Some kind of Mite? And how do I kill it?!

[JAK Rabbitry]

Getting a picture seems almost impossible, these little buggy things are very tiny, maybe 3/4 the size of the "I" on my keyboard key. Some about as long as the I. Long thing narrow body, shaped and moves more like a centipede or a worm. They're inhabiting my bird's feathers, I dont see any on the skin, jsut the feathers.
No bald spots or irritation on the birds, I found them by accident as I was trimming a beak on a white bird, and was rubbing her neck to say ''you're done! all better!'' and I see all these little brownish crawlies in the feathers.

I bought some Diatomaceous Earth and dusted the coop and all my birds. Its been almost 2 weeks since then and i'm still seeing these crawlies on my birds. They dont seem to even be irritated by them. But parasitic thingies in my bird's feathers can't be good.

Any ideas as to what these are or how I can kill them or prevent them from coming back?

I just found them in another coop at the other end of the yard today on some buff orpingtons. Very very few compared to the small populations on the first set of birds I found, which are young birds being grown up in a stall in my barn until they can hold their ground against the larger birds in my other 2 coops.

Thoughts, input, are appreciated.

-JAK

 

[leenie]

Are the off white? Sounds like lice.

 

[JAK Rabbitry]

From what I googled, not lice. Definitely not white, and they're so long and skinny, lice seem to be more white and chunky.
Also they dont look like mites either. The mites I found online also look more round. These are like tiny hairs. Maybe I can get a better picture...

 

[joebryant]

Get a bottle of liquid Sevin and a five-gallon bucket.
Fill the bucket with three gallon of water and the Sevin (read direction for amount but be generous with it).
Early in the day, dip the rooster first, get him out of your way, and proceed with dipping each hen up to her head.
They'll all dry off in an hour or two.
Spray the coop, roost, nest boxes, run, etc. with Sevin.

 

[Duramaxgirl]

Ahhhh sounds scary... how about bed bugs?

 

[fdnick]

i use pour on ivermectin.. kills ANY bugs on the bird. just put 1cc (6 pound bird, maybe 1.5cc on the bigger giants) on the skin under the feathers between the wings up high at the top every 6 months you will have NO crawlies of any kind.. if you have lots of birds take some red food color and put a small drop on the head of the birds as you vaccinate so you know which ones you already did..
Denna

 

[JAK Rabbitry]

Best picture I could get. Most of them seem to be up around the neck. This hen wouldn't hold still and I can crapped on twice trying to get a decent picture. The flash bleached it out and if I turned the flash off, no one would hold still long enough for the photo to come out clearly. But maybe this will give you an idea...

No, not bed bugs. Bed bugs are monstrous compared to these guys. And there's no bed!

 

[JAK Rabbitry]

Quote:
That sounds simple and fun. Would this be the the stuff used on cattle? Will I find it at Tractor Supply?

 

[fdnick]

YEP.. same stuff. its blue. grab some small syringes and you are all set.. we do ours 2 times a year and never any bugs

 

[JAK Rabbitry]

Quote:
that sounds fabulous, thank you. due to the weather cooling off here id rather avoid getting all my chickens wet if i dont have to. I can always spray the coop down with a sevin solution. do i put a cc in each place or do i spread out that amount over the body?

No ideas as to what these things are?