If you corrupt an item via links on this page , we may earn a commission . Our editorial message is not influenced by charge . say the full disclosure .
Have you ever heard of the term chicken lice ? It makes your pelt crawl and your head itch a piddling does n’t it ?
Though chicken lice are n’t the form which lives in human hair , they can cause many problems for your heap .
Therefore , it ’s significant to understand what chicken lice are , how to prevent it , what augury to front for with an plague of your flock , and how to address volaille insect within your muckle .
I ’m going to take you in on all of the info you need to know to keep your flock healthy and glad .
Here ’s what you necessitate to know about chicken louse :
What Are Chicken Lice?
If you ’ve ever had a run - in with human lice , chicken lice will most likely sound all too familiar to you . Keep in brain ; chicken lice only populate on chicken . They may jump on you or your wearable , but they ca n’t feed on you which means they ’ll die .
In unforesightful , chicken louse are humble , savorless insects . They have six ramification and move quickly around the host .
Like human lice , they lie in their eggs at the base of the chicken ’s feather , and the adults live on the hide of the wimp .
The good news is the lifecycle of chicken lice is relatively short . The bad news is they ’re continually reproducing .
A Gallus gallus louse will hatch in the feather of a chicken around four to five days after the egg was lay . It takes about nine to 12 daytime to make due date .
From there , an grownup louse will live for another 12 days . If the sucking louse is female , she ’ll take those 12 days to lay more ballock and continue her legacy on your legion wimp .
It ’s important to understand the lifecycle of chicken sucking louse and what you ’re looking for to know how to spot a louse plague in your flock .
How to Prevent Chicken Lice
If your chickens have a louse plague , it ’s important to understand what cause it and what does n’t cause it .
First , you need to know lice are a part of your birds living in nature . It is n’t because your coop was n’t clean enough , or you did anything wrong in particular .
secondly , know what could bring possible lice to your flock . Since your birdie live in nature , it is n’t rare for them to come up in contact with other animal .
clear chicken lice can be carried by unwarranted birds and rodent which roam around your G and your coop while you ’re sleep at Nox .
Since you understand where lice can come from , how can you prevent it ?
Well , there are quite a few ways to prevent a lice infestation in your stack . Here ’s how :
1. Kick Wildlife Out
We do what we can as chicken steward to keep wildlife off from our chickens as it is because everything likes the taste of poulet .
But it ’s important to verify the chickens ’ provender is place in a unattackable area where wildlife wo n’t be drawn in to prey on their intellectual nourishment .
Also , consider placing netting over your chickens ’ yard sphere to keep them good and also from take into account bird to put down in your chicken ’ area .
If they ca n’t obtrude upon where your birds roam , they ca n’t get faithful enough to deal their dirt ball .
2. Dust Baths Are a Must
Dust baths are what help deal your chickens ’ skin . This is what will itch any nits out of their feathers and make them an undesirable host for lice to desire to subsist on .
With this in mind , be sure to give your chickens adust bathroom area . You should include sand , diatomaceous earthly concern , and wood ash ( if potential ) in their junk baths .
These item are what deter and kill biting louse . The more frequently your birds can roam around in it , the better off they ’ll be .
3. Clean Your Coop
I told you not to beat yourself up if your birds have an infestation of lice . You should n’t automatically take up it ’s because yourcoopwasn’t clean enough .
However , this does n’t entail you should n’t pride yourself onkeeping a tidy coopbecause you should . Your volaille ’ wellness depends upon it . If you obtain lice on a chicken , chances are your other birds have it , and they ’re living in your coop .
This is why it ’s important to be sure you cleanse your henhouse adequately and on a regular basis to deter any parasites from do your chicken ’ dwelling house , their home .
4. Quarantine the Newbies
When you purchase novel snort , do n’t introduce them to your flock right away . You want to assume every bird you bring home will be healthy , but there are no guarantees .
This does n’t entail someone seek to deceive you . It could imply your bird was n’t showing many ( if any ) signs of sickness , but the bird is still sick or infested .
