Can chicken mites live on humans or dogs?

Last updated: October 2026

Chicken mites bite people but do not settle on them. The poultry red mite (Dermanyssus gallinae) and the northern fowl mite (Ornithonyssus sylviarum) will feed on humans near infested birds, causing itchy red bumps, yet they cannot survive on or infest people¹. Dogs and cats are bitten only rarely². Removing the bird source ends most human cases^2,3.

Do chicken mites bite humans?

Yes. The poultry red mite, also called the chicken mite or roost mite, is a blood feeder of chickens, turkeys, pigeons and wild birds, and it also bites humans¹. The northern fowl mite has been reported from many bird species and from rats, mice and humans¹. Bites usually happen at night and leave small, irritating, itchy or painful pimple-like bumps⁴.

On people, the mites move onto clothing and then onto the skin, and their bites cause red, swollen, itchy bumps³. Many people describe a sensation of something walking on the skin during the night³. Because so many cases involve farmers and veterinarians, dermatologists have described this as an occupational infestation³. In layer houses, workers feeling irritation or bites is often how an infestation is first noticed⁶.

Backyard keepers are not the only people bitten. Mites from the nests of starlings, pigeons, sparrows and other wild birds in eaves, attics and chimneys move indoors when their birds die or leave, and they then look for any available host, including people⁴. Mites can also spread indoors through windows and air conditioning systems³.

In North America, bites peak from late spring into summer: poultry red mite populations build fastest in warm months¹, and bird mites move indoors when nesting birds die or leave their nests⁴. In the Southern Hemisphere the same pattern runs from about November to February.

Can chicken mites actually live on people?

Not in the usual sense. Veterinary references state that poultry red mites bite humans but cannot survive on humans or infest them¹, and bird mites do not reproduce on human blood, so they eventually disperse or die without suitable bird hosts^1,4. Laboratory work shows the mites can be induced to feed on people, but only at low levels².

A review in Parasites and Vectors found that reports of human cases, called gamasoidosis or avian mite dermatitis, have become more frequent, especially in homes near nesting birds². The same review notes rare reports of persistent infestation on people, and it proposes, as a hypothesis still to be tested, that a weakened immune response at the skin may make some people more prone to it². In most reported cases, removing the birds from nests or roosts near the affected person, with or without treating the area, was enough to stop the bites².

Can chicken mites live on dogs and cats?

Poultry red mites will feed on dogs and cats, as well as rodents, rabbits and horses, but reported cases in mammals are relatively rare². In a horse with mite dermatitis, the animal was stabled next to poultry, which points to repeated opportunistic feeding rather than a permanent infestation². When offered the blood of several animals through different skins, the mites fed well only through bird skin².

An itchy dog that spends time near the coop is more likely to have a dog mite than a chicken mite². Mange mites are far more common on companion animals and look similar, which makes diagnosis by signs alone unreliable². Sarcoptic mange in dogs is highly contagious and zoonotic, so people who handle an infested dog can be affected too⁷. Cheyletiella mites infest dogs and cats, and human infestation with them is frequent⁷. A veterinarian diagnoses mange from the history, including itching in other animals and people, and from skin scrapings⁷.

What do chicken mite bites look like, and what else could they be?

Adult red mites measure about 400 to 700 micrometers and are grayish white, growing to more than 1 mm and turning red to black after a blood meal³. Bird mites in homes range from translucent white to red when recently fed and grayish brown as the blood is digested⁴. In one published case the bites appeared as itchy purplish spots and papules on the trunk and arms³.

The main look-alikes are scabies and body lice³. Diagnosis from symptoms alone is a suspected cause of misdiagnosis for scabies, lice, general dermatitis and delusional parasitosis, so finding and identifying the mite matters². In one published case, dermoscopy ruled out scabies and showed the mite moving on the patient's back, and the patient kept hens in her garden³. Documented examples of bird mites passing disease to people are rare in the medical literature².

• Bites mostly at night, with a crawling sensation, point toward bird mites^3,4.
• Several people in one household with similar bites, and a coop, pigeon nest or bird nest nearby, is a common pattern^3,2.
• Bites that continue after nests and birds are gone call for a medical diagnosis, since symptoms alone are an unreliable guide².

How do you get rid of chicken mites in the house?

Remove the source first. Take down abandoned nests quickly, wearing gloves, before mites move into the building⁴. Pigeon, house sparrow and starling nests may be removed at any time, but songbirds are protected by federal law, and their nests can only be removed after the young have left⁴. Remove nests with the inverted bag technique, then clean the surface the nest touched⁵. Control rodents and keep wild birds out of the structure⁵.

Then clean the house. Vacuum regularly to pick up wandering mites, and seal and discard the vacuum bag, since some mites survive vacuuming; freezing the sealed bag also kills them⁴. Wipe mites off surfaces with a soapy sponge or a cloth dampened with rubbing alcohol⁴. Hot wash and hot dry bedding and clothing that has been on the floor⁵. Seal cracks and crevices where mites hide and enter⁵.

Non-chemical steps such as removing birds and nests and regular vacuuming may control small infestations without pesticides⁴. Where a crack-and-crevice treatment is needed, use a dust product labeled for that use and follow the product label⁵. Without birds, the mites will disperse or die within a few weeks⁴.

How do you stop mites from the coop reaching your home?

People carry mites. In poultry operations, mites are usually spread on egg flats, crates and coops, or by people moving from house to house¹, and dedicated clothing and separate boots for each house are basic hygiene measures⁶. For a backyard flock, that means coop-only footwear and a change of clothes after night checks or cleanout⁶.

Keep the flock itself under control. Obtaining mite-free birds and good sanitation prevent populations from building, and treatment must reach every hiding place in the house, such as behind nest boxes and in cracks¹. Quarantine new birds for 2 weeks and inspect them before they join the flock: northern fowl mites are on the birds day or night, while red mites are usually found only at night⁴. Easy-to-clean roosts and nest boxes with few hiding places help⁴.