Mites!!!!

[Annalyse]

Yesterday I found mites. I cleaned the coop, sprayed and put stuff down all over. No sign of them. The chickens are clean. and thought everything was fine until today I FOUND THE MITES IN THEIR FOOD. I went to get them food and thought it was the dust from the food. I looked closer and the lid was covered with them. That’s makes sense now because the water when it had mites they spilt their food so the mites came from that. I’m throwing out all the food. What do I do? I saw a thing about when someone was buying their feed there was a bag open at tractor supply and mites all over. Is that could have been what happened or how I store it? We keep the feed in 2 homedepot buckets and locked in a shed. They were all over the scoop. The food bowl I gave them thinking everything was fine with it had mites in it. I’m afraid they most likely ate the mites that was in their feed. Will this hurt them? They are possibly grain mites I don’t know yet. I cleaned and put stuff down. I checked the chickens again and no sign of mites on them. I know about the mites that can effect them on the inside and I am looking out for those signs. I have new feed and the food is stored in my basement right now because we don’t know where to put it. What do I do?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

It'll be grain mites in the food. Chicken mites live on the bird, not in the food bin (unless they are red roost mites, then they live in the coop, but nothing you've said indicates you have those in nooks and crannies in the coop). If they are on the bird, then you probably have 2 separate infestations as grain mites eat grain not dust, dander or blood of bird.

Toss the grain. Clean the coop. (Both of which you've done). Dust or spray the birds with permethrin (which it sounds like you've done).

Don't worry about the birds having eaten them, they are insects. Your birds will gleefully eat earthworms, slugs, bugs, and all manner of disgusting stuff (including mice!) as chickens are omnivores (both meat and veggies).

Complain to TS! Watch pull dates on bags. Keep newly opened food in lidded buckets or bins. (I'd wash out those bins too).

You should spray birds again in 10 to 14 days if you believe it wasn't just some incidental grain mites that got onto the birds while eating.

LofMc

 

[Annalyse]

It'll be grain mites in the food. Chicken mites live on the bird, not in the food bin (unless they are red roost mites, then they live in the coop, but nothing you've said indicates you have those in nooks and crannies in the coop). If they are on the bird, then you probably have 2 separate infestations as grain mites eat grain not dust, dander or blood of bird.

Toss the grain. Clean the coop. (Both of which you've done). Dust or spray the birds with permethrin (which it sounds like you've done).

Don't worry about the birds having eaten them, they are insects. Your birds will gleefully eat earthworms, slugs, bugs, and all manner of disgusting stuff (including mice!) as chickens are omnivores (both meat and veggies).

Complain to TS! Watch pull dates on bags. Keep newly opened food in lidded buckets or bins. (I'd wash out those bins too).

You should spray birds again in 10 to 14 days if you believe it wasn't just some incidental grain mites that got onto the birds while eating.

LofMc

Thank you! I didn’t check the pull date when we got the new feed. I just made sure the bag wasn’t open. We got new lowes buckets and have the feed in the basement right now. Do you think it’ll keep the mites away?

 

[theoldchick]

https://the-chicken-chick.com/poult...t=(Northern fowl mite),and death of a chicken.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Food mites generally hatch from eggs in the food, is my understanding. To have them simply means infected grain that is old enough to hatch.

Northern fowl mite generally come in from an infected bird or sometimes from rodents carrying on fur or clothing. They live on the bird as they need the host to live.

Red roost mites, which it doesn't sound like you have, come in with infected foul, a rodent, or infected objects. They live in nooks and crannies in the coop. They can live months between blood feedings if necessary.

Keeping feed in tight containers prevents rodents and insects, however to my knowledge most feed mites are from eggs within the grain or feed. It's why you can see moths hatch from tightly sealed flour or rice jars that get old.

LoMc

 

[lillyahoo]

I got 2 bags of mite-infested grain from Coastal.

Not just mites, but also black weevils. :-(
Both types crawling all inside both bags. Both bags were Coastal's house Country Companion brand - none were in the Purina Layena I bought the same day.