Dealing with bird mites; my home, my hens, my itchyness!

[showbizombie]

Haha yep, washing them right now! With the cats sleeping on my bed there's little specks of crap everywhere and I just stare at them, waiting for it to start moving thinking its a mite.

My husband brought up the fact that if I put a sandpit in the shed the cats will probably use it as a kitty litter box. Yaaay. Doing it anyway, fingers crossed they wont.

 

[Billy-jean]

Oh My,,this makes me wonder if keeping chickens is worth all this misery! If I ever get them again,,I will not have hens anymore,,not worth this hassle,
as much as I love them

I never got them in the home, but I did have a different outbreak of a teeny bug called booklice,,I was infested and it came in off the woodshavings,,It was terrible,they were everywhere,and It took almost 1 year to get rid of the infestation,,they don't live off humans,or blood,,but they thrive in wood and humid places,,it was a disaster,and gave me an real phobia. I still get haunted by it,,that's why if I get another mite problem and think it could come into the home,,it's no more chickens for me. I hope the DE keeps things at bay this coming season!! I powder then every 4 weeks,I really don't want to use chemicals especially since I have 2 young children..Will the DE prevent this ??

 

[Shayna]

I haven't read all the responses, but I was going to suggest revolution for your cats, so great that you already have that. For the chickens, pour on Cattle ivermectin as someone suggested is great. Sevin dust, if you can find that at a farm store, works great for getting rid of mites too. Dust their coop with it as well. Before you put anything on the chickens, I would bathe them in Dawn dish soap if you have that, as it is a safe soap that really helps get rid of fleas and other bugs with animals in general. Then use ivermectin... wait a week before dusting. You dont' want to coat them with too much at once.

Good luck!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Oh My,,this makes me wonder if keeping chickens is worth all this misery! If I ever get them again,,I will not have hens anymore,,not worth this hassle,
as much as I love them

I never got them in the home, but I did have a different outbreak of a teeny bug called booklice,,I was infested and it came in off the woodshavings,,It was terrible,they were everywhere,and It took almost 1 year to get rid of the infestation,,they don't live off humans,or blood,,but they thrive in wood and humid places,,it was a disaster,and gave me an real phobia. I still get haunted by it,,that's why if I get another mite problem and think it could come into the home,,it's no more chickens for me. I hope the DE keeps things at bay this coming season!! I powder then every 4 weeks,I really don't want to use chemicals especially since I have 2 young children..Will the DE prevent this ??

Keeping the wild birds from eating your chicken feed and flying into the coop will help, but where I live there are so many songbirds that it is inevitable that my chickens get mites every so often. DE can definitely help but it really depends on where you live, etc.

I would say that DE is a nice preventative, but that an outbreak could still occur. It is not an impossibility, and prevention is much better than finding those bugs around, I have discovered.

What is so interesting is that my mother says (she grew up on a farm) that years ago there was NO mite/lice problems at all (or worm problem). She says her daddy would have laughed at the thought.

 

[Billy-jean]

Yes,,the older farmers do laugh at me when I talk about my problems with mites,ect,,they say they don't even check! lol and if there were ever a problem,that the healthy birds would survive it,and they have their own natural defenses against such pests,,like dustbathing. I wonder why we get these **** infestations,,I believe it has everything to do with the wild birds.

 

[mquale]

Hi there, I think we are experiencing the same thing and it has been driving me crazy. At first I thought our hens had mites, red mites, not northern fowl, but I am pretty sure they are clean. I hose down their Omlet Eglu plastic coop every two weeks, clean their bedding and poop tray once a week, sprinkle DE in their nest box and include DE with ashes in the run. But two weeks ago, I started itching in the bedroom, feeling crawling. Once the crawling ends, I see red pinprick size punctures on my body, which aren't it ny at all but they are coming from where I feel biting. We don't have bed bugs. A pest control person came to rule out wild birds and rat mice. He noted no sign of nests on our roof or any entry ways for animals to come in. He suggested the chickens as possible vectors. My husband doesn't feel the crawling or itching and the other day, after lack of sleep, I thought I'd go crazy. I spent the last two nights at my parents'' home to see if I'd feel them. The first night, the crawling sensation was slight, andso I thought maybe everything is in my mind. But yesterday, I noticed our two dogs who came along with us started itching (they don't have fleas). My three boys started itching in the middle of the night, but not enough to wake me up or even remember they were doing it in the morning. Tis morning, I realized I could hear birds chirping especially closely. I asked my dad about possible bird nests. He said nonchalantly that they has them along the roof (small holes along the roof) and in the attic!!! So now I am almost SURE we are getting mites from their place, and not our chickens.
My problem is trying to identify the mites to positively know what they are. Have any of your dogs been to a vet and been Ida's with bird mites?
The good news is no bird mites can live off animals and humans. They will try and bite you when their source is gone, but they won't eat your blood and can't reproduce. But the only way to get rid of them is to get rid of the source,

M.

