Chicken louse is a small insect that lives exclusively on the body of poultry and inflicts huge damage to its health with its parasitic activity. There are about 40 species of such pests, and several of them can attack a feathered individual at the same time.
Mallophages (another name for chicken lice) are specific to their host: living on birds, they will never attack mammals.
Chicken Louse: Description
Miserable in size (about 2 mm) lice are characterized by an elongated segmented body of yellow-brown color. Head with small antennae, large, wider than body. On the host's body, the parasite is fixed due to the jaws (mandibles) and three pairs of legs with stiff claws.
Chicken louse feeds on down of birds, feathers and exfoliated particles of the epidermis. Blood does not drink, but does not disdain secretions oozing from wounds and abrasions. Females are overly fertile: during the life cycle, one pair is able to produce about 100,000 offspring. The eggs are small (0.5-1.5 mm), have an oval shape, attached to the down, feathers and torso. The appearance of a larva that looks like an adult specimen occurs after 6-18 days. It transforms into a mature louse for 12-20 days, passing through three stages of molting. Small parasites spend their whole lives on the body of the host, outside the usual habitat, they can last up to 4 (maximum 6) days.
Causes of malophagosis infection
Chicken lice in the chicken house infect poultry of all ages, but young animals suffer the most from these parasites. The source of infection is wild birds (sparrows, pigeons, crows), sick hens, tools and equipment. It was noted that the number of mallophages is much higher in males, since the latter, unlike chickens, pay less attention to cleaning their plumage.
The peak incidence of malophagosis often occurs in the spring and autumn seasons. The downy-eaters like young feathers, so during shedding the symptoms of the disease worsen. The defeat of chicken lice is mainly due to poor care, overcrowding, poor diet, and damp in the chicken coop. If chicken
lice appeared
: how to get rid of such harmful insects? What drugs to use? How to recognize a pest?
Symptoms of the appearance of lice in chicken
It is quite difficult to detect lice with the naked eye: insects are intolerant of light, therefore they hide in secluded places (in the near-canal zone, on the lower and lateral parts of the body and under the wings) and can even adapt to the color of the plumage of the chicken. A high number of parasites causes baldness in poultry, most often the back, neck and stomach are exposed.
With a thorough examination of the pen, you can see holes in it, which the pest eats up in the process of moving along the body of the bird. Also, pests are able to affect the eyes of poultry, causing an inflammatory process (conjunctivitis).
You can determine the infection of chicken lice by several signs:
- Restless bird behavior. The chicken pecks itself and plucks a feather in an attempt to get rid of the parasite.
- Significant loss of feathers and exposure of skin. With a severe lesion on bald areas (as well as on catkins and crests), crusts of dried blood, wounds and injuries, lice eggs and their secretions are noticeable.
- Weight loss and decreased egg production.
- Poor weight gain in chicken young.
- The death of a bird.
It is quite difficult to see chicken lice with the naked eye; To simplify the inspection, it is recommended to warm the chicken with a lamp or hold it for 5-10 minutes in direct sunlight. Insects crawl closer to the heat source and become clearly visible. Outwardly, these are living black dots, very similar to moles. Chicken louse does not live on a dead bird; from a cooling corpse, it immediately crawls into a more favorable habitat.
Chicken lice - the spread of infections
Lice in chickens, in addition to parasitic activity, are carriers of various kinds of infections, most often helminths. And this in the future will surely affect a person who has consumed the meat of a sick chicken. Therefore, if lice are found on poultry, you should immediately get rid of them. The feathered individual should be treated with lice by spraying it with insecticides (using a garden sprayer).
Feathering should be wetted evenly. Also, in the fight against parasites, you can use special powders that are carefully rubbed individually for each bird, while observing the recommended dosage and avoiding the drug in the eyes and nose.
Chemical processing methods
Since chemicals that have a paralyzing effect on the nervous system of an adult insect do not kill eggs of chicken lice, treatment should be done twice: in the cold period with an interval of 12-16 days, in the warm period - after 9-12 days. When kept in a chicken coop, the bird is sprayed with drugs on roosts in the dark, with the cell in the cages. The most effective drugs for chicken lice:
- an aqueous solution of chlorophos 0.3-0.5% concentration;
- "Permethrin" - 0.5% emulsion;
- "Turingin" 5-7% concentration;
- "Entobacterin" -2% aqueous suspension;
- "Tsiodrin" - 0.25% aqueous emulsion;
- Pyrethrum powder;
- deltamethrin powder intended for sprinkling with chickens;
- aerosol "Ecoflis", "Get", "Nowhere";
- drops "Neotomazan", "Bars", "Front Line", "Dana", "Stronghold". They need to be applied to the body in several places, and then the medicine will be distributed independently on the skin.
Chicken coop processing
Simultaneously with treatment, it is required to process the room in which the hens are located. How to treat a shed from chicken lice? The effect of such insecticides as Karbofos, Sevin, Butoks, Neostomazan is effective, which should be used to spray the litter and all surfaces.
All that is not afraid of fire, it is required to burn with a gas burner or blowtorch, and close the room and wait a few days until the drug works. The bird must be removed from the premises during processing, and when it is populated back, the chicken coop needs to be ventilated, wet-cleaned, and litter removed. During this period, the litter should be updated, the feeders and drinking bowls should be washed with water, and it may be possible to forget about such a problem as chicken lice forever.
How to get rid of chicken lice by folk methods?
The pungent smell of chicken lice can scare away vinegar, in which for greater effectiveness you can add the same portion of kerosene, or a solution of benzene, kerosene and ammonia, which should be used to treat the chicken coop and its feathered inhabitants.
On the floor you can scatter herbs that repel parasitic insects: chamomile, wormwood, tansy or rosemary, or spray essential oils of eucalyptus or rosemary.
Preventative measures
Prevention of malophagosis disease consists in periodically treating the chicken coop with steam or boiling water, timely removal of litter and food debris, and regular replacement of the litter. Walls should be whitewashed every year using a mixture of bleach and hydrated lime. It is also important to prevent the entry of parasites into the chicken coop with a new livestock and to exclude the contact of chickens with wild birds. Each month, the feathered stock should be inspected for lice and ash baths (in equal proportions of ash and fine sand) for dry swimming.
At high risk of infection, it is recommended to introduce “Chlorofos” (per square meter - 2 grams of the drug) in a dry litter, digging in which the hens will disinfect their feathers.