HELP my hen has ticks!

[aloweodu2003]

I just bought 2 hens from an older couple they looked fine when I got them.....

I have only had them for 4 days and Sissy has aquired alot of little ticks around her face how do I get rid of them?????

 

[mjelse]

They say for ticks: smear vaseline on them, coating their abdomens very thoroughly. They breathe through holes in the abdomen. As they begin to suffocate, they drop off. I get a lot of ticks and have always lost patience waitign for them to drop off on their own.

The other way is to slowly and steadily apply pressure to pull them out, pulling the opposite direction of the head.

If they are little ticks, the size of a freckle, a bright medium brown, they are deer ticks. Those are hard to pull because they are so hard to see. The bigger tocks are dog ticks.

Actually I forgot to check where you live, those are the ticks we have in the east.

 

[mypicklebird]

There is also a flea called a 'stick tight flea' that attaches to the skin- looks alot like a tick. Small and black. They can infest poultry in some areas of the country. Poultry powder (pyrethrin) or sevin dust (carbaryl) should kill these. It won't kill ticks though.
You can tell the difference if you look at them closely- stick tight fleas still look like fleas- bodies are flattened side to side. Ticks are flattenend top to bottom.

 

[Chicken Woman]

My Dad use to light a match, blow it out and place it on the tick. They would then back out so he could remove with tweezers.

 

[aloweodu2003]

You guys are awesome! Thanks so much!

Ashley
Tampa, Florida

 

[picklespickles]

that is so odd. i always thought i had no ticks in my yard due to teh chickens. neve occured to me in a million years tht they could get them.

 

[speckledhen]

I bet they're stick tight fleas. We have a big tick population here in the woods and I've never seen a tick on a chicken, even when they range through the woods.