Get Rid Of Chicken Mites With These Natural Treatments

Thinking of lice the first thing that comes to mind is the crazy itching in your head or for those who own cats or dogs can imagine the havoc and the mindless scratching. It is very common for human and their pets to become victim of lice, mites, fleas or even ticks. These insects feed on the blood of their hosts and their bites inject some poison into the skin which causes the irritations and the itching. Similar to humans and pets, chickens can also become hosts for lice. Though the type of lice which infect chickens is bit different that those which infect humans but they belong to the same family and are called ‘chicken lice’. Yes, that right, even chicken can become infected with lice. If you are surprised then don’t worry, you’re definitely not the only one.

Therefore it is very important that any new chicken that is to be added to the flock must be thoroughly checked before letting it roam free with others as if it is infected with chicken lice or mite it could spread it to the whole flock and jeopardise the health of the flock.

Before discussing how to get rid of these annoying creatures, we will first educate ourselves with some knowledge about the lice and mite infestation such as their symptoms, types and some other things as well.

The common types of lice

If you were surprised to find out that even chicken can get infected with lice, you will definitely be surprised to know that there is not just one type of lice that infects chicken but rather a plenty handful of types. Each type of lice has their own special way of declining the hosts health and work in different manners but what they all have in common is that they leave some sort of evidence of their presence. They can be easily detected if you pay enough attention and carefully examine your flock. Today we will only discuss the few most common types lice, although there are many but we have only shortlisted a few for today.

Body lice: Body lice are those lice which roam around the body of the bird, and feed on their dead skin. Contrary to the name body lice do not necessarily live on their hosts. They are found on the parts of chicken where there are no or less feathers as compared to the other parts e.g. breasts, vent and thighs. These lice can easily be identified by parting the feather of the chicken and then looking at their base for egg cluster, this identifies the presence of lice even if they are not easily seen roaming on the feathers of chicken

Shaft Lice: Shaft lice are much similar to body lice but they are only just a little smaller in size as compared to body lice. They also roam around the feathers of the bird and feed on the dead skin. The main difference between body lice and shaft lice is that shaft lice do not leave a cluster of eggs, rather they lay individual eggs along the feather barb or feather shaft. These are easily visible when examining the bird.

The common types of mites

Yeap, we know what you are thinking; there is a difference between lice and mite. Although both are pests and annoying little creature which must be removed from the host’s body for healthy life, but there is a minor difference between the two. Mites feed on the blood of the host whereas lice feed on the dead skin. The good news is that they are both treated with the same methods. There are many types of mites which infect chicken but the most common ones are listed below

Northern Fowl Mites: These sneaky little creatures are very difficult to identify on the birds in the early stages. One way to know about northern fowl mite infestation in your birds is that they leave a cluster of eggs in the shaft of the birds feather, which is very similar to body lice. These are the most common type of mite infestation in chicken and other birds

Red Roost Mites: These mites are very much like northern fowl mites but the main difference is that these mites do not live their whole lives on the body of the host. These parasites are called ectoparasites. Ectroparasites either live on the surface on the skin or in the skin itself. If your birds are infected with red roost mites then they will only be visible when it is their feeding time, which is usually at night.

Scaly Leg Mites:

These mites live inside the legs of the birds. They create a tunnel for themselves in the legs of the prey and bury themselves in it only leaving behind their feces due to which the infection starts. It is for this reason they are not visible to the naked eye, they only way then to identify these mites to analyse the legs of the birds and if they look scaly they most likely have fallen prey to the scaly leg mites.

There are still plenty more types of mites which could infect your birds. It is also important that you take protective measures such as gloves while examining the birds as they might bite you. Chicken mite though do not like to stay on humans or any other animal, they may bite you but will return to their primary victims i.e. the chickens.               

Symptoms of Lice or mite infestation

If you examine the behaviour of you flock you will find that there are a few very clear signs that your birds are going through something, something that is annoying them or that they are unhappy about it. Similarly there are a few clear signs that point towards lice and mite infestation. The most obvious one being the over pruning of feathers. You might notice that your chickens are spending more time pruning and cleaning their feather, this is because these mites and lice cause itching on the skin of the bird. Just like normal lice causes itching on our heads, chicken lice irritates the birds and therefore the birds spend more time itching and scratching which their beaks. This is a sign that you should further examine your birds.

For further proof, you can pick up one of your birds that you think is pecking at their feathers more than usual and examine their complete body. You should part their feathers and look at the skin and you might see some creepy crawlies roaming around the body of your poor birds. Alternatively you can look for eggs which may be present at the shaft of the feathers or at the very bottom of the feather. These eggs will look much similar to the lice eggs that are found on human head. If you have dealt with lice on human or fleas on your pets then treating chicken lice will be no different for you.

If any of the signs mentioned above are not visible it may not necessarily mean that there are no mites. Other symptoms may include excessive loss of feather, reduction in the production of the eggs, paleness in the combs and waffles because of the loss of blood. In severe cases there may be deaths of the some birds.

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