Mites,lice, and other bugs

[Brie6895]

I know this might sound silly to most of you, but I am new and never really thought about chickens being able to carry around these awful things. I was hoping someone out there can explain to me if all chickens will have these at some point and are there any precautions I can take to make sure it doesn't happen. My chicks are just around 2 and 3 weeks old and I'm just now learning about worming. Now I'm hearing stuff about mites and lice! Can anyone give me some helpful information I would greatly appreciate it!

 

[NuuKamauKona]

I never had a problem for the first year and a half. my flock would dust bathe in the yard all the time. then when one of my girls went broody and stopped dust bathing, i started to get a really bad mite infestation. so from my research i decided to get sevin garden dust, the pyrethrins based one, and some flea and tick spray for dogs and cats, also pyrethrins based. i dusted and sprayed all my chickens and their nest boxes and coops. i even had to spray my chicks cause they were covered.
now whenever i have a broody hen i dust her back and wings twice a week and that seems to do the trick. and whenever i change coop bedding or clean, i spread dust everywhere. i also heard that diatomaceous earth works good too, but i cant find anyone that has it near me.