Mite infestation in bathroom, how to eradicate and how to treat chickens

[Maine_chic]

Hi there! I'm a new member although my husband joined while we were awaiting our chicks and loves it . We have nine nine-week old chickens. Their brooder area was in our stand up shower of our bathroom up until a week ago when we transitioned them to their outdoor coop. Today I went into the bathroom to finish picking up the dust, etc mess that they made and noticed little beige creatures EVERYWHERE. BILLIONS of them....seriously everywhere in that bathroom!!! I freaked out and called My Pet Chicken who, as always, were extremely helpful and told me that they are avian mites. We live in the forest in Maine and have many wild birds, including a large flock of wild turkeys that frequent our yard...so apparently mites and/or eggs made their way onto us, then onto the chickens in our house. Regardless of how on Earth this happened, what's done is done....and now I need to figure out two things ASAP:

1. How do I make sure we dont get an issue with a mite infestation in our entire home (ie not just the bathroom!). How do I get rid of them?
2. What is the best course of action to treat my birds? Until the mites are controlled, how do I prevent any mites from coming in my house?? Strip at the door and throw clothes in the washer??

Things I already have taken into account are:
- I believe bird mites are species specific to birds and dont pose an major risk of home infestation...without a bird to feed on, they will die. (I would appreciate any confirmation to this that you can provide!!)
-I know diatomaceous earth can be used as a preventative and will begin to do so immediately. However, I believe that it may not be strong enough to treat an infestation.
Please Note: I have NOT seen ANY evidence of mites on my birds that I'm aware of...but I'm a first time Chicken Mom!.....so I'm not sure if whats going on in the coop is an "infestation".

Things I've Already Tried in the Bathroom (dont laugh:0):
-I vacuumed up the visible mites
-I bleached the crap out of any possible surface
-I sprayed Lysol (for good measure)
-I'm currently ignoring the fact that they are on surfaces that CAN NOT be sprayed....such as our toothbrushes. Yeah. Ugh.
-I resorted to spraying a good amount of DEET bug spray on the heavily infested areas.

One last note--we have young children (not present when Mommy attacked the bathroom with Lysol, bleach and DEET) and our girls are far from laying so going organic, as we almost always choose, isn't super-critical here. However, we do handle the chickens frequently so anything non-organic I use on them will need to be safe for humans to handle them afterwards.

THANK YOU for reading this and for ANY advice based on your experience that you may have!!!!

 

[coach723]

I think you have probably solved the problem in the bathroom. They need the birds to survive. A permethrin product is most commonly used. It comes in powder or spray. You need to treat the birds and the coop. Some mites live in the coop and only come out at night to feed on the birds, so check them after dark. This link may be helpful:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/
Here are some common products, The liquid works best in the coop to get in the nooks and crannies, you can use either on the chickens as well, directions for mixing the liquid are on the label, some products come ready to spray.

 

[hobbyhomesteader]

UPDATE: Hi everyone! I sprayed my bathroom with the permethrin spray I had on hand. There were no survivors!! I hate using anything like this, esp INSIDE my home...but it was definitly effective. As for the chickens...I used an eye loupe and examined some shed feathers in their coop. I have also looked closely at their feathers, ep near the vent area. I see NO SIGN of mites!!! I assume its hard to see them but I could certainly see them in my bathroom...so I imagine I would see SOMETHING upon such close exam of my chickies. Then again, being new to this, Ive never seen chicken mites on chickens before, so maybe its not as easy as I imagine....?!?! Lacking signs of mites in our flock, we have held off on spraying permethrin into the coop, run or on the birds. (NOTE: I *DO* notice quite a bit of feathers in the cop and run...they are 10 weeks, so I assume this is normal molting as they get in new feathers? Otherwise, they look fluffy and healthy with no bare spots, etc.) I am going to get some powder this week, Pestene or similar and use it to dust them. I need to create a dust bath area for them as well. I hope Im going the right route and, as always, if anyone has any input on this, Im happy to hear it Thanks again to all who helped me through this incident!

That's great news! If you do see more crawlies, please do post whatever photo you can take. I study mites and ticks and am well-versed in identifying a variety of ectoparasites so I'd be happy to make an educated guess from a poor photo. Regardless, the advice you've been given on use of acaricides in this thread is correct for mites, lice, fleas, and ticks! BYC folks know their stuff when it comes to pests. I want to echo the comment that permethrin and pyrethroid products are HIGHLY toxic to cats so be cautious if you have any. Also, there was a comment that the mites need birds to survive which I'd like to correct. This is a common misconception! Dermanyssus spp. and Ornithonyssus spp. mites that typically parasitize birds are happy to utilize other hosts in absence of birds and can colonize households where they readily bite humans and cause discomfort. In fact, they spend much of their time off of the host living in the environment (more info here
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/livestock/poultry/chicken_mite.htm). They WILL NOT simply "die off" without bird hosts so it's good that you treated your bathroom and rid them from the house!

