Poultry lice and mites are quite common for domestic chickens and a few won’t harm your stock. But when a large number of lice over the chicken’s body, this might invite several risks. First lice make chickens anaemic due to blood loss, and severe blood loss results in a weak immune system which invites in more infections and diseases and ultimately leads to death.
Below given context discusses various tips on how to treat chicken lice domestically.
Table of Contents
Detect lice and mites on your chickens:
The keeper should detect every possible way through which parasites may gain entry and take necessary precautions before these can cause any harm.This is another important set of tips on how to treat chicken lice and mites. The first thing that the keepers should do is inspect their chickens regularly. The vent area of a chicken is more prone to catch lice or mites. This is because the vent area has better blood flow, has consistent temperature all over and also possesses soft feathers. These conditions are said to be ideal for the growth of lice.
Next is the inspection of the crop or chicken feed. Make regular checks at night for signs of lice or mites over your chicken feed, since lice are nocturnal you might find them more active during nights and can be spotted with ease.
Educate yourself on how do chickens catch lice and mites over them:
There are various routes through which lice and mites get into your chickens. One of the most common ways is through wild birds like pigeons, sparrows and other birds including migratory ones. These wild birds roam around several different areas and collect both external and internal parasites. These birds when land on the chicken feed transfers these parasites into the crop which is then transferred to your chickens.
Other parasite carriers include rodents that are said to spread mites, lice, and fleas in various ways. They can either come in contact directly with the chickens, wild birds or transfer parasites through the chicken feed.
Notice signs of lice growth:
When there is a decent growth of lice or mites into your chickens, they leave several signs that you might often notice while inspection.
Look for straw-coloured lice bustling around the skin of the chicken or clusters of white eggs stuck to the base of the feathers. Also, signs of inflamed red skins are definite signs of lice presence. Other similar signs may include tiny red dots, scabs, or red-looking eggs.
Final thoughts:
Upon following these tips to prevent lice or mites in chicken, one may not ensure a 100% free of lice and mites, but at least they can be assured that there is comparatively a smaller number of lice that may cause harm to the chickens.
