Small grey bugs in coop?

[my3chickens]

I have looked online at pics of every bug imaginable that is associated with chickens and cannot find anything that matches what is in my coop.

They are teeny with round bodies and appear to be grey in color, no hint of red or brown at all. They are so tiny I can't see the details on them very well but appear to have several legs closer to the front of their body. My chickens haven't laid in about 3 days, and two of them appear to be slightly lethargic at times but at others are completely normal. I have two coops and last night all the girls slept in the one coop that I haven't noticed too many of the bugs in. One of the chickens slept in the back corner in the shavings and the other stood over her and made a clucking noise like she was watching over her. I checked a couple of the girls and only found 2 or 3 bugs on them. They also get on me when I go into the coop to feed and water, all in my head but I can't stop itching!!!!

I use DE in the coop and pine shavings, I guess I should treat as if I had mites?

HELP,
Itchy!!

 

[thebanthams]

Like to see pictures, But I think they are ticks .. nasty bugs

 

[my3chickens]

They are so tiny the picture was blurry because I had to get so close. Do I treat them as I would treat mites or lice?

 

[centrarchid]

Show photograph from a little further back so not fuzzy. Will enable at least ruling some critters out. Also place them on a white background while photographing as may help camera focus on critters.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

What you're describing is consistent with what you'd see with poultry ticks (as noted by thebanthams) and some mites. Both hide in crevices around the roosts during the day, emerge to feed on the birds immediately after sunset and then return to their crevices within an hour or so. Consequently, you won't see them on the birds unless you're looking at the right time. The exception is the larval stage; in poultry ticks the hatchling larvae spend their first 10 days on the bird, but they are incredibly tiny and difficult to see. Larvae will get onto humans and it does cause itching. Another symptom of these types of parasites is a reluctance for the chickens to get on the roost at nightfall, which makes sense given that is from where the parasites emerge. As centrarchid suggested, show us a picture of them if you can. Also, it would be very important to check the roost area immediately after sunset tonight to rule these out as possibilities. You'll know within minutes if either of these types of parasites are present. Also, look at my tick page in my sig. line for more info. Good luck!