However , if you quarantine your fresh birds for three to four weeks before introducing them to your passel , you ’ll have clock time to look on and audit the young birdie .
If you see signs of malady or plague , you should treat them and ensure they ’re 100 % better before introducing them to your flock .
5. Watch Your Flock
Be certain you inspect your mickle every month or two to see if they are showing planetary house of any parasites .
only run your fingers over each razz to see if you notice any nit or bugs on your birds ’ feathering or pelt .
If you do n’t see any , your flock is serious . If you see star sign of parasites , you ’ll want to plow the intact flock because parasites journey quickly .
6. Be Careful with Broody Hens
in conclusion , if you have broody hens , keep a close eye on them . They do n’t get up , and junk bathes as regularly as they usually would if they were n’t strain to dream up egg .
Because of this , they ’re more susceptible to have got parasites . You ’ll need to keep an eye on them and treat them as require if you find parasite on your broody hens .
Signs of Chicken Lice in Your Flock
It ’s significant to experience the signs of poulet lice infestation . Here ’s what you should look for :
If you see any of these mark , you should act quickly to process your flock . parasite can make your volaille miserable and in some cases even cause dying .
The sooner you represent , the advantageously off your flock will be , and the quicker they will return to happy , laying chicken .
How to Treat Chicken Lice
We ’ve covered what chicken lice are , how to foreclose them , and the sign to expect for to acknowledge an infestation .
It ’s now fourth dimension to figure out how to treat a chicken lice infestation when you know you have one . There are a few dissimilar options usable . Here they are :
1. Treat with OTC Meds
Some chicken keepers intend the only way to treat chicken insect is with over the counter Master of Education . I have n’t had an infestation I could n’t thrash with proper cleaning techniques anddiatomaceous terra firma .
However , this does n’t entail other chicken keeper have n’t add up across this badness of an plague .
Therefore , it ’s important to understand there are over the counter medicine you’re able to use to cover chicken lice and if you ’re more comfortable with this method acting , you should sleep together what ’s available .
If your flock is infested with chicken louse , you may apply dog flea shampoos or frankfurter flea dip . Do n’t use medicine meant for mankind because it wo n’t touch on this finicky type of worm and could harm your Gallus gallus .
Also , you could usegarden and poultry junk . This is a with child room to pour down any pest or parasite you do n’t desire around your flock .
Most intervention should take four workweek and be done one metre per week to kill off any newly hatched nits .
2. Treat with Wood Ash and DE
There are some volaille keeps which choose to keep thing more DIY and natural when potential . There ’s nothing wrong with this method either .
I ’ll be upfront ; some the great unwashed do n’t like to use diatomaceous worldly concern around their chickens because they ’re afraid of it harming their delicate respiratory systems .
If you use DE around your birds , be sassy with it . You should localise diatomaceous earth and wood ash tree in their dusting bath and have your birds apply it to themselves unless the plague is fearful .
In those cases , it ’s best to hold the volaille and gently apply DE to their skin and stirring up as lilliputian dust as potential .
You ’ll also desire to be certain to thoroughlyclean the chicken coop , remove allbedding , and dot everything with diatomaceous earth . Do n’t reapply bedding or anything to the floor of the hencoop for an time of day .
Do n’t leave your chickens back in the coop for two hours after you ’ve applied this discourse to protect them from any flying dust particles which might touch their respiratory system .
Again , be certain to utilise this treatment once a hebdomad for four weeks . Keep inspecting your birds each week at discourse clip to see if the sponge ’ numbers are decreasing . Also , check out our info onChicken Mitesandmolting , to know what else to look for .
Well , you are now in the know about volaille worm . You know how to spot them , what they do , how to prevent chicken lice , and how to address an infestation . Hopefully , this will part with you and your chicken any unnecessary rigorousness .
We ’d love to hear from you . How do you regale chicken louse ? Has any method work particularly well for you ?
Was this article helpful?
What went wrong?
This article comprise incorrect information
This article does not have the information I am looking for
How can we improve it?
We appreciate your helpful feedback!
Your answer will be used to improve our content . The more feedback you give us , the better our page can be .
