Mites issues

[jen413]

About two weeks ago I noted a few light colored mite looking bugs on one of my chickens. I treated all the birds and the coop with elector psp.

Sunday evening I found a stash of eggs in the back corner of the chicken run. They were covered in these sand colored bugs. I assumed it was the same bug I had seen on the chicken two weeks before. I hadn't treated the run when I treated the birds and coop.

As it got darker they started congregating in piles in the dirt in the run. I treated the run with elector psp the Monday morning. It didn't seem to help as that evening I had piles of them again in the dirt. Tuesday I sprinkled the run with seven dust and haven't allowed the birds back in the run since. Still no luck. Wednesday evening I used permethrin. There may have been a decrease, but there were still a lot. I also bought some desecticide from south land organics and soaked the run last evening. The numbers do seem to be decreasing, but there are still a lot of them.

Are these chicken mites, grain mites, soil mites? I'm terrified these things are going to kill my chickens even though the birds don't seem to be covered in these things. I've seen some on them, but at this point I'm not even sure if they are the same bug. I go into the coop at night with a flashlight and check in the nest boxes and all over the perches and don't see in there what I'm seeing in the run. Seems like with this many in the run that the birds would be overrun with them. I don't know what else to do shy of burning the whole thing to the ground!!

 

[nuthatched]

Of they are mites, You're going to need to completely clean out your coop, treat everything with permethrine or sevin and get entirely new litter and bedding.

 

[jen413]

Here's a video of them.

 

[jen413]

I am assuming they are but they don't seem to match any mite I can find that infest chickens. The closest thing I've found is grain mites.

I have sand in my coop and plan to clean it all out this weekend. I'm going to dose it with gas and light it up! But the issue is they have taken over the run. That is a dirt floor and I don't know how to do anything with that. I think I'm just gonna have to take a torch to it and hope I don't burn the run down. My coop/run is too large to move so I can really scortch the ground. This is going to be a nightmare! These things seem indestructible.

 

[jen413]

I've been dealing with this issue for two weeks now. I didn't get much input on this post, but figured I'd come back with an update in the hopes that my experience might help someone else.

I'm not sure what kind of mites these are, but they did eventually end up on my chickens. I'm assuming red roost mites? I thought they might have been grain mites until they ended up on my chickens.

First I had a small amount of elector psp I had bought a while back to have on hand. I mixed it but I don't think the mix was strong enough to kill the mites. I sprayed the run.

When I was still seeing piles of them, I sprinkled the run with seven dust. That still didn't eradicate them. I did that twice.

Next day I used permethrin. There may have been a decrease, but there were still a lot.

I bought some Neem oil and sprayed the run with that too.

Next I bought and used Desecticide from south land organics and soaked the run. I wasn't seeing what I can only describe as piles of moving sand or saw dust at that point, but I still had them.

I have a dirt floor run and my coop has a wood floor, covered by vinyl flooring sheet, with construction sand on top. I put double sided tape under the roosting bars but never saw any evidence of any mites living in the coop other than what eventually got on the birds. My birds have been locked out of the run since I found mites in it. I've been forced to let them free range.

When I still had them in my run at this point, I scraped, bagged, and tied off all of the loose soil I could in the run. I bagged up and did the same to all of the sand in the coop. I removed the vinyl floor (it's not attached so I can remove and clean as needed). I mixed up the last desecticide I had and dipped my birds because at this point they had them. I had also ordered a full bottle of elector psp.

I sprayed the cleared run and coop again with permethrin until I could get the ePSP in. And I mean I soaked them! I've also torched the ground in the run several times with my garden torch. Still had them. The desecticide dip has worked for the birds and I haven't seen anymore mites on them, I just can't get the things out of the run. We've had a lot of rain too which I feel has been working against me.

Friday night I torched the dirt in the run again. Yesterday morning I doused the run in ePSP. I literally sprayed ones I could see and it did nothing. This time I used 12ml ePSP:1 g water. I'm not sure how long it takes for ePSP to kill them though and it's one spray that is supposed to work on all stages of mites.

