- May 31, 2010
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I've just had some chicks hatch, 8 under a Barnevelder. Chicks are now 2 days old and all seems ok, but when I look at them closely I can see very small light brown insects crawling on them. I'm a little worried this may be mites, lice or some other damaging insect. I have moved the hen and chicks into a separate (New) hutch but they hatched in the normal laying boxes.
I live in Melbourne, Australia and only have a simple backyard chicken setup. I tried to take some photos but the insects are too small, there's a pic of the setup below. The hen is sitting outside the box for some reason, not sure if that's an issue. All the chicks appear to be fine so far but I am concerned and want to be able to tackle this ASAP if it is a real problem.
My amateur attempt at identifying the insects is that they look more like lice than mites. They are light brown / yellow coloured and move fairly smoothly over the chicks. They have a more elongated body that what I would normally associate with a tick. They are too small for me to be sure, but this image of a chicken body louse is consistent with the general shape and colour of the insects I'm seeing: http://www.icb.usp.br/~marcelcp/Imagens/f-piolho1.jpg
What steps, if any, should I take to protect the hen and her chicks?
Cheers
I live in Melbourne, Australia and only have a simple backyard chicken setup. I tried to take some photos but the insects are too small, there's a pic of the setup below. The hen is sitting outside the box for some reason, not sure if that's an issue. All the chicks appear to be fine so far but I am concerned and want to be able to tackle this ASAP if it is a real problem.
My amateur attempt at identifying the insects is that they look more like lice than mites. They are light brown / yellow coloured and move fairly smoothly over the chicks. They have a more elongated body that what I would normally associate with a tick. They are too small for me to be sure, but this image of a chicken body louse is consistent with the general shape and colour of the insects I'm seeing: http://www.icb.usp.br/~marcelcp/Imagens/f-piolho1.jpg
What steps, if any, should I take to protect the hen and her chicks?
Cheers