When you think of chicken predators , it ’s probable that pointy teeth , fast legs , long talons and razor sharp claws amount to beware . You might even conjure up beady eyes , long wings and furred tail . But rarely do we recall of the virtually microscopical predators that feast on your chickens , just as much a predator — and a risk — as aweasel , fox or raptor may be . Let ’s take a closer expression at the unassuming , microscopic duplicate terrors known as lice and mites .
What They Are
Lice
There are two main categories of lice : bloodsucking , which point only mammalian , and chewing , which target mammalian and birds . Of the chewing sort — the ones to be concerned with as a wimp keeper — there are several varieties that attackchickens . They are coinage - specific , meaning they ’ll only overrun wimp , and not , say , joker or ducks .
These parasitic louse live on and chew the skin of volaille . For their tiny size , domestic fowl dirt ball can make spirit pretty uncomfortable for your birds . A louse infestation also has some undesirable and very frustrative consequences , which we ’ll inquire in more depth subsequently on .
Mites
This bantam predatory animal is a congener of the tick , resemble small spiders . At less than 1/25 of an inch , this parasite can wreak mayhem on a volaille ’s peel , feather and resistant system . There are several varieties of mites ; most live on the body of birds and survive by chewing pelt or feathers , or suck their rakehell . Some type may even tunnel through the skin into the consistence of the razzing .
Some mites are easier to spy with the au naturel eye ( and fast reflex ) than others . The most common mite in backyard flocks on the North American continent is the red mite . Also call domestic fowl mites , roost mites or chicken jot , these buggers make their habitation on the flock ’s roosts , occur out at night to suck blood while the birds sleep , changing from grizzly to bolshy in the outgrowth . population can detonate in warm climates or the heat of summertime in Northern climes .
What They Look Like
How do you get it on that lice have infiltrated your harmonious raft lifespan ? Look for subtle changes in any individual bird ’s behavior . Is one biddy looking a bit dull ? Has she stop laying and seems a act droopy or unsatisfied , even if no self-aggrandising alteration or events have pass ?
A lice infestation may result in lowered fertility rate and decreased egg production , feathering damage , deficiency of restful slumber and lessen appetite leading to malnourishment . A resulting weakened immune scheme is common , and this leaves your flock susceptible to disease and interior parasites . Lice and nit may be visible on your birds at the feather rotating shaft , or you may simply mark your chicken agitate their head or scratching their ear in irritation .
Mite
Sometimes , hint problems look similar to lice problems , for better or bad . When mites make a home in your coop ( and on your chickens ) , birds may present their malady to you with an increase appetite but lowered eggs production .
Check also for plumage impairment and anemia . Very weak razzing , such as bantam bird , may die or conk out to flourish from a heavy infestation . Gallus gallus who are heavily infested will often rob out their own feathers in an endeavor to stop the irritation of being bitten — so you may see featherless areas on a bird ’s body , or bare skin , bloody spots or scabs on brook birds . Red mites may be visible as tiny , carmine molecule on the chickens or roost at Nox , but you have to move ( and take care ) quickly as they scamper aside from the light .
What You Can Do About Them
right hencoop management andcleanlinessis paramount in prevent mites and lice from generate a foothold in your wad and spreading among your birds . drill goodbiosecurityby :
Treatment
There are fowl - okay insecticide powders that can be used to process adult insect — not nit — over the course of several weeks and multiple applications as the nits hatch . Diatomaceous earthis a relatively safe alternative , but its use will take several more applications over a longer full stop of metre to be efficient in the henhouse and around the lot .
As a natural chicken steward as well as a apiculturist , I count for other solutions . Mites , thankfully , are environmental , and so they ’re easier to manage or eradicate : Thoroughly clean the flock ’s housing , focusing on cracks and crevices and apply diatomaceous world throughout . discourse can be prison term - run through , physically tax and stressful on your skirt , but it ’s possible to beat them .
As always , if you may take a few simple precautions to keep your birds in excellent health , they ’ll be capable to fight off touch and lice without too much assistance from you . Just set them up for success : Offer them high - quality , constitutive provender ; always have sweet , clean water available ; and supplement their diet with ample loose - range fourth dimension , sunlight and exposure to grass , where they can move , exercise , flap their wings , hunt for bugs and generally just be happy wimp .
