could bed bugs in my house be coming from my chickens?

[Mabel Combover]

About a month ago I discovered bed bugs in my home, which I have never had before. Around 9 months ago, we got 3 hens that were 5 weeks old. My daughters carry them around and hug them frequently throughout the day, which is adorable. It is making me question if that could possibly be the source of my problem. I wanted to see if anyone else has dealt with this. I've read everything I could find on the forum but haven't found an answer. They are definitely bed bugs and not any other mites or bugs. We have hopefully rid our home of them and definitely don't want to deal with the major hassle again, but since my daughters play with the chickens daily I want to be sure that's not where they're coming from! I thoroughly cleaned and inspected the coop, roost and chickens. There were no exoskeletons or blood spots anywhere. Of course the coop has cracks galore, as it's made with all wood. The hens appear very healthy and are laying as normal. I put DE under the straw, in the cracks and where they dust bath.

The internet does say bed bugs like to feed on chickens, but I haven't found anyone else with this issue. I can't be the only one! I am hoping the chickens aren't the source and that my problem is now gone for good! Thanks in advance.

 

[scooter147]

How old where the chickens when you go them?

 

[Mabel Combover]

5-6 weeks old when I got all three. We got them from a reputable place and they've always seemed very healthy.

 

[scooter147]

My guess is no, the chickens are not the source of your problem The hen in the picture looks very mature so if you did not have issues in the beginning your source of the bed bugs is something else.

Bed bugs prefer humans and have adapted to us very well.


Chickens and bed bugs and not common. My guess is chickens would eat adult bed bugs. My research did not find many connections between the two.

Does your daughter attend school, daycare, summer camps etc.

Unfortunately those nasty buggers are becoming a real problem. My mother in law got them. She live in an apartment by herself, never traveled and barely left the apartment. They traveled in from someone elses apartment.

Bed bugs do not fly so there mode of transportation is mainly humans carrying them around to new places.

 

[orpington13]

Have you travelled anywhere that might house bedbugs? Usually they use humans and other things, i.e. clothes, luggage, etc., as transportation. They are usually found indoors and in cool temperatures.

They are extremely infesting. The only easy way of killing them is by heat. There was a very interesting documentary series I watched on them. This one guy had such a bad infestation, he had to turn the temperature in his house up to around 100. Not only that, but he had to go around with a heat reader and caulk all of the cool spaces in his house.