Lice in Chicks

[GoldenCuckoo]

Hello there!
I've recently bought chickens from TSC a couple weeks ago and they seem to be having rapid feather loss and bare spots.
My Cornish Rocks are bigger and are soon ready to go to the butcher by I was wondering what are the symptoms and treatments for lice in chickens?
Can we get lice from them?
Please let me know and if pictures are required, I'll be glad to share some!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Here is a good article on chicken lice, http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8162.pdf and from the Learning Center https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/lice-chicken-pests-how-to-protect-your-chickens-from-lice Lice are species specific and poultry lice will not infest humans. Growing chicks sometimes do have bare spots and feather loss as they do three partial molts during their growing stages, and meat birds especially don't have much feathering...maybe it is just a growing stage? If they do have lice, cleaning and dusting the coop and treating the birds with something like Sevin or poultry dust several times 7-10 days apart will usually take care of them.

 

[jenifry]

Grab a bird, flip it over and look very closely around the base of the tail. If you have lice, there will be little white bugs, between an eighth and quarter of an inch long. They are usually light colored, but can be dark colored in darker chickens.





Thank you internet!! ^^

They can be treated naturally with DE - Diatomaceous Earth, or chemically with some sort of Permethryn based powder.

If you are going to treat with a chemical I would suggest (My personal opinion) not eating eggs or butchering for two weeks.

If you use DE, the eggs and meat will not be affected. It will take more than a week or two to get rid of the lice and it may not get rid of every single one, but it will greatly reduce their numbers.

 

[TwoCrows]

Yes, lice are harmful if not deadly to your birds. So you need to act aggressively to get rid of these parasites. They will drain the life right out of your birds. Get dusting the birds, and their areas. Clean out all bedding, scrub and dust well and repeat area and birds every 5 days or so. Either permethrin spray, Sevin dust or and I believe Ivermectin pour on kills Lice. I know it kills mites, not 100% sure on Lice.

Great to have you aboard and good luck with your flock!

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

 

[1muttsfan]

Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan

Be sure to check withdrawal times if you do treat for mites, meat birds are often ready for processing at around 8 weeks of age.

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[gander007]