Someone please help me!!

[Life is Good!]

@Life is Good! ,Those were grain mites, they eat grain. If op has actual mites there will be biting even though they don't live on people they'll still have a taste, grain mites won't. If the infestation is grain mites, simply removing the source is plenty good the mites will either move on or starve.

That's what I originally thought also! But nope, not grain mites. I discarded the feed, cleaned like crazy and they were still present in the coop and on the birds. What I described is how I got the infestation under control/eliminated. Now, I find just one or two on any random bird - and I attribute that to the very large songbird population around me. Neighbor feeds the birds year-round, just 30' from our run. So there's no stopping mites on this piece of land. Not until they or I move!

 

[JanetMarie]

Normally where there are chickens, there will be mites that are ready to infest the ones who are unhealthy, broody, or who do not properly bathe themselves.

If they don't have a place with sandy soil to take a dirt bath, you need to make one. In my experience I've found that is the most effective way to get rid of the mites.

Too many chemicals will more than likely harm your birds.

 

[Chickadee888]

I bought sevin spray on accident. Do I use that in my house too? I have attempted a dust bath with DE and put it all over my house and even with bug bombs they don't die. Debating on getting rid of the birds and moving. Will try the sevin dust first .thank you

I think Sevin spray may be ok for the coop/house (um, can you get the chickens out of your house now that they're 7 weeks?), though I use dust in my coop. But on the birds themselves you need to put the dust all over, work it in. And if it were me I'd give Ivermectin, too. Look, what we're doing in keeping chickens is not quite natural, and we can try our best to avoid chemicals, but sometimes that's the last resort and better than moving house! If they're truly persisting in your (human) house and the chickens aren't in there, could it be some other pest? I love DE, don't get me wrong (helped me with silverfish in my house, too!), but it takes a long time to work and in my view can't eliminate a proper infestation. More of a preventative thing I think.

 

[Dani87]

Are you positive on the identification of the mites? If it's another pest other methods may be needed. How wet have the conditions in your area been? First step to stopping an infestation should be to make living conditions unfavorable to the pest. Start with a thorough cleaning of anything in the affected area. You also may want to consider a quarantine area for clothing worn around the coop. It will help reduce cross contamination to unaffected areas.

I believe they are mites. I honestly am quite unsure at this point about everything. They are microscopic bugs that look like mites .I've seen black, white, and gray ones so far. The chickens have been scratching a lot lately and my cat brings them in with her I believe because she is scratching too .

 

[Dani87]

I feel

Are the mites small, white and nearly invisible? Or are they brown, still small and run around like crazy?

Remember, wild birds carry mites. So if you've got birds in your yard, you likely have mites. The point is to contain them to a reasonable level (none is optimal, but realistically, very very very very low is best)

If white - they're immature - be glad! Seven DUST is the way to go. I sprinkle the dust directly on the hens backs, and rub all over their body (avoid the head) - especially the vent/tail area where the mites most likely live.
If brown - they're mature - and you're going to have more. Just re-apply Seven Dust faithfully and eventually they will go away. (for a bad infestation here, I reapplied on the birds every 3 days for a week, then 5 days for another two weeks, then 10 days for another two weeks...and got rid of 'em for the most part).

I found our chick starter feed was infested with the mites. That's how they got into the coop. Because the mites are white/clear to begin with, they are virtually impossible to see. And yes, they did get on me - but once I figured this out - after being out in the coop, I would changed ALL my clothes upon entering the house, and washed my arms in the laundry room sink. Mites cannot live on people, so if they are on you, they will die. I believe it's the same with all mammals...so dogs/cats are immune from chicken mites also. (Now laundry is another issue - I generated three loads a day!)

I finally tracked down that the mites had gotten underneath the linoleum flooring I had in the coop. No matter how much I used Seven Dust, or how much I cleaned, I couldn't get rid of them completely. I changed out the flooring, cleaned/cleared EVERYTHING, used 3 containers of Seven before putting new bedding in the coop - and the infestation finally, finally stopped.

So you might be looking at some drastic measures. I didn't take down the paneling or the insulation - so I might eventually need to. It's been 2 years though and the mites are for the most part gone. I doubt they'll ever truly be 'gone', as we have too many songbirds in our yard. But it's manageable.

