External Parasite Question...

[Stephanie739]

Do you treat your coop and/or birds as a prevention or only if you know they have lice, mites, fleas...whatever. I have not had to deal with this yet, so I have not looked far for info. I do have some hound dogs and cats that surely have some fleas. The other animals like to sleep in the coop/shed too and one dog house in the yard is for any animal that decides to use it.

How do you know if your chicks have problems. Mine itch and scratch, but I have not seen any bugs on them. What would do? Thanks!

 

[chicmom]

Personally, if I notice anything amiss with my hens, like raggedy feathers or maybe alot of itching, then of course I will check them. You just have to pick them up, and look under their wings and vent, really separate the feathers and look right down against the skin. That way, you can actually see if there are any lice or mites crawling around.

I will pick the friendly onces up now and then and really give them a good look-over. I've had chickens four years now, and only twice have I ever seen external parasites. One time, it was on a pure bred Ameraucana that I had bought from a poultry show. Boy did that make me mad! Of course I treaded the bird with a good dusting of Seven Dust.

The second time, I think maybe wild birds might have taken refuge in my coop because it was early spring, and I noticed some of the hens not looking quite as fabulous as normal, and I saw some lice. That frustrated me. I had to clean out the entire coop from top to bottom....Sprinkle Seven Dust all around, and also treat each chicken. At the time, I had 13, and that's alot of chickens to dust.......I looked like the Pillsbury Dough Boy (Girl haha) by the time I was finished....I was just covered in powder. haha

That's how I handle things.......I don't like to put medicines and such on my flock unless I see a problem.

Sharon

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Quote:
This. I check a few of my birds (the friendly ones, b/c they're easiest to catch) once a month. If they're bug free, then great. If there are bugs, then I treat them with seven dust. Then I treat The coop with adams flea and tick spray. Repeat in 2 weeks. Good luck!

 

[Junaleefarm]

Good advice here- main thing is to handle your chickens, if you do this often you will always know if something is amiss. I will add one thing- if you do notice lice or fleas treat with sevin dust or a good pyrethrin powder- put some where the chickens like to dust bathe and they will get it in every nook and crannie.

 

[Stephanie739]

Thanks. I'm going to really take a good look between the feathers, etc...my big birds seem ok, but my little ones seem to scratch more (maybe it is in my head???) Here is a thread about sevin dust. I'm still iffy about rushing out to get it. I had a small cat die from flea meds before, and I am not a big fan of pesticides. I had heard 'poison' and that spooked me a bit. Who knows about DE? https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=194645 Of course if they have bugs, I will have to do something...hopefully they don't.

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
DE is a waste of money. Sevin, or pyrethrin powder are proven and safe for even hens with chicks. Been doin it that way for half a century. If your chickens are hard to catch, pick one or two off the roost at night and look them over with a good flashlight. Have fun.........Pop

 

[lacynich]

Thanks for this one!!!