 

[Kiki]

Make PERMETHRIN
Your new best friend. Treat everything/one weekly for at least 3 weeks.

Martin's PERMETHRIN spray

• Kiki
• Mar 22, 2018
• 6
• flies lice mites permethrin

IMG_20180322_102709

• Kiki
• Mar 22, 2018

Permethrin Concentrate, Martin's on Left - Durvet on right

• Kiki
• Jul 28, 2018
• 2

 

[Kiki]

Grain mites won't hurt the chickens.
Those are much better than the chicken mite.

 

[hobbyhomesteader]

Hi Hobbyhomesteader! I am so grateful you replied on this thread!!!! Your expertise is exactly what I need! My field is Wildlife Biology and I really dislike not being able to properly identify these critters, or any critter....but Im quite unschooled in the field of entemology! I cannot take a photo of the mites I saw in the bathroom--my camera can't zoom in on something so small and, at this point, the ones I can find that remain are dead and therefore harder to make out details. I can describe them pretty well though and maybe that will help with ID, or maybe rule species in or out. They are beige, almost translucent and about the size of a small grain of sand. Some were even smaller than that. They were out and about in the daytime, crawling around in the billions (literally covering surfaces). I couldnt count the legs but it appeared that their two front legs were the ones most noticeable. I mention this because, in the reading the link you sent me, I learned that the different age stages have different numbers of legs. Unfortunately, the dead ones are mushed up enough by the spray and cleaning that I cant count the legs. I do have an eye loupe so if you have questions that will help ID, I can look further and report back
At this point, I have a few follow questions for you. I *believe* I eradicated the critters from my bathroom, BUT given the misconceptions you cleared up about hosts, I am now concerned that, if i missed even ONE (and how could I not have, right?!?), that the infestation may start anew. Is this a concern? My concern stems from the fact that, although I emptied and thoroughly sprayed my bathroom and cleaned it up, I DID NOT empty the two closets in there. I didnt observe any critters in those areas, hence my decision to do that. Hopefully that was not a big mistake :O
Also, I was assuming that, since these bathroom crawlies were active during the day, that I would also see presence of the mites on my birds during the day. The literature suggests that "they" are active at night, a time when I have not checked....and without positive ID, I dont even know what "they" are! Quite honestly, Im still really confused as to how these mites got in my house; if the birds arent infested, there would be no other way for the infestation to start! We have no bird nests on the house, etc.
I think its safe to assume I should just treat the birds at this point, a smart idea this time of year anyways. Do you have a method for treatment you like most for mites?? Im sure many people on here would love to hear what you recommend for both treatment AND prevention!!!
Anyways, I really appreciate your time reading this little novel Ive posted here...and hopefully with your help I can start to make heads or tails of this!! Many thanks!!!

Hiii! I actually started in wildlife biology too so most of my mite experience is with mites on wildlife and I'm only just now as a chicken tender applying this skillset to agricultural mites. Thanks for the description! You're correct that mite life stages are rather easy to discern based on the number of legs (larvae = 6 legs, adults = 8 legs). However, this is also true in ticks so merely counting legs wouldn't help you determine which type of ectoparasite you were dealing with (i.e. mites vs ticks vs lice vs fleas) and your description really could be larval mites, larval ticks, or lice! The best thing to do is rely on body shape. Most people seem pretty comfortable identifying fleas. Poultry lice have quite a distinct oblong figure eight shape with a prominent head separate from their body with jagged edges along the side of the body - I think they look like the stegosaurus of the ectoparasite world! Lice are also much bigger than mites, roughly flea sized, so you can see their features with the naked eye. If you did have mites, beyond "types of mites likely to come from wild birds" there's no amount of describing you could do that would help me identify them without a detailed photo. High-powered microscopy is needed to differentiate between Ornithonyssus and Dermanyssus BUT it doesn't really matter which they are in terms of eradication! In fact, most ectoparasites respond to the same pesticides, you just have to use them in a manner that reflects the lifecycle of the parasite. I typically defer to pest control experts and veterinarians (and your local extension agent!!) when it comes to treatment options because that is not my area of expertise, but I can tell you that in wildlife we commonly use selamectin or ivermectin to control mites on animals and permethrin-coated cotton balls in bedding materials to control them in the environment. Re: whether "the infestation may start anew. Is this a concern?" - it's true that infestations can linger or recur (this happens with a similar species, O. bacoti, in nursing homes and animal facilities) but in my experience if you clean a second time within the week and keep your bathroom clean (i.e. no debris for hiding or nesting, no more birds in that room, etc) then you'll probably be fine.... if they were in fact mites anyway! Re: activity during day vs night - this depends on the specific species of mite. The northern fowl mite (O. sylvarium) spends its entire life cycle on the bird and eggs are laid in masses at the base of the feathers most concentrated near the vent. Similarly, the tropical fowl mite (O. bursa) also spends its whole life on the host. You would know if your birds were infested with these no matter what time you checked! Conversely, the red poultry mite (D. gallinae) is the one that hides in the environment during the day and feeds at night so you could miss an infestation if you only checked in daytime. Re: treating your birds - frankly I would this time. You've mentioned frequent exposure to wild birds so I would go ahead and treat your birds topically and their bedding, coop, run, etc. with a permethrin-based product. If you anticipate this exposure to be a regular thing throughout the year, you may want to consider incorporating parasite inspection and prevention into your annual schedule. For example, you could inspect your birds monthly for signs of parasites (only treating them if you see signs) and treat their environment quarterly (or however often seems appropriate given the seasonal interactions with wild birds) as preventative. I bet you'll find your monthly health checks can inform how much concern you should have about ectoparasites and if/when to treat the environment.

