bugs in feed?

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cokelly

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Turned up at the yard yesterday to find loads of tiny tiny white bugs crawling over my fellow liveries' feed bins. Checked mine and although I only spotted one or two I dumped the feed and disinfected bins and scoop. Brought the bins home with me and am planning to keep them here!

Just wondering if anyone has any idea what they are? Lady at the yard says they are in the feed naturally but in warm moist conditions they breed and become visible- and that's when they're a problem.

Thoughts appreciated
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Sounds like psocids, they re tiny mites that often live in flour and other cereals. I wouldnt be overly worried, however the only way to get rid totaly is to do what you have done. They will normaly die out over the winter, but eggs cab survive in cracks and crevices.
 

Harvest mites?? (Am a bit of a thickie, so Millbrook may have a posh name for them?!) But if they make your hands smell a little bit like Cats wee... Thats what they are!! Usually get them in out of date feed in summer
 
I usually get them in the summer when the feed has been hanging aroung for a while, mainly in oats. I feed it to the hens (they eat incects anyway) and wash out the bins. They seem to make the feed smell differently.
 
We had them at our yard and we call them feed mites. You cannot totally eliminate them but if you store feed in the sacks inside the bins, wash them out with washing up liquid when feed is finished and mist the bins with Raid - ensure Raid is try before putting in new feed. We all had a major panic and threw out all the feed because we thought they were burrowing mites but then the vet informed us as to what they are! They seem to be most common in mixes.
 
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