Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I’m trying to figure out if mites are what is making my horse crazy. She is the only one in the barn with a swallow nest in her stall. I don’t see any of the little brown specks but she is brown herself so maybe I wouldn’t? She weirdly itchy on her legs, chewing around her coronet, crossing her front legs to rub one against the other. She has a fan blasting on her and I don’t see flies so now I’m wondering if it’s mites??
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It certainly could be. Do you get itchy at all handling her or any parts of her stall?
Normal fly spray (pyrethrin/permethrin) does cover mites. Spinosad (elector PSP) seems to do a better job, but is $$$ unless you really are dedicated to a mite issue.
No, not particularly itchy myself - and now that I think it through no signs of mites on me either, despite spending quite a bit of time in her stall scratching her lately. So maybe not mites - back to the drawing board on this one 
Yeah, probably not then. You’ll see mites on you, or at least feel them!
My horses have been itchy this summer solely because it’s been so damned humid. Hosing the sweaty parts and grooming really well every day seems to help…and even my very prim and proper mare puts herself into the most embarrassing positions so I can get her best itchy spots 
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lol, same. This mare is physically blocking me from leaving her stall and lifting her leg or dropping a hip towards me like, “scratch HERE!” At least I can’t blame the barn swallows for her misery.
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If you’ve not gotten on the posture prep bandwagon, it is THE BEST THING for itchy spots, at least according to my horses The full body nose to tail stretch with the leg up like a dog 100% cracks me up!
And just to update on the bird mite issue this year for the thread: I sprayed every rafter surface with elector PSP when the birds were just starting nests, and then again a couple weeks later which wound up being just before they started sitting on eggs. Babies are starting to fledge now, and the ones I’ve renested have no mites. Once this current batch is is flying well, I’ll try to get in another round.
But so far so good! It was another mild winter here but being proactive on it seems to be going well.
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Mites tend to be species specific. You might get them on you but they don’t stay. Elector PSP is the best product for the job, we spray our chickens.
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We typically have one Swallow nest in our barn per season. If two mating pairs try to co-habitate, they appear to fight. Nothing like visible parasites, tho; maybe because of our semi-arid climate, and cold winters?
This year, some Magpies cleaned out the Swallow nest before any chicks hatched (I think; I found egg shells), and they haven’t been back.
I have a shop in one corner of the barn, with storage in the rafters on top. I was cleaning the storage area, and had the Swallows dive bombing me the whole time; a new experience :-D.
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Wow that’s interesting it keeps to only one! I have more every year. This year has really attained “shit ton” levels
I very much value their work on the flies & really like their cheery chatter. The mites are zero fun, but it feels like I’ve got a good handle on it now!
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Me, too! We have more and more each year; very few mosquitos and flies. And the carpenter bees left!!! I don’t know if the barn swallows had anything to do w it, or not. I also think they are really beautiful in flight-sort of like fighter jets.
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Well I am really at wits end with my mare chewing her legs. Would the mites be in her bedding?? I just looked to see if Tractor Supply has elector psp - no luck. I’m thinking about just treating for mites to at least eliminate that possibility.
Definitely not in my barn, I have about 10 going. Heck I have one at my front door that got started and at first I was like “nahhhhh” but then I decided to see what happened.
Well, the nest happened and the parents hardly even yell at my now.
Good to know on the Elector PSP, I’m gonna spray my coop.
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True… but…
After a massive barn infestation from the mites on the barn swallows, I was finding them in my house for weeks. Even if they aren’t biting you, they can be absolutely miserable to deal with and still make you an itchy mess.
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If you’re not seeing mites on you, it’s just not mites. Pyrethrin and permethrin do cover mites, so even if somehow she had bugs on her that you were just somehow missing, spraying her with fly spray would provide relief. If you’ve sprayed her legs, you’ve treated for mites.
I’m sorry to not have an answer for her itchiness, but it just really doesn’t sound like it’s bird mites 
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I had a battle with swallows wanting to nest INSIDE my garage this year. In 21 years, that’s a first. They don’t mess with the barn, thank goodness. I was knocking down mud every other day on light fixtures, the door into my office, and in various places in the garage, tacking caution tape from the ceiling to drape down to scare them off. Which it did. For a few days. They finally gave up after 3 weeks. But they don’t seem to make a dent in the flies. This year has been just epic for flies, dung beetles, wolf spiders, pillbugs, and katydids. I’ve done 10% permethrin on the horses every day—it’s the only thing that even helped a little. In all the years I’ve lived here (south central TX), every year there is an explosion of SOMETHING—whether it’s bugs or invasive plants (Maltese Star Thistle I’m talkin to you). This year feels like something beyond a trifecta in bugs!!!
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Did you let the swallows actually move in anywhere? If you’ve chased them out of the garage, and they don’t build in the barn, I’m not sure they’ll do anything for your flies. They need a place to live & nest.
I have nearly no flies every year until they leave in August or so. The impact they have is downright amazing.
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They’ve been here for decades and they can go wherever they want on the hundreds of acres around here. They fly around the driveway and creekbed a couple times of day (that I see) so they always nest somewhere. I just don’t want them on my house or in my garage. As far as flies, the neighbor has 50+ cattle on less than 13 acres right next to me and my barn and there’s NOTHING I can do about that. I’ve never seen the swallows up at the barn either. So…I don’t know what they do but they are not hurting!
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Yeah, no surprise you’re seeing no reduction in flies if the swallows only come through a couple times a day. A few birds passing through won’t make a dent.
Do you have purple martins in that part of the country? Maybe that’s a better option for you, since they keep to their own houses (although they do still need maintenance & cleaning.)
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I don’t want birds in my barn or on my house if I can help it. They’re welcome to nest in the gazillion trees we have on the property.
I’m currently battling japanese beetles. The traps I put out a couple weeks ago are entirely full, I wonder if I can dump the bags and reuse them. Not sure how long the bait lasts for though. Of course the traps are nowhere near the house or gardens, but they’ve skeletonized a rose bush and i think are the cause of my hosta damage.
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Yeah, barn swallows don’t nest in trees.
Do note that it’s actually a federal violation to tear down their nests after they lay. If you don’t want them in your structures, be sure to remove before they have eggs.
Maybe you can also set up some purple martin nests for bug control.
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