i think we have poultry lice.

[bluegirl23]

Hi all. I have a problem in my coop. There are little while bugs crawling in my chickens feathers. I don't think they're mites. I googled it and i saw poultry lice and that's what they seem to look like. Have any of you had these before?? If so how hard are they to get rid of and will they kill my chickens?? Also are they contagious to dogs and people??

 

[barbiegirl]

Try reading this link.

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/08/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification.html

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! barbiegirl gave you a link to a nice page on lice and there is a good article in the BYC Learning Center on lice also. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/lice-chicken-pests-how-to-protect-your-chickens-from-lice Poultry lice won't affect people or dogs, they are very hard on chickens though and can make them quite sick if they aren't treated. If you follow the recommendations of treating the birds and the area/coop as suggested in the articles and repeating it several times you should be able to get them under control, just remember to check your birds every couple of weeks.

 

[bluegirl23]

Thank you for the responses. That link was actually the first one I looked at. I gave the chickens antibiotics and dusted them with mite powder (I forgot the name but the woman at the feed store recommended the products.) Do you know if the chicken eggs are safe to eat when they have the lice and are sick??

 

[SummerSaige]

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

Sorry about the lice. The eggs are fine to eat if they have lice and have dusted them with lice powder, however if you are using antibiotics on them, there will be an egg withdrawal period depending what what antibacterial drugs you used on them.

Good luck and I hope you get this solved soon!

 

[gander007]