How to get rid of chicken lice?

[Silver Sebright]

One of my young hens died yesterday randomly. But I didn't know how or why it died but today I looked at my other hens and roos and they got a little tiny bugs crawling around their skin and feathers. How do you get rid of it?

 

[Morrigan]

Although the treatment is very similar, I would first try to pin down whether you have have lice or mites. Google some pictures, but basically lice will leave visible egg clusters behind around the base of the feathers making them look like Q-tip heads. Mite don't leave eggs and are most active at night.

In either case, get some suitable pesticide. I have used "Poultry Dust" -- active ingredient is permethrin -- with success against lice. Follow the directions on the package. You will need to apply the dust to the birds at least twice, about 10 days apart, to make sure you kill the bugs and their egg hatchlings. Some need to do it a 3rd or 4th time. Twice was enough in my case. You just need to examine the birds a few days after the last application.

It's MUCH easier to due this at night. Pull the birds off the roost (make sure you are wearing a dust mask and gloves) and rub the powder on to the birds, around the vent and under their wings, taking care not to get it on their face.

Then clean out the coop and replace the bedding. Put some of the dust or spay on their roosting bars. If it's lice, the cleaning isn't quite so important, as the lice live on the chicken. If its mites, you really want to completely wash out the coop and apply pesticide everywhere as mites tend to live in nooks and cracks in the coop.