 

[Kathy Golla]

Please be careful about using permethrin around cats and bees. It’s toxic to both.

 

[casportpony]

Ill look into Sevin dust too....I have heard mixed reviews on the safety of it but Im not familiar with the product or its ingredients.

Sevin dust is 5% carbaryl but it is no longer approved for use in poultry, though many people, myself included, still use it.

 

[Maine_chic]

That's great news! If you do see more crawlies, please do post whatever photo you can take. I study mites and ticks and am well-versed in identifying a variety of ectoparasites so I'd be happy to make an educated guess from a poor photo. Regardless, the advice you've been given on use of acaricides in this thread is correct for mites, lice, fleas, and ticks! BYC folks know their stuff when it comes to pests. I want to echo the comment that permethrin and pyrethroid products are HIGHLY toxic to cats so be cautious if you have any. Also, there was a comment that the mites need birds to survive which I'd like to correct. This is a common misconception! Dermanyssus spp. and Ornithonyssus spp. mites that typically parasitize birds are happy to utilize other hosts in absence of birds and can colonize households where they readily bite humans and cause discomfort. In fact, they spend much of their time off of the host living in the environment (more info here
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/livestock/poultry/chicken_mite.htm). They WILL NOT simply "die off" without bird hosts so it's good that you treated your bathroom and rid them from the house!

Hi Hobbyhomesteader! I am so grateful you replied on this thread!!!! Your expertise is exactly what I need! My field is Wildlife Biology and I really dislike not being able to properly identify these critters, or any critter....but Im quite unschooled in the field of entemology! I cannot take a photo of the mites I saw in the bathroom--my camera can't zoom in on something so small and, at this point, the ones I can find that remain are dead and therefore harder to make out details. I can describe them pretty well though and maybe that will help with ID, or maybe rule species in or out. They are beige, almost translucent and about the size of a small grain of sand. Some were even smaller than that. They were out and about in the daytime, crawling around in the billions (literally covering surfaces). I couldnt count the legs but it appeared that their two front legs were the ones most noticeable. I mention this because, in the reading the link you sent me, I learned that the different age stages have different numbers of legs. Unfortunately, the dead ones are mushed up enough by the spray and cleaning that I cant count the legs. I do have an eye loupe so if you have questions that will help ID, I can look further and report back
At this point, I have a few follow questions for you. I *believe* I eradicated the critters from my bathroom, BUT given the misconceptions you cleared up about hosts, I am now concerned that, if i missed even ONE (and how could I not have, right?!?), that the infestation may start anew. Is this a concern? My concern stems from the fact that, although I emptied and thoroughly sprayed my bathroom and cleaned it up, I DID NOT empty the two closets in there. I didnt observe any critters in those areas, hence my decision to do that. Hopefully that was not a big mistake :O
Also, I was assuming that, since these bathroom crawlies were active during the day, that I would also see presence of the mites on my birds during the day. The literature suggests that "they" are active at night, a time when I have not checked....and without positive ID, I dont even know what "they" are! Quite honestly, Im still really confused as to how these mites got in my house; if the birds arent infested, there would be no other way for the infestation to start! We have no bird nests on the house, etc.
I think its safe to assume I should just treat the birds at this point, a smart idea this time of year anyways. Do you have a method for treatment you like most for mites?? Im sure many people on here would love to hear what you recommend for both treatment AND prevention!!!
Anyways, I really appreciate your time reading this little novel Ive posted here...and hopefully with your help I can start to make heads or tails of this!! Many thanks!!!

 

[CindyinSD]

You might want to look around regarding the feed. I was buying from Runnings and occasionally TS. Occasionally a moldy bag (returned) but no real problems. (I recommend pouring your feed into a bin. (I just use trash bins.) That way you’ll see any problems right away and you’ll be less likely to feed the rodent population.

Anyway, I wanted a higher quality feed and was told I could get Hubbard feeds from a small local Ag supply in town. You never know what’s available until you do some research. They check the feed when it comes in though I’m sure they might get a bad bag now and again... obviously they can’t open & check every bag. Plus it’s fresher.

A note on DE... I put some into an in-coop dust bath (winter...) but I’ll never do that again. Fine gray dust everywhere! It was awful. Don’t do it. Outside maybe, but I’m convinced the stuff’s way over-rated.