Lice are a common parasite that feed on chickens. As they move about the body, they eat dead skin scales and annoy the chicken, causing it to lose weight and even die. Lice can hitch a ride on wild birds, rodents, or new additions to your flock. You can nip them in the bud by frequently checking your chickens for missing feathers, egg clusters at the base of feathers, and tiny, fast-moving specs against the skin. Early detection makes treatment much easier.
Managing Your Flock
There are commonsense steps you can take to minimize your flock's exposure to lice. Start by screening coop windows, and removing old food and waste products every day, to keep out lice carriers like rodents and birds. When you get new chickens, quarantine them for 30 days and watch for lice and other problems. Don't add them to your flock unless they're healthy.
You should thoroughly clean the coop, and replace bedding, several times a year. Give your flock a sand box, mixed with dry earth and ashes, where they can dust bathe. When they dust bathe, they'll be suffocating lice and other parasites and so keep their numbers down.
Spraying with Orange Guard
If you grow oranges, you've probably noticed that bugs avoid them. That's because orange peels contain d-Limonene, which is an effective insect repellent. Orange Guard is a solution of distilled orange peel oil and water. Although it kills lice by dissolving the coating of their respiratory system, the FDA considers it a "food grade" product.
Before treating your flock for lice, decontaminate their coop by spraying Orange Guard in every nook and cranny, paying special attention to perches and nest boxes. You'll get better results if you apply the Orange Guard after the heat of the day, and away from direct sunlight. Wait 10 days and reapply the Orange Guard, to eliminate lice that hatched from eggs left over from your first treatment.
Dusting with Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous Earth contains the crushed exoskeletons of tiny ocean organisms. The rough and sharp edges of these exoskeletons scratch the protective coating of lice and allow moisture to escape. This causes the lice to dry up and die.
Avoid crystalline and chemically processed diatomaceous earth, as it contains unhealthy byproducts and has the ability to damage your respiratory system. Food grade diatomaceous earth is completely safe, since it has a low crystalline content, and it is processed without chemicals.
Put diatomaceous earth in your flock's dust bathing area, and sprinkle it on the coop floor and nest boxes. You should thoroughly dust each chicken by grabbing its feet, turning it upside down, and applying the diatomaceous earth powder under wings and tail feathers. Make sure its back, neck, and head are covered as well. As with Orange Guard, you'll need to reapply the diatomaceous earth powder after 10 days, to eliminate lice that hatched from eggs left over from your first treatment.
Related posts
Remove mites and lice from chickens in three easy waysWhether you have urban backyard laying hens or a rural chicken coop, lice as well as mites and other unwanted critters may show up, and there...
Lice are a common parasite that spend their entire life cycle on the body of their host. They tend to congregate in the tail feathers of infected chickens and lay clusters of eggs that hatch into...
Many people establish backyard flocks because they want chemical- and pesticide-free meat and eggs. However, whether you have an urban flock in your backyard or a pastured flock in the country, yo...
Help keep your chickens mite-free with a few simple steps.An important part of keeping a chicken flock healthy is to get rid of mites and lice. These parasites, which hide in your chickens' feathe...
Lice are parasites that can live on people's bodies, clothes, heads and pubic areas. Because they are found on different parts of people bodies, the three types of lice--head, body and pubic lice-...
