Can you help me understanad the difference between lice and mites?

A chicken louse http://www.thefreedictionary.com/chicken+louse

3 kinds of human lice https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/GuruBoss/difference-between-head-lice-body-lice-and-pubic-lice

As you can see, they all are different.

There are also a variety of mites that can infect humans. In your case, you probably have become infected with one or more external parasites from your chickens. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that the main difference between mites and lice is size. Mites are microscopic. Notice that included in the mite category is scabies which is a human parasite. Here are a few pictures.
http://delusion.ucdavis.edu/mites.html

In short, you might have both.

Can’t you visit a doctor? Or at the very least a pharmacy? They might be able to help you a. identify what plagues you and b. the best response to rid yourself of the critters.

Whatever I have my husband does not have it and we sleep in the same bed.
Wondering if I could have gotten it(them) from the new hairstylist and new
building that she is in. I used the Lice kit shampoo and have to wait 7 days
and use it again. I still feel something that’s making my head itch but I don’t
see anything. I did find something on my eyebrow after I washed my hair.
I kept it but can’t tell much they are so tiny. Just trying to get a handle on this
before I do go to the Dr. and for 75$ he hands me drug store shampoo.

Lice are bugs and as someone said above, mites are so tiny but there will be many of them so for example, when cats have ear mites, the quantity makes it look like brown wax.

Whatever you have, you have to wash all the sheets, the comforter, all the bedding, too.

You can buy stuff on Amazon or over the counter for lice. Not sure about mites. You can also hire someone to deal with the lice for you but it’s a lot of money (a few hundred).

If you are on FB, there may be some groups for people who raise chickens. If you have a problem from mites, there are without a doubt other people who have experienced the same thing.

@MooCows my kids would catch head lice from the neighbor kids, I’d get them, but hubby never did. I know it’s weird, but maybe they don’t like how he tastes. Or he has them too, but they don’t bother him.

I used to get eaten alive by mosquitoes too, but now they never bother me. If he doesn’t notice them, don’t let him make you feel bad for going to the doctor.

Not sure if it would work, but see if you could walk into the county health department. They used to help out with stuff like this when my kids were little.

Every state in the US has an extension agent. These people provide a link between your community and a local agricultural college or university. They have experts in just about every field you can name, and they would know more about your problem than anybody else I can think of. This link can help you find the closest one to you. It’s really a wonderful service, and I am sure they can help you.
http://www.pickyourown.org/countyextensionagentoffices.htm#deptofag

You didn’t say what your symptoms are.

Mites are arachnids (8 legs) and can be very tiny (0.08–1.00 millimeter) like Scabies Itch Mites that can burrow under the skin and cause itching, infections and rashes.

Lice are wingless parasitic insects (6 legs) that live in head and or pubic hair regions. Adult lice feed on blood and lay eggs on the hair (nits). Adult lice are about 1/8 inch long and dark brown.

Good health!

do you have a microscope? I realise my house is geeky weird. We have two. But I think microscopes are just as essential as smoke alarms.

Yep chicken mites for taking care of 250 meat chickens….sucks.

@cazzie Good suggestion. Of course experience with operating a microscope is helpful. I was a clinical lab tech for 38 years and a doctor at the hospital gave me an old microscope made in the the 1930’s that’s still in excellent condition. I use it to analyze specimens from our cats mostly (stool, urine and ear specimens).