Mites attracted to coop exterior?

[DonyaQuick]

After my chickens dust bathed this evening, I saw what I thought might be some tiny white mites crawling around in circles on my rooster's back. There were only a few and I couldn't pick them off without obliterating them, so I couldn't get a good look at them or get a picture until I discovered they're all over one part of the outside of the coop. I scoured the inside and found no trace of them. They also aren't on anything metal or dark colored - just white painted wood. They seemed to want to congregate most near a spider web. That web has been there for quite some time sans-mites, so I don't think these are spider mites. Unfortunately I can't get a better photo; I was even using a macro lens.

I have checked all my chickens' feathers extremely thoroughly, including the butt region where I know mites and lice like to congregate (I have dealt with a tiny case of fowl lice once before). However, I see no sign of irritation or eggs anywhere. I just see the occasional mite walking aimlessly on top of the chickens' back feathers, and at this point in the evening there are more dead ones on there than live ones; they seem to get trapped by downy filaments. Still, even if these mites aren't feeding on my chickens, I'd like to figure out what they are - since if they are eating my wooden coop that's no good either! But I also don't want to throw pesticides around willy nilly if they're harmless and just a temporary eyesore. My area had VERY heavy rains the past 2 days which could have driven these mites out from where they normally want to be. If anyone has any ideas, please do tell.

 

[Tonyroo]

Sorry picture is too blurry to make anything out.

 

[DonyaQuick]

This is possibly the only other photo I got that shows anything; I had to zoom way in. Still an awful photo. My phone's camera couldn't seem to deal with the fact that they were in motion and wanted to focus on pretty much anything else but the mites.

Perhaps the best description I can give is that the bodies are clear to slightly cream colored, legs are a brownish color or have brownish bands (and there are 8 I believe even though impossible to tell from my photos) and the head has a faint orange color.

I'm starting to wonder if they are grain or mold mites...if they are after mold then that would explain the attraction to the exterior of the coop after a super heavy rain and also why they are not on the newly painted chick tractor that is sitting right next to my coop.

 

[DonyaQuick]

I think I must have grain/mold mites; don't know which yet since I still can't tell what they're eating. I woke up to this which I've read is pretty classic for those. Looks like dust but isn't - it's just all mites.

Can't tell yet if they are into the feed or just all over the weather shelter for the feed bin because it's wood. They are still not really on the chickens and not inside the coop (I guess because it's bone dry in there) but the number of them swarming the outside is not something I'm willing to put up with since their cast skins and hairs can be allergens. The only thing I had on hand that I could use immediately on the exterior was a neem oil solution so I've given that a try spot-treating areas where they are congregating. If that works I will prepare a larger volume of solution and spray down the whole coop exterior in a more serious way. Neem oil is a bit more environmentally friendly than permethrin and is supposed to be effective against many types of mites, but if it doesn't work I will move to permethrin spray.

For the moment, I think my stored feed is safe even if I have grain mites instead of the mold ones. I store my feed in airtight containers in the house where it stays bone dry, and I have dedicated scoops stored in the containers that I use to pour feed into something else to take it outside - so the transfer from container to outdoors is contactless. I may have to throw out the feed I have outside though and start removing feed from the coop at night...which would be really annoying since I have been working late recently and I'd have to get up at dawn again to go feed everybody when the auto door lets them out.

 

[DonyaQuick]

It's grain mites. Found the absolute mother load of them in nooks of a feeder cover I made a while back. Piles and piles of the darned things. Threw out the remaining feed from it, raked out the area around to get it super dry, and sprayed the coop exterior and just inside doors with a Neem oil solution since I saw my spot treatment from a couple days back did repel them. I may need to also permethrin the interior of the coop; will have to see where any remaining mites go now as they could seek shelter inside. I didn't Neem oil the interior since I don't want it stinking badly.

 

[DonyaQuick]

I got some liquid permethrin concentrate today and sprayed down parts of the exterior of the coop where I have seen mites. I mixed some permethrin powder into the in-coop litter and also applied it in the area where I know my chickens got mites on them from dust bathing. Hopefully that puts a stop to the mites. I might need to re-apply in a week if more hatch out. The population bloom is likely weather-related since a recent heat wave brought 92% humidity for extended periods of time.

A bit more on the neem oil: it only seems to repel them effectively for about 24h before starting to wear off. I tested a clove oil spray that is marketed for poultry mite control on an area of infested wood today. The clove oil again seems to repel but not kill the mites. It might actually be a bit less effective than the neem oil at driving them away. At any rate, both natural oil solutions seem like they are useful for driving mites out of crevices in wood, but beyond that something else is needed to actually kill them.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Permethrin spray did not kill all of the mites...seems to have made a modest dent in the populations but still disappointing. I used a pressurized sprayer and got into joints, cracks, etc. with a good dose of it. Maybe the solution was too dilute...I followed the directions though. Maybe I sprayed at the wrong time of day when not enough of them were exposed. Permethrin is really bad for fish and honey bees so it's not something I want to throw around outdoors more than absolutely necessary. Not sure what else I can do with this situation except hope that the regional humidity declines.