Relief reading your response, the only thing that bothers me is that if mites can't live on humans then why are they biting us? My family is covered in bites and I have seen so many of these pests in my bed . I called exterminators to the house, but unfortunately they haven't seen any pests. Two years is a long time to live with mites. I'm just not sure I will be as strong as you to put up with them for that long . Thank you for your response it has put me at ease a lot.

 

[Dani87]

I feel

Are the mites small, white and nearly invisible? Or are they brown, still small and run around like crazy?

Remember, wild birds carry mites. So if you've got birds in your yard, you likely have mites. The point is to contain them to a reasonable level (none is optimal, but realistically, very very very very low is best)

If white - they're immature - be glad! Seven DUST is the way to go. I sprinkle the dust directly on the hens backs, and rub all over their body (avoid the head) - especially the vent/tail area where the mites most likely live.
If brown - they're mature - and you're going to have more. Just re-apply Seven Dust faithfully and eventually they will go away. (for a bad infestation here, I reapplied on the birds every 3 days for a week, then 5 days for another two weeks, then 10 days for another two weeks...and got rid of 'em for the most part).

I found our chick starter feed was infested with the mites. That's how they got into the coop. Because the mites are white/clear to begin with, they are virtually impossible to see. And yes, they did get on me - but once I figured this out - after being out in the coop, I would changed ALL my clothes upon entering the house, and washed my arms in the laundry room sink. Mites cannot live on people, so if they are on you, they will die. I believe it's the same with all mammals...so dogs/cats are immune from chicken mites also. (Now laundry is another issue - I generated three loads a day!)

I finally tracked down that the mites had gotten underneath the linoleum flooring I had in the coop. No matter how much I used Seven Dust, or how much I cleaned, I couldn't get rid of them completely. I changed out the flooring, cleaned/cleared EVERYTHING, used 3 containers of Seven before putting new bedding in the coop - and the infestation finally, finally stopped.

So you might be looking at some drastic measures. I didn't take down the paneling or the insulation - so I might eventually need to. It's been 2 years though and the mites are for the most part gone. I doubt they'll ever truly be 'gone', as we have too many songbirds in our yard. But it's manageable.

Relief reading your response, the only thing that bothers me is that if mites can't live on humans then why are they biting us? My family is covered in bites and I have seen so many of these pests in my bed . I called exterminators to the house, but unfortunately they haven't seen any pests. Two years is a long time to live with mites. I'm just not sure I will be as strong as you to put up with them for that long . Thank you for your response it has put me at ease a lot.

 

[Kiki]

Mites can still bite humans...they don't have to live on you to do so.
Get permethrin.

Martin's PERMETHRIN spray

• Kiki
• Mar 22, 2018
• 6
• flies lice mites permethrin

 

[Kiki]

I believe they are mites. I honestly am quite unsure at this point about everything. They are microscopic bugs that look like mites .I've seen black, white, and gray ones so far. The chickens have been scratching a lot lately and my cat brings them in with her I believe because she is scratching too .

Maybe lice?
Permethrin will take care of them too.

 

[Dani87]

I think Sevin spray may be ok for the coop/house (um, can you get the chickens out of your house now that they're 7 weeks?), though I use dust in my coop. But on the birds themselves you need to put the dust all over, work it in. And if it were me I'd give Ivermectin, too. Look, what we're doing in keeping chickens is not quite natural, and we can try our best to avoid chemicals, but sometimes that's the last resort and better than moving house! If they're truly persisting in your (human) house and the chickens aren't in there, could it be some other pest? I love DE, don't get me wrong (helped me with silverfish in my house, too!), but it takes a long time to work and in my view can't eliminate a proper infestation. More of a preventative thing I think.

The chickens are out of the house .they have been out for a few weeks now .my cat sneaks into the chicken area to watch them and since she started doing that is when we started seeing the pests .I thought they were fleas at first from the cat but up on further investigation ( online) I now believe they are mites. My chickens are free to roam the yard and they have a coop where they sleep .we have a lot of doves that come to visit (eat the chicken food) so I think that is where they came from .it is concerning that they have survived the amount of cleaning we have done.

 

[Kiki]

Do not use permethrin on a cat.
You can use it on a dog but NOT cats. Talk to your vet to see what you can use to treat your cat.