Can my small flock of 20 chickens bring bed bugs into the house???

[averkademay]

Well fun. Its Christmas week and my father finds a flat bed bug on his arm. yay. Recently a friend brought a package of fabric stockings over within 24 hours ago. From my knowledge, she had an infestation of bedbugs not too long ago. I am quick to suspect her, however, I want to ask about my flock's part in this too. Can my small flock of twenty chickens give us bedbugs? (was actually reduced to 13 now in the past week due to yearly culling). For some info, all the actions for getting rid of bedbugs have been already been done within the last five hours. yay. Anyone's info would be greatly appreciated.

Blessings,

 

[DucksAndGardens]

Well yes the bedbugs can come from your chicken coop if your chicken coop has bedbugs. If you go out at night with a flashlight you should be able to see bedbugs crawling on the roosts and chickens to feed. But if your friend had bedbugs and brought fabric from her house I'd be more likely to suspect your friend brought hitchhikers.

 

[junebuggena]

Bedbugs are human specific, meaning they only feed on humans. They came from your friend's fabric.

 

[Dawnclucks22]

Ewwww... yep, I'm guessing those came from the fabric. I hope you get this figured out soon!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Recently a friend brought a package of fabric stockings over within 24 hours ago. From my knowledge, she had an infestation of bedbugs not too long ago.....Can my small flock of twenty chickens give us bedbugs?

Like the others, I suspect the bedbug came from the fabric, since your friend had an infestation.
But.....yes! Bedbugs can live in poultry houses and feed on chickens. They will take the opportunity, if given, to feast on humans, mammals, fowl etc.
http://extension.msstate.edu/publications/information-sheets/what-do-about-bed-bugs-poultry-houses
http://parasitipedia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2658&Itemid=3033
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/artic...t-pests-to-control-in-poultry-breeder-flocks/
http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/bedbugs
https://www.mypetchicken.com/backya...elp/Can-bed-bugs-bother-my-chickens-H362.aspx
I find this one interesting....it was apparently published in 1937! https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a91c/06b55ecec8892f2596662d41c3210818b034.pdf

Bedbugs are human specific, meaning they only feed on humans. They came from your friend's fabric.

 

[casportpony]

Bedbugs are human specific, meaning they only feed on humans. They came from your friend's fabric.

Not entirely true, their primary hosts are humans, but they do feed on poultry and other mammals.

 

[averkademay]

Hey all! I very much appreciate your responses! I checked all my chickens at midnight and found not a single knit, egg, lice, mite, and especially no bed bugs. Had a bug professional come over and our odds seem good with all the over-kill precautions that my family took.
Thank you all again!
Also Merry Christmas :-D

 

[KentuckyRooster]

Ew bedbugs are so icky.

I'd place money on your friend, not the birds.

 

[Abriana]

I would guess that your friend brought them-not the chickens. After all, someone would have had to bring them to the chickens, they couldn’t have just shown up. I agree that it was the friend.

 

[PirateGirl]

I know bedbugs are hard to get rid of and can cause you some paranoia and difficulty sleeping. I want to tell you that when my husband was moving in we too saw a bedbug on a piece of furniture. We got rid of it immediately and took a million and one precautionary measures, as it sounds like you did. The infestation never took hold in our home because we caught it so early. I hope this is the case for you and I hope you can rest easier tonight having heard my story! I hope you have totally avoided infestation and have sweet dreams!