive so I only use that for parasitic mites like northern fowl mites. Permethrin is much cheaper and comes in powdered and liquid forms. I find the powdered form tends to do better for treating areas with bedding materials when the area can't be cleaned out (the pwoder last longer when dry and gets mixed in more evenly by the birds) but people use both as premesis treatments. The downside to Permethrin is it's toxic to cats (fine with dogs though).

For the feeder and feed itself, don't use any chemicals. Just start with a new bag and clean the feeder thoroughly If of food grade DE mixed into the feed thoroughly before adding to the feeder.

It may be a long process with repeated treatments depending on the source of the mites and how well established they've become in/around your birds. If they are having a population boom in the broader environment, then they will just keep coming back again and again until it gets too cold for them. If you're lucky and it was just the one bag of feed and they have never been an issue in the area before, then you may be able to control them better with a standard miticide.

 

[LaFleche]

what is a good miticide ?

Fill the feed in plastic bags and put it in the freezer for several days.