Mite Identification

[sorenheart]

Hi everyone. I noticed this bug on one of my eggs Monday evening and immediately treated my chickens and the coop with Elector PSP the following day (Tuesday). Since I’m posting this at 12 am my time, yesterday (Wednesday) I went ahead and cleaned my coop out again (the floor is dirt/sand, so I raked out what I could) and added both DE and Permethrin powder to their dropping boards and nesting boxes. I know it may have been overkill to do both, but I really don’t like the idea of my chickens or their living space having mites. A couple hours ago, around 11 o’ clock, I went out to my chicken coop to examine all roosting bars, and I even checked several of my chickens, and found no evidence of mites. I wiped a white piece of paper across all my roosting bars and the paper came away clean, except for a very small spot of what looked to be blood when I wiped underneath one of them. I immediately checked the area and found nothing however, so for my own peace of mind, I’ve chalked it up to me accidentally killing another bug that was under there. When I went to check the eggs in the nesting boxes, I noticed this same-looking bug on another egg. I’m at a loss for what to do as not only did I soak the nesting boxes in Elector PSP, but I also put a decent amount of DE and Permethrin powder in them.

Unfortunately, the video I took tonight of the bug is quite unclear because my camera refused to focus, and I was also using the flash to look at it myself. But my question is, is this even a mite? It is light-colored with longish antennae, and when I squished it, I saw no blood. Interestingly enough, when I saw its friend Monday evening, its friend was moving a lot faster than it was tonight. I’m thinking maybe the powder mix did work, and it was perhaps on its way to dying?

Any insight is much appreciated. I’ve dealt with lice on my chickens once and taking care of that was simple enough, but I’m afraid the stress that the mere thought of my chickens having mites brings is something I won’t be able to handle . I’m already thinking of downsizing my flock because I don’t want this to get out of hand. I already plan on treating all my chickens and the coop again in 7 days.

 

[PimsGarden]

Do you know what springtails look like? Is it cigar shaped and jump away when you touch them? Just trying to rule out a very common beneficial bug.

 

[dawg53]

Here's a link with photos of poultry external parasites to help you ID what you're dealing with. Scroll down:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IG140

 

[PimsGarden]

Here's a link with photos of poultry external parasites to help you ID what you're dealing with. Scroll down:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IG140

This is a very handy link, thanks!

 

[sorenheart]

Here's a link with photos of poultry external parasites to help you ID what you're dealing with. Scroll down:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IG140

Thank you. Unfortunately, I discovered a different kind of bug this afternoon on yet another egg but wasn’t able to zoom in on my camera enough to get a good look at its body shape (I also freaked out and squished it after a few seconds of watching it). Could this be a red mite? It was bright orange and extremely small. No matter how hard I stared at it, it just looked like a tiny, moving orange dot.

 

[PimsGarden]

Buy a cheap jewelers loop, then you will be able to notice details on bugs and ID them. Or at least get a pic to have someone ID them. There are also clip on macro lens for phones that are great too, I have one for when I go botanize and it works great for tiny weevils/bugs.

 

[sorenheart]

Buy a cheap jewelers loop, then you will be able to notice details on bugs and ID them. Or at least get a pic to have someone ID them. There are also clip on macro lens for phones that are great too, I have one for when I go botanize and it works great for tiny weevils/bugs.

That’s good advice, thank you. Do you happen to have any thoughts about frontline? I was thinking of using it since it gets absorbed into the bloodstream, and I don’t really care about their eggs. Not sure if I would still need to be concerned about treating and retreating the coop though.

 

[PimsGarden]

That’s good advice, thank you. Do you happen to have any thoughts about frontline? I was thinking of using it since it gets absorbed into the bloodstream, and I don’t really care about their eggs. Not sure if I would still need to be concerned about treating and retreating the coop though.

I wouldn't use that, it's not meant for chickens. There are tons of different mites and many of them are harmless to your birds. If you see mites on your birds then I would be concerned.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

In my opinion, neither of the bugs you've posted are poultry mites or lice.

This might be a dumb question, but have you checked ON your birds today? A single bug on an egg is not the best indicator. If you check your birds thoroughly, and you do not see bugs on their skin, especially near the vents, you're likely not dealing with a poultry parasite. It's probably just some regular bug that made its way into the nest box. I've had this happen a few times. Did I freak out? Yes, abso-freaking-lutely I did. Was it lice or mites? No. Did I check my birds' bums religiously for several days after? You're darn tootin' I did. Did I find anything on them? Nope.

I believe that when mites start showing up on eggs, you will see many more than one singular bug, and your bird(s) are likely fairly heavily infested by that time, so you should be able to easily spot them on the bird as well.