Yesterday afternoon out of desperation and exasperation I took some old ear mite solution I had for my dogs and poured it on some I could see. Dead in 15-20 seconds. I used the rest of the little bottle. I looked at the ingredients. Similar to some I had in an old bottle of Adam's flea spray for my dogs. Tried that. Same thing. 15-20 seconds those I sprayed were dead. Used the rest of the bottle. Went and bought more to spot spray. I've ordered the 4oz bottle of pyrethrum dip that you mixed with a gallon of water and spray. I'll do that when it comes in on Tuesday. This seems to be the only thing I've seen that kills them quickly. This morning I only saw a few in there. So I spot sprayed those. Between the ePSP and flea stuff, I feel like I'm finally making some progress. I'll torch this evening, spray ePSP again tomorrow, then do the Adam's when it comes in on Tuesday.

This has been a long two weeks and I'm just hoping my experience helps someone else.

 

[vlselz]

Thanks for at least coming back and sharing your experience with others.

 

[belisimofire]

I've been dealing with this issue for two weeks now. I didn't get much input on this post, but figured I'd come back with an update in the hopes that my experience might help someone else.

I'm not sure what kind of mites these are, but they did eventually end up on my chickens. I'm assuming red roost mites? I thought they might have been grain mites until they ended up on my chickens.

First I had a small amount of elector psp I had bought a while back to have on hand. I mixed it but I don't think the mix was strong enough to kill the mites. I sprayed the run.

When I was still seeing piles of them, I sprinkled the run with seven dust. That still didn't eradicate them. I did that twice.

Next day I used permethrin. There may have been a decrease, but there were still a lot.

I bought some Neem oil and sprayed the run with that too.

Next I bought and used Desecticide from south land organics and soaked the run. I wasn't seeing what I can only describe as piles of moving sand or saw dust at that point, but I still had them.

I have a dirt floor run and my coop has a wood floor, covered by vinyl flooring sheet, with construction sand on top. I put double sided tape under the roosting bars but never saw any evidence of any mites living in the coop other than what eventually got on the birds. My birds have been locked out of the run since I found mites in it. I've been forced to let them free range.

When I still had them in my run at this point, I scraped, bagged, and tied off all of the loose soil I could in the run. I bagged up and did the same to all of the sand in the coop. I removed the vinyl floor (it's not attached so I can remove and clean as needed). I mixed up the last desecticide I had and dipped my birds because at this point they had them. I had also ordered a full bottle of elector psp.

I sprayed the cleared run and coop again with permethrin until I could get the ePSP in. And I mean I soaked them! I've also torched the ground in the run several times with my garden torch. Still had them. The desecticide dip has worked for the birds and I haven't seen anymore mites on them, I just can't get the things out of the run. We've had a lot of rain too which I feel has been working against me.

Friday night I torched the dirt in the run again. Yesterday morning I doused the run in ePSP. I literally sprayed ones I could see and it did nothing. This time I used 12ml ePSP:1 g water. I'm not sure how long it takes for ePSP to kill them though and it's one spray that is supposed to work on all stages of mites.

Yesterday afternoon out of desperation and exasperation I took some old ear mite solution I had for my dogs and poured it on some I could see. Dead in 15-20 seconds. I used the rest of the little bottle. I looked at the ingredients. Similar to some I had in an old bottle of Adam's flea spray for my dogs. Tried that. Same thing. 15-20 seconds those I sprayed were dead. Used the rest of the bottle. Went and bought more to spot spray. I've ordered the 4oz bottle of pyrethrum dip that you mixed with a gallon of water and spray. I'll do that when it comes in on Tuesday. This seems to be the only thing I've seen that kills them quickly. This morning I only saw a few in there. So I spot sprayed those. Between the ePSP and flea stuff, I feel like I'm finally making some progress. I'll torch this evening, spray ePSP again tomorrow, then do the Adam's when it comes in on Tuesday.

