How long do lice stay around after chickens are gone?

[cmfarm]

And if there are not chickens will the eggs still hatch (Do they only lay eggs on chickens or in the bedding/dirt too)? If there are not chickens will the die in freezing weather? Thanks!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html
This will give you some info. about lice. I haven't dealt with lice so cannot advise you.

 

[THELMA]

if you are talking about red mite yes they can live without chickens and they can live for up to eight or nine months without feeding. The cold weather does not kill them it just slows them down. If you introduce chickens again and you still have red mite they would go on a feeding frenzy as they had not eaten for so long and cause the hens a lot of problems

 

[cmfarm]

I am talking about chicken lice (but thanks for the mite info, good to know).

 

[SassyKat6181]

I don't have an answer for you, but I would think you could dust the coop and use Sevin spray and repeat in 10 days as you would on the chickens.

 

[cmfarm]

It sounds to me from the link posted earlier that they only live on the bird unlike mites that can live off the host for some time. So if the chickens that had lice are gone so are the lice (from what it sounds like).

 

[CMV]

Lice can only survive up to 24 hours off the host. Nits can survive up to 10 days off the host. Nits will not hatch at or below room temperature (68 degrees).

I hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[cmfarm]

Yes, thank you. That is exactly what I wanted to know.