little small white bugs on hatching egg?

[chicklets81]

I have 2 broody hens hatching out eggs right now. Yesterday was day 21. I picked up one of the eggs to see if the chick had made a pip hole yet, and I noticed tiny, almost microscopic, little things on the eggs surface, walking around.

I think I read somewhere on this site about mites, and that they are "red" in color, and don't like the light. But these weren't red, they were white, and didn't scatter when I shined my flashlight on them.


Anybody have any clue what they could be?

I have a mixture of hay and pine shavings in the box that the hen is sitting in, so its really hard to tell where the other white things could be.

Thanks!

 

[MageofMist]

There are different types of mites, my starter silkies had both slow, pale yellow mites and feather lice! I had no idea what type of mites they were, but I wanted to get rid of them fast as I didn't want them drinking their blood.

While my dad was at the store getting the Desi-dust, I was plucking the mites and lice out from the hen and roo's feathers on my lap and dropping them into a tub to be disposed of later. After about a week of dusting them with the desi-dust and dusting the nestbox and bedding, the lice and mites vanished.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Mites are white/grey in colour in their early life cycle before they feed from the birds blood and become red.

This is a good read ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/mites-lice-treatment-and-prevention.64597/

If you are seeing these on the eggs I fear you have a bad infestation and you will need to thoroughly clean out her nest. As the eggs are due I would maybe leave this until she has left the nest. The mites will be hiding in nooks, crannies & crevices. It's important to get them under control especially as your hen will have likely weakened herself whilst brooding.