Mite Identification

[angelinagreena]

Does anyone know what kind of mite this is? I have found a few crawling on me these last few days Looks like I have some work ahead of me…

 

[azygous]

Mites have eight legs. Lice have six. It appears you may have lice, not mites.

 

[angelinagreena]

Mites have eight legs. Lice have six. It appears you may have lice, not mites.

It’s hard to tell but it has 8 legs. I observed it under the microscope last night.

 

[alinas2010]

I think they might be red mites:

https://poultrydvm.com/pathogens/dermanyssus-gallinae

https://poultrydvm.com/condition/poultry-red-mites

If they're only active on your chickens at night, they’re probably red mites. Red mites hide in crevices and cracks of coops.

Permethrin poultry dust will treat them. I like to use the sock method to powder my chickens if they get a mite infestation. That way I don’t have to worry about cold, wet chickens. A good powdering all over, working the dust down onto the skin should do the trick. Wear gloves and a mask. Repeat again in 5-7 days then again in another 5-7 if you see mites still. Keep repeating until you see none. Red poultry mites have a life cycle of 14 days.

All bedding and nesting material will need removed and thrown away or burned. Do not reuse or compost it. You will then need to spray your coop out really well with a permethrin spray. Get all the nooks and crannies really good before replacing with fresh bedding.

 

[Qwerty3159]

I think it might be an Ornithonyssus bird mite. The 4 sets of legs are best visible in the first photo.

 

[alinas2010]

Could be ornithonyssus species otherwise known as fowl mites, likely northern fowl mites, (although could be a different type depending on where you live - tropical fowl mites). I think it resembles red mites more, but it’s tough to tell.

https://poultrydvm.com/pathogens/ornithonyssus-sylviarum

If you check the back of your chickens, near their vents and you see mites there during the day, then it’s more likely something like northern fowl mites. They tend to “build homes” out of feces, dead skin, scabs, etc and cause a lot of redness and irritation to the chicken in that area. Northern fowl mites are not nocturnal as red fowl mites are.

The good news is that treatment is the same for both, so you should be able to cure the problem if you keep at it and are very diligent with the permethrin. Fowl mites have a life cycle of 5-7 days versus the 14 days of red mites.

More info on northern fowl mites:
https://poultrydvm.com/condition/northern-fowl-mites

 

[angelinagreena]

It’s hard to tell but it has 8 legs. I observed it under the microscope last night.

Could be ornithonyssus species otherwise known as fowl mites, likely northern fowl mites, (although could be a different type depending on where you live - tropical fowl mites). I think it resembles red mites more, but it’s tough to tell.

https://poultrydvm.com/pathogens/ornithonyssus-sylviarum

If you check the back of your chickens, near their vents and you see mites there during the day, then it’s more likely something like northern fowl mites. They tend to “build homes” out of feces, dead skin, scabs, etc and cause a lot of redness and irritation to the chicken in that area. Northern fowl mites are not nocturnal as red fowl mites are.

The good news is that treatment is the same for both, so you should be able to cure the problem if you keep at it and are very diligent with the permethrin. Fowl mites have a life cycle of 5-7 days versus the 14 days of red mites.

More info on northern fowl mites:
https://poultrydvm.com/condition/northern-fowl-mites

Thanks for the replies! This is the first time any of my flock has ever had mites in the 6 years I’ve had them, but we have had rodent issues more recently, so I suspected it was going to happen at some point. I live in Tennessee and wasn’t sure if they were northern fowl or chicken/red mites (or even tropical rat mites?!) because I originally found them clustered on the roost. Then this afternoon/evening I found them crawling all over my rooster! I have been checking periodically but it has been a couple of months since I’ve looked him or my hens over. I gave him a bath today with dawn dish soap and then sprayed him down with disecticide, which is a clove and peppermint oil mix. I plan on treating the coop, then retreating him and my hen’s….I just wanted to give him some relief asap. Always something in the chicken world!

 

[alinas2010]

You’re welcome! Ah yes, mites can be overwhelming at first, especially for the first time. But in my experience, if you can get them under control, they’re not terrible to treat.

I think every chicken keeper is bound to run into them at some point, don’t feel bad. The wild birds had them bad in our area this year, so it we got a taste of northern fowl mites x2 this summer.

Yes, try the permethrin treatment and see if that works. If it doesn’t, you’ll know you’re probably dealing with something else. Be sure to treat every chicken, not just the ones you see mites on.

I agree; you just never know what you’ll wake up to with chickens, right?

Also, neat microscope! Good luck!

 

[angelinagreena]

After doing some research, I think these may be tropical fowl mites, since I am finding them on the birds and all over the roosts. I’ve also found them in my house unfortunately so wigging out extra about that. We’ve brought some of our birds in due to injury so we certainly walked into that one I swear we checked but obviously not close enough, can’t believe how small these suckers are. Got a lot to look forward to with cleaning but thank you for the confidence!

Yes the microscope is awesome, I studied aquatic entomology in grad school so still have the old dissecting scope. I know insects just not as familiar with arachnids