need help identifying mites

[AutumnFall]

I have had chickens for almost 20 years without a single problem with mites (or lice), and now my hens are really struggling with them. I have about 30 layers. I think it is mites, but I have never seen them, though I have looked. Since I don’t see anything on them, I’ve been figuring the problem is red mites that come out at night, but I’ve gone down in the dark, and still never found anything. Or maybe it is the other kind of mite and I am just not recognizing what I am seeing (my eyes aren’t great with super tiny stuff).

I cleaned and sprayed the coop with permethrin, and also dusted the birds. This seemed to help. Unfortunately the source I read didn’t tell me to do it again a week later, and so about 10 days after treatment, I started seeing signs again. Now I’ve dusted and sprayed a week apart, and it just still kept getting worse. Then it got very very cold, which limited what I could do. Now I need to get on top of it, and I would really like to know what kind of critter they are so I know how much to focus on the coop (which is tricky since it is part of an old barn) or just the hens. Plus, in my search for answers, I’ve now discovered there is something called a depluming mite . . . which seems a possibility? And another source said red mites aren’t active in the winter, so maybe it is not them? So I am hoping that if I post a few pictures of the feather damage that might be enough for some knowledgeable person to tell me what I am dealing with. My camera, unfortunately isn't all that great (one of the few times I wish I had a smart phone)

There are no egg cases that I see at the base of the feathers as in pictures of lice.

 

[sourland]

To me it looks as if your flock has started feather pecking/plucking for some reason. Are all birds affected? If not, those in perfect feather are most likely causing the problem.

 

[AutumnFall]

Thanks for your help. It would be great if it weren't mites at all! And I sure wouldn't want to go to a lot of expense and hassle if it isn't mites. I don't know. It is pretty much everyone--but with varying degrees of badness. three are very bad, about 8 are pretty bad, 12 moderately bad, and the rest with just a little show of fussing. But some days when I go down the ones who are the worst (who are the three white hens) have blood under their wings--which seems like it would be their own doing, and not from someone else--no? But I haven't had experience with feather pecking either. I guess I thought it seemed kind of extreme and general for that--plus I haven't caught anyone at it. Do you have any advice on how to tell the difference?

 

[AutumnFall]

I was down near the coop for longer today (first warm days we've had) and there is definitely more squabbling going than usual. There are two hens that seem in almost perfect feather--can two hens cause such damage on 28 others? But it also seems like some of the worst looking hens are bullying others--it just feels like the whole coop has gone mean-girl crazy. I've never had hens doing bodily harm to each other before (unless one was really sick or injured). I'm giving them some extra protein, and will let them out of their yard tomorrow and see if they can find what they need and/or cool off. (During the seasons when the grass is growing they go out every day, but in the winter they stay in their yard and coop--both of which are plenty large, but apparently something is making them unhappy.) And I'm going to separate out the two good looking hens.

If anyone else looking at these pictures still thinks I might have a mite problem I'd be happy to know. But right now I am going to assume it is a bullying problem.

Thank you Sourland.

Autumn