Chicken lice?

[SSTupperware]

I noticed one of our Rir's pickin the butt of out BR hen, I got her when she went in and there is an infestation of smaller than fleas running wild when exposed to the light. I looked at another but none, so what do I need to take care of this I'm sure it has to make her feel miserable? Her vent was just crawling so I need to do somthting as soon as the feed stores open, I can't imagine how I would feel if it was me... There too small to take a pic...














































not her vent(Bung) the bugs...

 

[TaylorHobbyFarms]

They may have chicken mites. We use Garden/Poultry Dust purchased at Tractor Supply and mix it with their shavings in the nest box. You could also provide a pot or area filled with wood ashes or fine dirt for them to "dust bathe" in. Chickens will naturally bathe this way if given the opportunity and it suffocates the mites.

 

[dawg53]

Lice move much quicker than mites. I suspect you're dealing with lice. Dust your birds with sevin dust. Dust the coop, nests and roosts. Repeat dusting everything including chickens in 7-10 days to kill nits hatched from eggs.

 

[thesimplelife6]

We are having the same issue and I can't figure out if they are mites or lice. We literally get tons of them on us when entering the meadow area or coop. Last weekend, hubby cleaned out the coop, burned the bedding, doused it with DE, and dusted the chickens holding them upside down and getting every inch of their body. Now the "bugs" are lighter in color from the DE and still ALIVE.
Im so afraid of using Sevin or Ivermectin.
We had two hen deaths last week. We thought they were knocked off in a pecking order spat. It was like they were fine one minute, and lying on the coop floor the next. So stressed. I love these little ladies. Help!

 

[math ace]

The treatment is the same whether it is lice or mites....

The difference is that lice live on the birds. Mites come out and feed on the birds at night and then hop off once their bellies are full. Mites are harder to kill because they do not stay on the birds. Therefore, with mites YOU MUST TREAT THE COOP... THE walls . .. THE roosts.... The nesting boxes.

With both lice and mites, You must retreat in a timely manner, around 7 - 10 days later. Any earlier and the eggs haven't had a chance to hatch. Any later and the hatched eggs might get a chance to lay more eggs.

You may have to retreat a third time depending on how seriously the infestation is. Treat all birds and surrounding areas. You can use sevin dust. I like to use adams flea and tick PLUS dip. If your weather is still warm, you can dip the birds. If your weather is chilly already, then I would use sevin dust on the birds. I mist the adams flea and tick PLUS on the the roosts too. There are other products out there that will work too.

 

[thesimplelife6]

Adams spray in coop and Sevin on the ladies.....we JUST cleaned the coop. Didn't see any sort of decline. Will try the combo tomorrow. Days are getting cooler and nights dropping into the upper 40's -50's already. Is it still safe to consume the eggs or should we discard. If discard, for how long? Thanks for the help!!! These ladies are the love of our farm

 

[math ace]

OBTW, mites let corners and bottom sides of things. The best time to spot them is at night when they are coming out to feed. Use a flashlight and examine the roosts at dark. During the daytime, they hide on the underside of the roost and on the ends of the roosts (the crack between the wall and the roost). So, make sure you are spraying these areas real good. Sevin does come in a spray too...