We just brought home some lovely little silkies, only to discover they brought along some hitchhikers. I can't believe we didn't notice these when we were going over the birds, but we weren't thinking about parasites at the time. Anyway, I think they're lice, based on the masses of eggs on the feather shafts? They are only around the head and neck. Is this common? Do chickens get head lice? Or is it just harder for them to clean up there? There is no evidence of lice or mites around the vent or anywhere else. And how do you remove the nits? Or do you just wait for them to hatch and let them gradually disappear as successive treatments eventually kill all the lice?
That's very common with poultry lice that the eggs are mostly in the chin and head feathers. What you need to do is go out and get some Sevin Garden Dust. It's in a red bottle and you can find it in the garden section of stores like Walmart and Tractor Supply. Make a powder puff by cutting off the foot of some nylons and put the Sevin in there, then use it to dust the birds. Also clean and dust their living quarters. You have to do it again in ten days to kill all the new ones that hatch, but after that you should be good to go!
We're doing an ivermectin dip because that's what the vet recommended when we got a mite infestation thanks to wild birds a couple years ago. I was just reading about Sevin, though, so that may be our follow up in future. Planning on three treatments, four to five days apart. We're treating the whole flock even though these guys are in a dog kennel in the garage. Hopefully if there are any other issues, they'll pop up before it's time to unite them with their new flockmates! Does wood ash really help? We have plenty of it and if it helps keep the numbers down or prevent an infestation, I'll get them a little sand box!