Ticks on Chicks

[Jadegle87]

Hi everyone,
I have a single 1-2 day old chick which I have just rescued from my Aunty and I have noticed it has ticks and lice.
I don’t want to put it with my other chicks as I don’t want it to spread, so I have separated it in another cage.
Does anyone have any idea on what I would be able to put on the chick to kill off the pests?
I have pestene but I didn’t know whether it was safe for chicks.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

 

[sourland]

Are they ticks or stick tight fleas? Permethrin should work on either as well as on the lice.

 

[azygous]

Are you in the UK? Rotenone, the other ingredient in your poultry dusting powder is toxic if breathed in by the tiny chick. If the chick breathes any in, it is liable to die from it because the respiratory tract is so delicate on tiny chicks.

I would remove the ticks by hand. Dab petroleum jelly on the head of the tick so it can't breathe. It will then let go and you can lift it off the chick. The lice are less of a problem since lice don't generally suck blood. But if the chick is covered with them, you will need to very carefully apply the dust only below the neck, careful as you can be not to get any dust in the chick's nares or beak or eyes.

To be sure you are dealing with lice and not mites, which are a bigger danger than lice, look at one through a magnifying lens. If it has six legs, it's a louse. If it has eight legs, it's a mite. Mites do suck blood and could kill a small chick.

 

[Jadegle87]

I’m in Australia, and I haven’t heard of permethrin, but I’ll have a go at just picking them off as you said and see how I go. I might have to order permethrin if that doesn’t work. Thank you!
I’ve attached a picture of one of the bugs I pulled off but I don’t really know what it is, and it’s a bit blurry.

 

[azygous]

Permethrin is banned in EU, but you may still be able to get it in Australia in some form. The same precautions apply, though. Try not to get any dust on the chick's head.

Was that bug stuck tight to the chick? Or are they loose? If none are full of blood, they probably aren't real ticks. It's best to get them all off, at any rate.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Permethrin is banned in EU, but you may still be able to get it in Australia in some form. The same precautions apply, though. Try not to get any dust on the chick's head.

Was that bug stuck tight to the chick? Or are they loose? If none are full of blood, they probably aren't real ticks. It's best to get them all off, at any rate.

It looks less like a tick than a louse, but maybe Australian ticks look different? Either way, the permethrin will work, if you can find it. But if those are lice, you won't need to pull them off by hand.

 

[Jadegle87]

Yes, it was stuck to the top of the chicks head, I had to pull it off. Now that you mention it, I see that there is no blood in them when they’re squashed.

 

[sourland]

Looks like a louse of some sort to me.

 

[azygous]

The way to tell if it's a louse or tick is to count the legs. Ticks have eight legs and lice have six.

 

[Jadegle87]

Yes, I think it had 6 legs so it must be a louse. Thank you everyone for your help, I picked off all the ones that I could see. I think it had mites on it as well as I could see them running around through the fluff. I bought some spray with permethrin as the main ingredient and it seems to have done the job as today, I cannot see anything on it!
I'll put it with some friends soon.