Mites. Sigh.

[ILoveDaffy]

Two years into chicken keeping, and my chickens have only had mites once, they were quickly dealt with, an were never a problem again, until now. Well, I just started taking care of a much larger flock, (18 chickens) and none except my one 2 year old hen will get within 3 feet of them. I was holding her yesterday, and saw two small white bugs crawling on her face. Of course, like any sane person, I stared for a minute, quickly put her down, and said, "Oh great. Mites." After carefully looking myself over, assuring myself there were none on me, (EW) I put her in a coop, finished the chores, (still feeling like things were crawling on me) and went home to take a shower( just to make sure none were on me.). Today, after thinking, I let her out to free range with the others, because if she has mites, and is constantly with other chickens, they have them too. I have been looking into the mites, which were small, whitish grey and on her face, I think they have poultry head lice, or northern fowl mites. I will try to get pictures soon. I need help to identify what they have, and what to do about it. Thank you in advance!

 

[The-White-Elephant]

@cherrynberry

 

[cherrynberry]

Two years into chicken keeping, and my chickens have only had mites once, they were quickly dealt with, an were never a problem again, until now. Well, I just started taking care of a much larger flock, (18 chickens) and none except my one 2 year old hen will get within 3 feet of them. I was holding her yesterday, and saw two small white bugs crawling on her face. Of course, like any sane person, I stared for a minute, quickly put her down, and said, "Oh great. Mites." After carefully looking myself over, assuring myself there were none on me, (EW) I put her in a coop, finished the chores, (still feeling like things were crawling on me) and went home to take a shower( just to make sure none were on me.), Today, after thinking, I let her out to free range with the others, because if she has mites, and is constantly with other chickens, they have them too. I have been looking into the mites, which were small, whitish grey and on her face, I think they have poultry head lice, or northern fowl mites. I will try to get pictures soon. I need help to identify what they have, and what to do about it. Thank you in advance!

Do you have permethrin dust and spray on hand? I recommend both. Mites spread fast, so it would be a good idea to treat everyone. I am pretty sure chicken mites are species specific and can't survive long on humans. Either way, I never got any mite issues from a contaminated flock. I dusted my birds every 7 days until I couldn't see any more mites and then I did an extra round just to be safe. I sprayed their coop down with permethrin spray and dusted the floor during these 7 day intervals as well.

 

[ILoveDaffy]

I do not, but can and will get some if needed.

 

[ILoveDaffy]

Do you have permethrin dust and spray on hand? I recommend both. Mites spread fast, so it would be a good idea to treat everyone. I am pretty sure chicken mites are species specific and can't survive long on humans. Either way, I never got any mite issues from a contaminated flock. I dusted my birds every 7 days until I couldn't see any more mites and then I did an extra round just to be safe. I sprayed their coop down with permethrin spray and dusted the floor during these 7 day intervals as well.

My problem with the trying to dust them with it is that most of them won't let me near them, much less pick them up. They are not used to being handled whatsoever.

 

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

My problem with the trying to dust them with it is that most of them won't let me near them, much less pick them up. They are not used to being handled whatsoever.

Do it at night

 

[cherrynberry]

My problem with the trying to dust them with it is that most of them won't let me near them, much less pick them up. They are not used to being handled whatsoever.

Do it at night.

 

[McChooky]

I dust my chickens, the coop, run and dust baths ONCE in March and ONCE in June and repeat ONCE in September and December with diatomaceous earth ( 4 times a YEAR) Its' much much easier to dust them at 3 month intervals that to dust everything for 7 days straight . I've never had an outbreak of mites in my flock by using diatomaceous earth. I dust every other bag of chicken feed with diatomaceous earth and add Homeopathic drops in the flocks drinking water (for 2 weeks) to prevent outbreaks of worms ( HomeoVet Avian WRM CLEAR)

 

[aart]

went home to take a shower

The birds are not where you live....how far away?

Check them over real well for mites and/or lice, figure out what you are dealing with.

Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.

Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.

Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight, easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.

Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).

Good post about mite ID by Lady McCamley:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-chicken-has-mites-now-what.1273674/page-2#post-20483008

 

[McChooky]

My advise is dust the rooster first thing in the morning then put him out in the run .One by one I dust my hens in the coop then I put them out in the run one by one with the rooster . If my hens start squawking and my rooster can't see what I'm doing he won't try to flog me...

edit:
Its still dark out when I start dusting them first thing in the morning and daylight by the time I'm finished dusting . I clean my coop immediately afterwards so it has time to dry.