Mite Eggs?

[chickens112]

What exactly do mite eggs look like. One of my roos have these little white bumps on the shafts of his feathers on the top of his neck. Also how do you treat for it? Thanks

 

[Jenski]

A pic can help, but mite eggs do indeed look like little white or grey bumps on the feather shaft.

I use ProZap poultry dust; it contains pyrethrins. an insecticide synthesized from plant extracts (simply put, anyway). You should be able to find this at the co-op or farm store, or order online from Jeffers or similar place.

Since mite eggs are impervious to the dust, you can only kill the adults. The eggs need 4 days to hatch, so you will want to dust once, then dust again in 4-5 days to kill the next generation.

I dust at bedtime. Just put on some rubber gloves, and work a small handful of dust in the vent area (pretty sure to have the eggs if you found them elsewhere), then a bit under each wing (where they will run from the dust). If there is a bit on his neck get that too, but don't get in his eyes. Pop him back in the coop, and you're all done.

Mixing a bit of diatomaceous earth into the coop shavings will help keep mites down. You can do a search on this forum for more info on that . . . lots of conversations held on that topic!

Hope that helps. Good luck!