Wheat mites in food

[MochaDuck]

There's wheat mites in the room where we keep our chicken/duck/guanie food. I'm pretty sure they came from the food. Will it hurt my birds to eat them?

 

[azygous]

Are you certain they are grain mites? Grain mite eggs are in everything in your pantry, as well as in animal feed. Under the right conditions, usually moisture and warmth, they will hatch into mites. However, most of us happily continue to use the pancake mix or cake mix since the mites are so small they appear as part of the flour. The only way you can see grain mites is if you use a magnifying lens and see them moving about on their eight legs.

They do go walk-about, spilling out of their package and onto the floor, but they appear as sawdust. Is that what you saw?

If they came from the chicken feed, you should be able to scoop up some of the feed on the surface and check to see if you detect movement. If they are infesting the feed, it may be because the feed has become damp and moldy, since those are the conditions under which grain mites develop.

The grain mites will not harm your chickens, but the damp, possibly moldy feed can make them very, very sick.

 

[MochaDuck]

Are you certain they are grain mites? Grain mite eggs are in everything in your pantry, as well as in animal feed. Under the right conditions, usually moisture and warmth, they will hatch into mites. However, most of us happily continue to use the pancake mix or cake mix since the mites are so small they appear as part of the flour. The only way you can see grain mites is if you use a magnifying lens and see them moving about on their eight legs.

They do go walk-about, spilling out of their package and onto the floor, but they appear as sawdust. Is that what you saw?

If they came from the chicken feed, you should be able to scoop up some of the feed on the surface and check to see if you detect movement. If they are infesting the feed, it may be because the feed has become damp and moldy, since those are the conditions under which grain mites develop.

The grain mites will not harm your chickens, but the damp, possibly moldy feed can make them very, very sick.

Oh, I think they are grain mites. Thanks.
They are big enough I can see them, but they just look like off-white arthropods; I can't make out much detail.
I don't think they food is moldy, someone I know said that they come it once a year to breed. But thanks for the help

 

[Kiki]

Oh, I think they are grain mites. Thanks.
They are big enough I can see them, but they just look like off-white arthropods; I can't make out much detail.
I don't think they food is moldy, someone I know said that they come it once a year to breed. But thanks for the help

DE might actually kill grain mites.

 

[Folly's place]

Are you checking the mill date on each bag of feed? It should be within four weeks, and used up within a couple more weeks. Old feed is not a good thing! Clean out that room, and spray it with an insecticide. DE in the bags will kill grain mites, but it's bad to inhale, so if you decide to use it, be careful! I'd want all that stuff gone, and the bugs dead, and start over in a clean room.
Mary