 

[suzette]

Yes you have to wash the sheets if you get bit in bed (if you are going to bed without showering after being with the birds (and their mites).) The mites are there, you can see the mites if you use a lint roller on your skin if you are itching and a magnifying glass. (o rlint roll the sheets if you got bit that night).
I think the reason there are more mites now than in the old days is the overuse of poisons like Sevin and flea bombs. You can easily control the fleas on cats with a daily flea comb (available at pet stores or your vet's office) and frequent vacumning. DE on the birds, in their dust baths, in the coop seems to help too.
I am dreading the expense of building a giant enclosure to keep the wild birds away from the hens (who currently get to range the yard all day) but I'll probably make up the expense in chicken feed savings. We have the fattest wild birds around, and a lot of them! They will fly right into the coop, no fear.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Yes you have to wash the sheets if you get bit in bed (if you are going to bed without showering after being with the birds (and their mites).) The mites are there, you can see the mites if you use a lint roller on your skin if you are itching and a magnifying glass. (o rlint roll the sheets if you got bit that night).
I think the reason there are more mites now than in the old days is the overuse of poisons like Sevin and flea bombs. You can easily control the fleas on cats with a daily flea comb (available at pet stores or your vet's office) and frequent vacumning. DE on the birds, in their dust baths, in the coop seems to help too.
I am dreading the expense of building a giant enclosure to keep the wild birds away from the hens (who currently get to range the yard all day) but I'll probably make up the expense in chicken feed savings. We have the fattest wild birds around, and a lot of them! They will fly right into the coop, no fear.

You can also use a treadle feeder, as the songbirds will be too lightweight to make it open.

 

[Josieposie]

Hi. I have had the same problem (exactly same situation with lice on chickens and now waking up at 4ish scratching like crazy - up my nose, in my ears etc) for about a week now. I have read some terrible bird mite stories on the internet. I know that wild birds get into my chook food and fear that it's their mites that have now got into my house. Check out this site http://birdmites.org/index.html. I am curious to hear how the situation is two months on and any advice you may have. I am in the Yarra Valley, Victoria, so Australian products would be helpful. Cheers

 

[showbizombie]

It's actually been over a year

I kept using Pestene dusting powder (I buy it from Petstock) since its the only thing I could find that was easily available. We also bought a bag of diatamaceous earth, which we keep in a childrens sandpit (in a shed) and dump the hens in there after dusting, but don't know if that really had any effect - a single bag did last all this time though, and theres still heaps left, but it was costly since AFAIK its only produced in one place in Queensland.

As for the Pestene use, we do it once, covering the hens + their beds / any obvious hiding spots for the mites, then repeat after 7 days to kill off any new hatchlings, before waiting a month for the next run. And in case that was a poor explanation, another example: 1. Dust on the 1st of Jan, 2. Dust on the 8th of Jan (7 Days later), 3. Dust on the 8th of February (1 month later), then again on the 15th (7 days).

I'd invest in some decent dust mask(s) though, you really don't want to breathe that stuff in. Either way, since keeping that up, I haven't had a breakout as bad as it was a year ago.

During the breakout in order to get it under control, we did a thorough cleaning of the house - vacuuming everything, skirting boards, window sills, etc, mopping everything, washing all washables (bedsheets, curtains) and spraying any soft furnishings, primarily with teatree oil (for mopping, laundry) and eucalyptus oil (available in a spray can - for spraying walls/furniture). In the shower I used a teatree shampoo for hair and body, and in general after handling the chickens / eggs, I wash my hands ASAP afterwards.

It took about a week before I finally noticed I wasn't going insane from invisible insects anymore. The bird mites are still around sometimes, but I've only come across them 2-3 times when handling the hens/their stuff, but I always wash thoroughly afterwards because I never want to go through that outbreak again

Hope that helps!