TREATING and PREVENTING LICE on CHICKENS

Lice come in two varieties: bloodsucking and biting. Bloodsucking lice attack only mammals. Biting lice attack both mammals and birds. Several species infest chickens — more, in fact, than affect any other bird — and a chicken may host more than one species at a time. How badly chickens become louse infested depends in part on the strain; some strains are more resistant than others. Debeaked birds, because they can’t groom properly, are more likely to become seriously infested than those with their beaks intact.

An infested bird can be so irritated from being chewed on that it won’t eat or sleep well. Egg production may drop by as much as 15 percent, and fertility may also drop. Chickens become restless, scratching and pecking their