Tiny Bugs on Feathers in Nesting Boxes!

[ChickInn829]

Hi everyone,

I have had chickens for just over a year. We have 14 currently that live in a large coop with a large run and forage on our property for about 2 hours every night. Tonight my daughter said she's been noticing tiny bugs on her books when she is reading (she gathers the eggs each night). We went out to check the coop. Inside the nesting boxes were white down feathers that were covered with tiny bugs. We immediately got our white brahma (the only white chicken of our flock) and checked her neck and around her vent. I didn't see any bugs while checking her. I went back to the nesting boxes and then noticed that I had tiny bugs crawling all over my arms! My husband who was holding the brahma did not. It's dark now, so we'll have to wait to further inspect in the morning... but I'm pretty freaked out I'm assuming these are mites? Any idea why I wouldn't see any on my hen at the neck and vent area? I'm new to any pests, so any advice on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated!

 

[dawg53]

Remove all bedding from inside the coop, including nests and dispose of it, preferably burning it. Spray the inside the coop, nest boxes and roosts with Permethrin 10% liquid mixed with water per direction booklet attached to the plastic container. The Permethrin liquid is persistent for about 30 days.
You'll want to either spray or dust your chickens using the permethrin liquid or the Permethrin dust. I prefer to dust birds rather than spraying, I dont like them being wet.
It's best to do this all in one day ie; coop and your birds. Then redust your birds in two weeks, no need to retreat the coop due to the residual spray.

 

[rebrascora]

I use permethrin spray in the coop and I have to give it several repeat applications to get on top of red mites and sometimes alternate with other products or treatments, so don't rely on treating the coop just once would be my advice.

 

[PirateGirl]

The mites primarily live in the coop and then crawl on and feed on the birds at night. I had millions of mites in my coop but never actually saw one on the birds, but 2 birds experienced some feather loss and were itchy, so they definitely had them. Permethrin made a hugE difference immediately! Less than 24 hours after spraying the coop when I looked inside there were little piles of dead mites under the roosts. I repeated once a week for 3 weeks. By the third week I did not a actually see anymore living mites but I treated anyway just in case. The first time I did it I was the most thorough. The last time I just focused on roosts, nest boxes, and cracks, these are the worst places. The permethrin is not toxic to people (lice shampoo has it as active ingredient) or poultry, but extremely toxic to cats. So keep cats away and wash clothes and hands immediately if you have them around.

 

[ChickInn829]

Hi everyone,

I have had chickens for just over a year. We have 14 currently that live in a large coop with a large run and forage on our property for about 2 hours every night. Tonight my daughter said she's been noticing tiny bugs on her books when she is reading (she gathers the eggs each night). We went out to check the coop. Inside the nesting boxes were white down feathers that were covered with tiny bugs. We immediately got our white brahma (the only white chicken of our flock) and checked her neck and around her vent. I didn't see any bugs while checking her. I went back to the nesting boxes and then noticed that I had tiny bugs crawling all over my arms! My husband who was holding the brahma did not. It's dark now, so we'll have to wait to further inspect in the morning... but I'm pretty freaked out I'm assuming these are mites? Any idea why I wouldn't see any on my hen at the neck and vent area? I'm new to any pests, so any advice on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated!

I just checked several other chickens and saw tiny black bugs crawling in and out of their vents. Identification?

 

[Kiki]

Get some permethrin asap and make sure you treat every bird and every crack of your coop today and again in 7-10 days and again in 7-10 more days.

Screen Shot 2018-07-20 At 8.58.04 AM

• Kiki
• Aug 3, 2018

Permethrin Concentrate, Martin's on Left - Durvet on right

• Kiki
• Jul 28, 2018
• 2

Martin's PERMETHRIN spray

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

Martin's Horse & Stable Permethrin Spray

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

Permethrin

 

[ChickInn829]

Thank you so much. This forum has really become an invaluable resource for me. Question - can I spray the coop with the bedding in it first to kill the mites - then remove - then spray again? We don't have the option to burn here and I'll be removing quite a lot of bedding (the coop is about 20' x 30') I'd also like to minimize the amount of mites crawling on me while doing it. Would this kill most of the mites prior to removal?

 

[PirateGirl]

Thank you so much. This forum has really become an invaluable resource for me. Question - can I spray the coop with the bedding in it first to kill the mites - then remove - then spray again? We don't have the option to burn here and I'll be removing quite a lot of bedding (the coop is about 20' x 30') I'd also like to minimize the amount of mites crawling on me while doing it. Would this kill most of the mites prior to removal?

I don't see why not. I'd lock the chickens out for the day, spray, a few hours later (or even the next day), remove all the bedding and do your extremely thorough spray down of every nook and cranny. When I did my coop, since I knew I'd be repeating the process in a week, I just put very minimal bedding under the roosts after I'd disposed of everything and sprayed down. That way there were less places for mites to get to and hide and my next clean out was far easier.