A few days ago we noticed that some of our chickens were loosing their feathers. Chickens loose feathers for many different reasons. It is important to determine the reason for the feather loss. Some feather loss might not be a big deal. Chickens often loose feathers when they molt. However, molting usually occurs in the Fall. Another reason that hens loose their feathers is from the rooster mating. Roosters will pull on the neck feathers with their beak and use their claws on the wing feathers while mating. A third reason would be a broody hen plucking her breast feathers. Lastly, sometimes a chicken will assert it dominance by being a feather picker. Since none of these options seemed to fit the feather loss our birds had, I researched a bit more.
It turns out that chickens are prone to getting lice and mites. Before you freak out, chicken lice is not the same as human lice. It can’t be transferred to humans! One sign that lice or mites are the cause of the feather loss is the loss of feathers near the vent (bottom). Also the red skin is a sign.
The reason that chickens are prone to lice and mites in the winter and early spring is due to the wet ground. Chickens naturally cleanse themselves by taking dirt baths. Since our ground has been saturated, they have been unable to take their dirt baths.
To get rid of poultry lice and mites, you will need to treat the coop and the birds. Start by cleaning the coop. We then applied food grade diatomaceous earth (DE) to the area that the chickens take their dirt bath in. The DE is gritty and will destroy soft bodied pests like chicken lice. Basically when the DE is in the dirt, it will be applied when the chickens take their dirt bath.
The other option is to use a pesticide. I am not a big fan of using pesticides as I try to keep organic as possible. However, since our chickens are already infested, I want to make sure to cure this now. I think for maintenance, DE should work fine. For a pesticide you can use Ytex GardStar Poultry & Gorden Powder or Sevin. Sprinkle the dust on the chickens paying special attention to the vent area. Also sprinkle the dust around the coop. Do not contaminate the food or water. I also didn’t treat the nesting box where they lay eggs. I put DE in the nesting box.
Hopefully with regular use of DE, we will prevent chicken lice from reappearing.
For more on chickens, checkout my previous chicken posts.
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