The worst mite infestation i have EVER seen! Help!

Rooka_2

Songster
Apr 18, 2021
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Long story short, new farm, 100+ year old barn, first winter with flock in barn, literally THOUSANDS upon millions of mites
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I climbed up a stack of straw bales because I heard peeping and found a chicken sitting on 20 eggs. Thought, how cute! Literally snapped a picture of her, climbed back down to go get a cage so I could move her and her babies to a safe spot. Look down at my jacket and there were millions on me, my son, my husband. Got the mite spray didn't even care, sprayed it on our clothes, my son stripped outside and went into the shower. My husband and I sprayed the bales as best we could, got the mom and her babies, put them in a cage. She went crazy, lost her shit and went straight back to the nest. I STUPIDLY took the babies and hatching eggs inside and put them into my incubator in a panic as chicks are literally popping out, fresh out of the shells.
My incubator was them crawling in mites, I already had 20 eggs in there about to hatch. I look at the babies, they're absolutely covered in red colored mites. I might have given them a death sentence but I carefully sprayed them with mite spray, sprayed the inside of my incubator with mite spray and all the eggs. Mites still crawling all over. Grab the babies out, head over to the sink, literally bath them with chicken shampoo and warm water. Take all the eggs out of the incubator, they're literally mid zippering. Take the incubator to the sink, quickly wash it with the hottest water imaginable. Take paper towel and wipe down the eggs, get the chicks and eggs back into the incubator and I still see mites! 😭😭😭😭 I have zero clue if I did the right thing for them. I felt like that was a batter option than ivermectin the moment theyre coming out of the shell. But at least I did something. Now I'm beyond stressed because it's 11pm at night and my flock is in that mite infested barn.
What the heck am I going to do!?
I AM IN CANADA 🇨🇦 no we do NOT have elector psp available here. I have zero clue what to use or how to deal with mites on this scale.
I'm ready to cry. My goats are in there, my geese, my prized silkies and mandarin ducks. I literally feel like I'm crawling with them even after stripping outside and immediately having a shower.
Where do I begin? They must be all through those straw bales. I cant even imagine. And in the wood of the 100 year old barn? Beyond overwhelmed right now. What do i do with the babies who have hatched tomorrow? Im assuming they will be covered in mites too because their eggs had cracks in them when i got them out of the mite pile. I dont want to put them in my brooder with my chicks. I need to treat them and make sure they are completely clean before even attempting that.
They look brown, but then go red once theyve eaten off the chick. Will these be on my goats and geese and everyone in the barn?
everyone will be treated with ivermectin tomorrow and followed up with more doses every 10 days. But my barn isnt even that messy! We keep up on cleaning diligently! Mice and birds must have brought them in!
i dont even know if this is worth saving, this is the biggest infestation I have ever seen.
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Sorry for your extreme problems with mites. Permethrin garden dust and spray can be used every 7 days on the chickens to get the live mites, and then the newly hatched eggs. Elector PSP, though very expensive may not require retreating every 7 days. Inside the coop, permethrin is supposed to last 30 days. Martins or Gordons Permethrin 10 concentrate in 8 ounce or larger containers, can be mixed with water in a spray bottle or garden sprayer 20 ml per gallon or following the container instructions, is a more expensive option. Baby chicks should be dusted rather than sprayed to prevent chilling.

Straw has been known to harbor mites inside the stems. So I usually discourage people from using straw for bedding. I don’t know how you will treat all that straw, but I would keep the chickens from laying there.

Treating mites is a very difficult thing. Most people empty out all of the bedding from the coop and nests, carrying it far away or burning it. That is done on the day you treat them with permethrin or elector PSP, and then new bedding is applied. I like prefer pine shavings or sand for bedding. DE, which I am no t a huge fan of since it may irritate the eyes and lungs of both you and the chickens, might be good to help treat your remaining straw bales and barn. It sounds like you might have to remove the chickens from the area temporarily or to a new coop. Mites are known to suck blood and cause anemia, even death to chickens. I hope that things get better.
 
Sorry to hear you're still dealing with mites, hopefully you can source a treatment and start getting on top of it.

While Ivermectin can be helpful when treating the birds, you will still need to treat housing as mentioned earlier in the year.
 
Sorry for your extreme problems with mites. Permethrin garden dust and spray can be used every 7 days on the chickens to get the live mites, and then the newly hatched eggs. Elector PSP, though very expensive may not require retreating every 7 days. Inside the coop, permethrin is supposed to last 30 days. Martins or Gordons Permethrin 10 concentrate in 8 ounce or larger containers, can be mixed with water in a spray bottle or garden sprayer 20 ml per gallon or following the container instructions, is a more expensive option. Baby chicks should be dusted rather than sprayed to prevent chilling.

Straw has been known to harbor mites inside the stems. So I usually discourage people from using straw for bedding. I don’t know how you will treat all that straw, but I would keep the chickens from laying there.

Treating mites is a very difficult thing. Most people empty out all of the bedding from the coop and nests, carrying it far away or burning it. That is done on the day you treat them with permethrin or elector PSP, and then new bedding is applied. I like prefer pine shavings or sand for bedding. DE, which I am no t a huge fan of since it may irritate the eyes and lungs of both you and the chickens, might be good to help treat your remaining straw bales and barn. It sounds like you might have to remove the chickens from the area temporarily or to a new coop. Mites are known to suck blood and cause anemia, even death to chickens. I hope that things get better.
Thank you for this!
Everyone got treated with ivermectin and removed from the barn and into an outdoor pen. Oddly enough, I didn't find mites on any, but one of my birds. Which makes zero sense to me what so ever because those chicks and eggs were literally infested and i couldn't find a single mite on the mom?
We are going to remove all of the straw completely and burn it. I'll be working on the barn this summer, replacing old boards ect Where mites maybe hiding. I use DE religiously in all my animals areas, they're kept clean for the most part. After today, im hopeful that this infestation is only on the straw bales that the chickens like to roost on.
I also found lice on my 4 month old goat today. Is it just the season or am I having a ridiculous amount of pest problems? That was my first "real" winter with "real" chickens. My silkies have an indoor/outdoor pen and I've never had issues with them before. They're 2.5 years old now.
 
Diatomaceous earth. It's organic. Can use around birds and plants...but suppose to apply around... NOT ON any living creature. Only supposed to be applied in cracks and crevices. With all the places you need to apply... it would be alot...saved my quail
Tho ...after several applications
 
Oddly enough, I didn't find mites on any, but one of my birds. Which makes zero sense to me what so ever because those chicks and eggs were literally infested and i couldn't find a single mite on the mom?
May not be poultry mites, perhaps it's Straw Itch Mites instead? Especially if you are not seeing anything on the Mama hen and she was nesting on the straw.
 
@Rooka_2 How are your birds this morning? How are the chicks?
Chicks are 100%
They're doing awesome. No mites in sight.
Treated all my birds with ivermectin, only one had mites which blew my mind. They all got moved to my goat barn for the time being.
Now I just came on to post about the one with mites because I think I've got bigger issues 🤦‍♀️ I have been keeping chickens for 3 years and I have NEVER had this much go on with them than I have in the last 5 days.
 

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