Itchy chickens...

[Crazy Caz]

Hi,

I am relatively new to chicken keeping.. albeit have had them for a couple of years.... my chickens have started to scratch themselves.. and I am wondering what it could be ??? and how to best deal with it?

 

[tygrysek75]

You nred to check them if they have lice or mites.Check their cop too for red mites if yoh have second hand cop.

 

[Chuck]

Check for lice on the body, especially around the vent. They are longish, quite pale and move quickly. Also check the coop for red mite which hide in the cracks and come out at night (grey) to suck the blood and return to their crevices (red). They travel along the perches so get a white paper towel and run it along the perches in the dark to see if any red shows up.

 

[Crazy Caz]

Hi, I have today treated the chickens for red mite and have cleaned out and sprayed their coop also... fingers crossed.....

 

[Icemaiden]

Hi Caz. You want to be cleaning out & spraying your coop at least once a fortnight, preferably every week. Diatom powder dusted around inside the coop after you've cleaned it & before you put in the clean bedding is also very helpful in preventing problems with red mite.

 

[Marigold]

Hi. Crazy Cat, you might also find this on the main Poultrykeeper website useful http://poultrykeeper.com/red-mite/red-mites
There is a link to Poultrykeeper at the bottom of the page and it has info on most common problems.