Chicken Lice On Ducks

[Cimmaron]

I have been dealing with poultry lice on my chickens for the last few years. I finally got rid of all of them and am keeping the coop empty for a few weeks before putting new chicks in it.

My question is, I had a breeding group of ducks housed in the same coop with the chickens. Is it possible they are carrying chicken lice and will pass them back to the new flock?

I asked a professional poultry breeder and was told that chicken lice can't live on ducks, but going through the forums here it sounds like they can?

The ducks I have would be hard to replace since they are from Holderread lines and he has retired. Otherwise I'd just get rid of them too. But at the same time I don't want to chance them giving lice back to my new chickens after all the trouble I've gone to to eliminate them.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I have been dealing with poultry lice on my chickens for the last few years. I finally got rid of all of them and am keeping the coop empty for a few weeks before putting new chicks in it.

My question is, I had a breeding group of ducks housed in the same coop with the chickens. Is it possible they are carrying chicken lice and will pass them back to the new flock?

I asked a professional poultry breeder and was told that chicken lice can't live on ducks, but going through the forums here it sounds like they can?

The ducks I have would be hard to replace since they are from Holderread lines and he has retired. Otherwise I'd just get rid of them too. But at the same time I don't want to chance them giving lice back to my new chickens after all the trouble I've gone to to eliminate them.

I was under the impression that ducks do not usually have lice because the lice drown when they swim. If so, it may depend how you keep your ducks and how much time they spend in water.

 

[Cimmaron]

I was under the impression that ducks do not usually have lice because the lice drown when they swim. If so, it may depend how you keep your ducks and how much time they spend in water.

I have a tiny manmade pond that they swim in on a regular basis, but I wouldn't say they spend a lot of time in the water.