How to Get Rid of Chicken Mites in Your House
Introduction:
Chicken mites are tiny parasites that feed on blood from poultry and other animals. They attach themselves to their hosts with a hard, proboscis-like beak at the base of the mouth and pierce through the skin using sharp, true teeth to reach veins or capillaries near the surface.
Once they have penetrated, they suck blood until they are engorged, usually causing severe irritation around their host’s head. Unfortunately, chicken mites will also wander away from their host’s body to find food elsewhere after feeding,
which is why you may see them all over your home instead of just in your chicken coop. In this article, I will discuss how to get rid of chicken mites in your house. So let us get started.
Stepwise Guide on How to Get Rid of Chicken Mites in Your House:
Step 1 :
The first step in getting rid of chicken mites is to wash all your clothes in hot water with a laundry detergent. You can also add a cup of chlorine bleach to the water so that all the eggs die in the process.
This would prevent them from multiplying in number and re-infesting your house. Also, hang your wet clothes out on a line for at least 24 hours to dry well before wearing them again.
Step 2 :
Steam clean or shampoo carpet, bedding, and furniture covers after vacuuming thoroughly. The vacuum should then be bagged and thrown away immediately afterward because it could be infested with mites too.
Step 3 :
Vacuum upholstered furniture, rugs, and carpets thoroughly.
Step 4 :
Wash all the floors with hot water mixed with a cup of chlorine bleach added to it.
Step 5 :
If you have pets, ensure they are treated against chicken mites because they could be infected.
Step 6 :
Make sure household plants are not attracting these types of bugs by tipping them over to check for any insects hiding within them before bringing home any new plants or lining up old ones there again.
Step 7 :
Use ultraviolet light in dark places like cracks and crevices, etc. These bugs love to hide most often after cleaning your house thoroughly, especially if you previously used pesticides on the pest infestations in your house.
Step 8 :
Make sure that you wash your pet’s bedding in hot water with a mild detergent added to it with the same frequency as mentioned above in steps 1 & 2 of how to get rid of chicken mites.
Step 9 :
Don’t ever squeeze or squash any bug found on walls, flooring, or anywhere else in the house since their crushed remains could irritate your skin and cause allergies.
Step 10 :
If anyone residing in your house has been diagnosed with chicken mite allergy recently, they should be immediately given medical treatment by an allergy specialist.
Precautions While Getting Rid of Chicken Mites:
The first few precautionary measures while trying to get rid of chicken mites can prove helpful in preventing more infestation of this dangerous pest from occurring again. However, it is often found that if these parasites are not completely removed from your living space,
they might come back for revenge and re-infest your house again, causing potential harm to humans as well as pets. Some effective ways to prevent this re-infestation include:
Use good quality beddings and clothes. Regularly wash and clean your clothes and bedsheets to remove dust that can harbor mites (dusty books, old rugs, etc.), as well as give them enough sunlight, so they do not retain bad odors.
Vacuum carpets regularly to remove any traces of mites or their eggs. Wash curtains and windows to get rid of all the loose dust particles as this might provide a breeding ground for mites, after which they would spread across your house just like wildfire.
Also, keep your kitchen spic and span by cleaning it twice a day with disinfectants to prevent any food residue that could attract these parasites in the future.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What Kills Chicken Mites on Humans?
The best way to get rid of chicken mites on humans is to use a medicated shampoo. If you are suffering from Scabies, then the doctor will recommend that you use Lindane Shampoo. This shampoo contains the insecticide, which kills lice eggs and causes them to fall off after few days.
If your case is not severe, then you can also use other remedies like Permethrin cream, Ivermectin Cream, etc., which kill mites or their larvae living in your body. However, you must apply these creams for several weeks until all the visible signs of infestation disappear.
What Kills Mites on Chickens?
Various pesticides are available in the market, especially for chicken mites treatment, effectively killing all mites from chicken. Normally these pesticides are not harmful to birds as they can be applied topically on their body with the help of a dropper. You can also treat your chickens with dusting sulfur powder or diatomaceous earth for 10 days.
Diatomaceous Earth –
This is actually fossilized remains of diatoms which are one-celled organisms. Diatomaceous earth is composed of silica cell walls in these dead cells and works by scratching, scuffing, and puncturing mites’ exoskeletons when they come in contact, thus killing them.
Powdered Sulfur –
When it comes to powdered sulfur, just like diatomaceous earth, it also assists in breaking down their outer shell but has a slower action than diatomaceous earth. The action is slow because powdered sulfur acts only when exposed to heat present in the chicken coop. To apply powdered sulfur, you can mix one part powdered sulfur and six parts food-grade Diatomaceous earth.
Cleaning Your Coop –
After mites infestation has been removed from your chickens, you must clean your coop thoroughly as this will prevent re-infestation by destroying any traces or eggs of these parasites.
First, remove all litter materials that may help hide the mite eggs, and then clean with a soap solution containing 1 gallon of water along with half a cup liquid detergent and one tablespoon household chlorine bleach. Finally, spray down your coop with a 10% bleach solution made up of one-ounce bleach to 9 ounces water, killing any remaining parasites.
Conclusion:
I hope this article has been beneficial for learning how to get rid of chicken mites in your house. Ensure all the precautions while performing the process. Thank you and have a nice day!
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