This has been a long two weeks and I'm just hoping my experience helps someone else.

 

[Jblai3]

Hi Jen 413, thanks so much for your post. We are suffering the same with red poultry mites...we have tried everything without luck. For the past week we have been bathing them and dusting with DE...they are out of the coop...we have 52 birds so hard to find new cages to house them. Can you please post a picture of the ingredients in your dog ear mite solution, and the Adams solution. Perhaps I can find a product here in Australia with similar as we have become desperate. Short of burning our sheds and finding new homes for our birds, I don't know what else to try.

 

[chickentender_]

I've been dealing with this issue for two weeks now. I didn't get much input on this post, but figured I'd come back with an update in the hopes that my experience might help someone else.

I'm not sure what kind of mites these are, but they did eventually end up on my chickens. I'm assuming red roost mites? I thought they might have been grain mites until they ended up on my chickens.

First I had a small amount of elector psp I had bought a while back to have on hand. I mixed it but I don't think the mix was strong enough to kill the mites. I sprayed the run.

When I was still seeing piles of them, I sprinkled the run with seven dust. That still didn't eradicate them. I did that twice.

Next day I used permethrin. There may have been a decrease, but there were still a lot.

I bought some Neem oil and sprayed the run with that too.

Next I bought and used Desecticide from south land organics and soaked the run. I wasn't seeing what I can only describe as piles of moving sand or saw dust at that point, but I still had them.

I have a dirt floor run and my coop has a wood floor, covered by vinyl flooring sheet, with construction sand on top. I put double sided tape under the roosting bars but never saw any evidence of any mites living in the coop other than what eventually got on the birds. My birds have been locked out of the run since I found mites in it. I've been forced to let them free range.

When I still had them in my run at this point, I scraped, bagged, and tied off all of the loose soil I could in the run. I bagged up and did the same to all of the sand in the coop. I removed the vinyl floor (it's not attached so I can remove and clean as needed). I mixed up the last desecticide I had and dipped my birds because at this point they had them. I had also ordered a full bottle of elector psp.

I sprayed the cleared run and coop again with permethrin until I could get the ePSP in. And I mean I soaked them! I've also torched the ground in the run several times with my garden torch. Still had them. The desecticide dip has worked for the birds and I haven't seen anymore mites on them, I just can't get the things out of the run. We've had a lot of rain too which I feel has been working against me.

Friday night I torched the dirt in the run again. Yesterday morning I doused the run in ePSP. I literally sprayed ones I could see and it did nothing. This time I used 12ml ePSP:1 g water. I'm not sure how long it takes for ePSP to kill them though and it's one spray that is supposed to work on all stages of mites.

Yesterday afternoon out of desperation and exasperation I took some old ear mite solution I had for my dogs and poured it on some I could see. Dead in 15-20 seconds. I used the rest of the little bottle. I looked at the ingredients. Similar to some I had in an old bottle of Adam's flea spray for my dogs. Tried that. Same thing. 15-20 seconds those I sprayed were dead. Used the rest of the bottle. Went and bought more to spot spray. I've ordered the 4oz bottle of pyrethrum dip that you mixed with a gallon of water and spray. I'll do that when it comes in on Tuesday. This seems to be the only thing I've seen that kills them quickly. This morning I only saw a few in there. So I spot sprayed those. Between the ePSP and flea stuff, I feel like I'm finally making some progress. I'll torch this evening, spray ePSP again tomorrow, then do the Adam's when it comes in on Tuesday.

This has been a long two weeks and I'm just hoping my experience helps someone else.

Thank you for your post! I found some mites in my coop this morning (these that jumped on me were grey) and I also have a sand floor. I sprinkled Saturday night lime and DE on the floor and in the nesting boxes. I also ordered the electorPSP and it should come in this week. When inspecting one chicken I was able to catch I found a tan/yellow bug on it so I’m assuming there are more on the others.