Hay Mite? White crawly things in new hay bales

[Natne1]

Need some help, as I can’t stop thinking about it!

We had our own hay cut and baled by someone in the village and brought into our own barn.

it has been in there for about 6 weeks and I wouldn’t usually use it until around October/November when the horses come in for winter, but I have a horse on box rest requiring hay.

I am using hay weigh scales for her at the moment and put it on top of a new bale I rolled in as my last one ran out that I had bought in.

when I picked the hay scales up, it was covered in really tiny creepy crawlies that were cream coloured. They’re very tiny dots, moving.

there are literally hundreds of them, and they are just everywhere.
Will these die off before winter? Or are they going to be in the hay forever now?

I am worried that these are going to make my horses itch. I am hoping they’re not the same as feather mites and read that they feed on insects instead, but that’s if they are the straw itch mite, which I have no idea if it is, as they look round and not elongated.
Help!

(literally itching all over thinking about them still being on my skin….)

thanks!

 

[holeymoley]

Mine has these too. It’s horrible isn’t it. Unfortunately just something I think that lives on all hay! I soak and hope that they come off with that. They don’t die in the winter either, I thought cold weather would maybe do something but nope. They’re all year round! Let me know if you ever find out what they are.

 

[cowgirl16]

This makes my skin crawl! Never seen anything like it - maybe a call to an agronomist? They might know. I'll ask my OH when he gets home - they do loads of baling at his place of work - perhaps someone there will know.

 

[Bernster]

?

 

[TPO]

I think I had these last year.

It was when I went to put a horse rug on I thought that the seams were clogged with grease. After scraping some off I realised that they were tiny little creamy coloured mites/lice/bugs.

The previous winter I had been in the ha it of throwing rugs over the bales to dry. I'm assuming that's where they came from.

I never saw anything in the hay. The hay was all steamed or soaked before being fed so I didn't worry too much about it.

Hosed, scrubbed and disinfected the rugs and <touch wood> got rid of all the nasties and they havent come back.

Presumably it was the warm damp atmosphere that they liked on the rugs.

I tried to Google at the time and couldn't find anything that fit the bill description wise. Just had a other look and it brings up an old hho thread about hay mites where they appear to agree their bugs were mealy bugs. That wasn't what I had. I had really tiny white lice

 

[Natne1]

I didn’t see them in the hay.. had it not have been for my hay scales (black), I wouldn’t have seen them! Now I know they are there though, I can’t stop itching.. don’t know if it’s psychological, or that they are actually crawling on me! I get in and jump in the bath at night! Difficult though because my mare is on a strict diet, so 4 small haynets a day…. More frequent exposure. Urgh, it’s gross!!
I think they are straw itch mites (because they make me itch!!) but can’t be sure!

Just don’t want them living on the horses and me having to frontline them!!

 

[brighteyes]

I had these early autumn last year and they died off in the cold.

 

[holeymoley]

That’s how I saw them too, on the scales with a torch in the dark then realised they were all over the hay too?.

I don’t get itchy from them, I’ve figured there’s no real consequences of them other than it makes you feel a bit ill thinking they’re on you. A fellow livery had them all over her feed bin and was horrified when I told her(bloomin torch ??) so I don’t know whether they’re some kind of grain mite or something.

 

[PapaverFollis]

If it was straw itch mite you would have visible and horribly itchy bites on your torso I think. I got itchy off some hay a few weeks ago and someone suggested that so I stayed up all night worrying and reading about it on the internet. It wasn't.

I imagine there are other kinds of forage and storage mites though.

 

[Jenny06]

Do you have any mould nearby? These sound like mould mites we had on our bales when the roof had leaked. Also seen them on a damp wall in a house we used to rent, once we got rid of the damp the mites disappeared

 

[holeymoley]

Do you have any mould nearby? These sound like mould mites we had on our bales when the roof had leaked. Also seen them on a damp wall in a house we used to rent, once we got rid of the damp the mites disappeared

Ah! I think you’ve found what they are. Google image search for mould mites looks like what I have. Funnily enough I haven’t found them on this year’s hay.

 

[teddypops]

This made me laugh because it reminded me of when I was 7 and I had a really horrible teacher! We were asked to bring in some sort of insect for discussion and me being the little weirdo thought no one else will have hay mites so I scooped some up in a bag and took them in! The teacher was really angry at me for bringing in a bag of sand which she scooped out in her hand. Being a rural primary school, lots of the kids knew what it was and roared out ‘it’s hay mites’ . The teacher screamed and threw them down and I was in so much trouble??. Us kids were roaring and laughing and the teacher was so mad!

 

[Peglo]

I might be wrong but I thought if new hay got mites it was a sign of good hay? I will double check that. It’s quite common I think. Or at least up here