Do chickens get fleas?

[Chicks4fun2]

Other than being a nuisance what health affects do mites and fleas pose to our feathered friends?

 

[happyhens1972]

A heavy infestation can kill your birds through blood loss.

 

[PookieMavis]

Other than being a nuisance what health affects do mites and fleas pose to our feathered friends?

They can become anaemic and even die. You might also find that if the infestation is in the house/nest box that they won't use it and as such may not lay (we've found with ours).

 

[Chicks4fun2]

Wow that serious... I just treated my dog( frontline) but haven't seen any on my birds... Could they still have them? Is there any preventative treatments...maybe I ought to get some DE...

 

[PookieMavis]

This is what we use. You dilute it with water and as an added bonus it's got a pretty smell, a bit like lavender. We give the house a thorough clean and spray it on.

 

[happyhens1972]

DE is good for prevention in your coops and nest boxes. It can also be added to dustbaths to keep the issue down on the birds but if they get a visible infestation, you are better with a chemical cure. I use Ivermectin spot on to great effect.

Early on in my chicken keeping I used to use woodshavings for bedding and deep litter it....just stir it about and add more on top. I then lost two hens for no apparent reason, they just got lethargic and died. The next time I cleaned out the coop, I realised it was ALIVE with red mite and they were responsible for the death of the girls. It took forever to get rid of them. I have to clean and scrub everything, smoke bomb the coops and then DE them to death.

The moral of the story.....don't be complacent. Red mite don't live ON the chickens (which I had been regularly checking for bugs) but live in the coops, where they come out at night and suck the life out of your chooks.

 

[sumi]

A heavy infestation can kill your birds through blood loss.

X2 I lost 2 chicks to fleas a few years ago. We treated the entire flock, coops and runs with carbaryl (sevin dust) and that was it. Never saw another flea on the farm after that. A vet friend suggested I dilute the carbaryl powder in water, just add enough powder to make the water milky, and spray the coop and run with that. Fleas in fabric items, like blankets, clothes etc got sorted by soaking the items for about 3 hours in the carbaryl solution.

 

[bopup]

Guineas will take care of the outside. My vet said flea spray for dogs in the house would work, and it did, but it needs to be in doses of 2-3 to catch any hatchlings.. Best thing was to get rid of all carpets.

 

[Crazypolock]

Flea bomb the house. There probably left behind from previous owners. SMITTY

 

[seminolewind]

Home Defense. Ortho.