# Weird little barn mites



## MindyLee (Jun 1, 2010)

Ok

So its been many yrs since I saw these and tonight I once again saw millions of them in my barn.

They seem to be a super tiny little bug or mite thats either tan or rusty red colored and crawling ONLY all over my hay, barn beams, and then me. I live in Michigan and was wondering if anyone knows what they are and are they harmful to the horses and how to get rid of them?

Thanks!


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## jleonard (Jun 1, 2010)

Could they be chiggers? That is what they sound like. I don't know how to get rid of them, but they burrow into your skin and are really itchy. As far as I know they don't cause any real harm, I've always been told to put a little clear nail polish over them if they get in your skin so they cannot get any oxygen.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jun 1, 2010)

Check out thrips?


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## Annabellarose (Jun 2, 2010)

Google "clover mites". Is that what you are seeing? I had them on my front porch a couple of weeks ago and it would probably be getting warm enough up your way for you to begin seeing them now.

If you had "chiggers" that bad you would know it and you would be wishing you were dead right about now (because of the intense itching) if you are seeing that many. A lot of people will tell you that chiggers burrow under your skin and that is probably the most common misconception about chiggers. You can read more about chiggers here.


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## Contessa (Jun 2, 2010)

I saw these things last year on the outside of my barn but only in the shade. I googled them and they were wood lice! They dry up and die in the sunshine. They never got on the horses but I sprayed and killed all that I saw anyway.


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## MindyLee (Jun 2, 2010)

I noticed they dont like the sun too. As of this morning, its rainy here and the weather is 10 degrees less then yesterday and I cant find not one bug. ??? weird!

Thanks everyone but of the looks of it, these little bugs are non of thee above and maybe the wood lice mentioned.

I can say that the are in flocks of millions in little bunches.


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## epetrilli (Jun 2, 2010)

Do you by chance have any birds in your barn, nesting pigeons or barn swallows, or perhaps chickens? I just had this very same problem in my barn last week (we are in Colorado though) and it turns out they were a type of Mite- YUCK is all I can say.

They are nocturnal and they come from birds or poultry. They typically attach themselves to the surrounding environment then come looking for something to feed on at night. To get rid of them you need to spray your barn down with permethrin or use Poultry Dust. I did both just to be safe. Then (after looking all over) I found a little nest of barn swallows up in a rafter and the little beggers were all over crawling out of there-ewwww. If you google chicken mites there are several really good articles on what they look like and how to get rid of them! I went to the garden store and got a large container of Sevins Dust which is a garden product for lice, mites, all types of bugs it was a little cheaper than the Poultry dust to do the whole perimeter of the barn with (along the floors and walls-it suffocates the bugs), then I got small cans of poultry dust and Horse de-licer and dusted all our horses just as a precaution since for some strange reason poultry and horses are the onle 2 species which can cross contaminate lice/mites. Poultry mites can also bite humans which is gross and irritating but they can not survive long term without a more suitable host-at least that is what I read.

Good luck-I hope you find out what they are and how to get rid of them!! I seemed to have been successful with mine by doing the spray down and dusting then repeat 3 days later. I have not seen any since!


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## Matt73 (Jun 2, 2010)

Is this what you're seeing? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_mite

I see them walking along the pavement in the summer.


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