Mites?

[ladyhand]

I use the deep litter method in the chicken run and today when I was turning the dirt I found a ton of tiny white bugs. Are they mites? How do I get rid of them without using DE? I know DE is popular with some but I’ve also read a lot of negatives about it.

I haven’t tried checking the chickens yet as they aren’t big fans of me picking them up.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I can't see anything in the photo, can you circle or put arrows on some?

There's a lot of different types of mites and other tiny bugs, most aren't harmful. The fact that these are in the litter makes me think they're helping to break down the litter, and not harmful to the birds. Good deep litter should be teaming with all sorts of microbes and insects.

 

[ChickNanny13]

@rosemarythyme is correct, there are over a thousand types of mites, found out when I had a situation in my CH which is deep litter, years ago. I wear black boots into the CH, found gold colored "mites" crawling all over when I walked in. Ran my hand/arms in the nest box, nothing. Along the roost, nothing. Caught a few & took to the Dept of Ag, they had no clue. Went to the University "Bug Unit" ... He gave me a book 3" - 4" thick, told me I could look thru it. I was then told about "good" mites and bird mites, since mine was only on the ground & not on the hens nor their roost/nest boxes, they must be "good" mites breaking down the material in the deep litter. It was humid and moist weather we were having ... So I chose to "ignore" them, very hard to do BUT they do disappear and reappear now and then.

 

[Painted Calls]

They appear to be springtails. Nature's cleanup crew. Which explains why you found them only after turning your deep litter. They're eating the poo for you.