Help! Lice/mites!?

[FluckinFarms]

I have a chicken who started acting odd the last couple days. I thought it was sick so I separated it from its brooder mate. (It was just the two in that brooder because they’re a bit older then the others). I just noticed it has tons of lice/mites!! I didn’t even know that was possible in brooder chicks. I also have 3 other brooders with about 25 other chicks all together in them. Does this mean they most likely all have mites!? Will DE take care of this? How do I apply? I know it’s bad for them to breathe it in.. What else should I get/do? I don’t want to lose them all. Please help I am mortified this happened and feel bad I didn’t notice sooner. I completely empty bedding and wash the brooders every other day. Could my bedding have been infested!? I don’t understand how this happened if they’ve never been outside. Do I now need to also worry about my chickens that are outside??

 

[azygous]

How old are the chicks? If you have a magnifying lens try picking a couple of the bugs off a chick and examine them. If you see six legs, they are lice. If you see eight legs they are coop mites.

It's possible for baby chicks to pick up these parasites if they were hatched by a broody hen and she had them. If they were hatched on straw, they could have picked them up in that way. Commercial wood shavings are least likely to have these bugs in them. So, if you got the chicks from a private breeder, you bought more than just chicks.

Depending on how old the chicks are, Ivermectin would be an easy way to get rid of the lice or mites (most likely they are lice). One tiny drop on the back of the neck on each chick should do it.

 

[FluckinFarms]

How old are the chicks? If you have a magnifying lens try picking a couple of the bugs off a chick and examine them. If you see six legs, they are lice. If you see eight legs they are coop mites.

It's possible for baby chicks to pick up these parasites if they were hatched by a broody hen and she had them. If they were hatched on straw, they could have picked them up in that way. Commercial wood shavings are least likely to have these bugs in them. So, if you got the chicks from a private breeder, you bought more than just chicks.

Depending on how old the chicks are, Ivermectin would be an easy way to get rid of the lice or mites (most likely they are lice). One tiny drop on the back of the neck on each chick should do it.

It was my 2 that are about 11 weeks. They are inside just because it’s been cold and I worry about putting them outside with the weather getting so low at night. I checked the 7 week old chicks, at least 6 of the 20 of them, and didn’t see a single bug. They were indeed lice. I’ve had them since they were two weeks old and they didn’t have any lice when I got them. I’m still not sure how they picked them up but I did end up losing the one that was badly infected. I put DE in the bedding just in case and dusted the other chick that was in the same brooder as the infected one. I will keep checking the others just in case and being cautious from here on out.

 

[Aunt Angus]

DE won't cure an infestation. Try Ivermectin. Super easy.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I have a chicken who started acting odd the last couple days. I thought it was sick so I separated it from its brooder mate. (It was just the two in that brooder because they’re a bit older then the others). I just noticed it has tons of lice/mites!! I didn’t even know that was possible in brooder chicks. I also have 3 other brooders with about 25 other chicks all together in them. Does this mean they most likely all have mites!? Will DE take care of this? How do I apply? I know it’s bad for them to breathe it in.. What else should I get/do? I don’t want to lose them all. Please help I am mortified this happened and feel bad I didn’t notice sooner. I completely empty bedding and wash the brooders every other day. Could my bedding have been infested!? I don’t understand how this happened if they’ve never been outside. Do I now need to also worry about my chickens that are outside??

If you don't have Ivermectin as suggested, I would go to the feed store and get a Permethrin based poultry dust.

Dust the chicks. Removing old bedding is a good idea as well. Repeat dusting in 7 day intervals.