red mites in chickens

[cyn]

I just treated my chickens and coop with Pestene dust. can mites live on people or inside your house if brought in by the children?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

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WARNING: the following is graphic and may be objectionable to some people

The two kinds of mites that I always think about are as follows:

1. Red mites: I would be more concerned about red mites- the kind that live in the coop and come out at night. Red mites can take over a human dwelling. They live in birds' nests and so there are some horror stories you can read about on internet where they came through the air conditioner in the window from the nest outside the window. Then those folks have to call an exterminator to clean their house so they can stop itching. They are also called "chicken mites." That is why spraying the coop or dusting it thoroughly is a vital step (discarding all bedding each time). And then retreat in 10 days, discarding the bedding again. I have never dealt with those, but I spray my coop with diluted liquid permethrin periodically- the walls and under the roosts, the floor, and all around. I also bleach the coop out sometimes, allowing airing all day of course before they go in.


2. The Northern Fowl Mite lives on the chicken and doesn't like people, although I have been bitten by them. They have been brought inside my house at least twice riding in on my clothes, and I have awakened in the middle of the night with one biting me in my bed. But they are easy to get rid of!!!! They will die without chickens and thus they will die if brought in the home eventually. See the ohioline link earlier in the thread if interested. Don't forget to retreat with the dust at 10 days. I have to treat every 4 months without fail and retreat in 10 days or else they come back. The wild birds carry them in. We have NO bugs in our home now year round unless I fail to treat every 4 months. You also must get rid of the bedding and nest box material twice to get rid of them, because you do find them in the bedding too even though they live on the bird.


So the bottom line is that if you are willing to diligently use the powders and sprays then you will not be plagued by these pests. If you don't treat for them, they may very well show up and cause you grief. But some folks seem to have more trouble than others with mites. I have tons of wild birds around here and they are all over...in and out of my coop getting seeds.

If you could keep the wild birds out of the coop/run it would be easier to stay mite-free.

If you are concerned definitely google northern fowl mite and red mite to see the difference between them. NFMs I am not scared of at all...they are a nuisance. You will see these "black pepper" looking bugs around the vent of the chickens or under the wings (actually I never saw them on the chickens when my chickens have them...I find them on me).

Red mite I would be very concerned if they were being brought into the house. There are pics on internet of these different bugs but they are so small that it can be hard to tell...best to id them by their activity. Are there blood stains on the roost and under the roost? Go out at night and see with a flashlight if they are crawling on the roosts or walls is how I have read you can find them.

No one likes to think about bugs but having chickens makes it just one of those chores...keeping bugs away.

 

[cyn]

how long after you dust for mites will they die?
I haven't been able to find any on the chickens, I only see then on my feet when I enter the pen, they look like little spiders i get 100+ runing over my feet. Its now been 3days since i dusted

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

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Hmm after I dust they are dead immediately. But I don't dust the pen. I dust or spray the coop and they are dead immediately there too.

Maybe the things on your feet aren't mites???

I don't know how to answer you- sorry!