Tick and Flea on chickens

[ArraAchicksMama]

What do chicken owners give their chickens for tick and flea prevention/supplement? Besides guinea fowl. I have 20 chickens and live in a highly tick and flea infested area. Thanks !

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi,

For the majority of types of wood ticks, like deer ticks, the chickens and guineas will eat them. We live next to a forest and since they free range, we rarely get a tick, but go to the part of the woods where they can't go and we'll come out with some hitchhiker ticks for sure.

Even if a tick were to crawl onto a bird, another bird would see it and nab it. If they do attach themselves, it's usually the face area but I have never seen it.

If you live in the South, there are poultry ticks, and this article might be helpful.

If you were looking to what herbs you could feed them to possibly help prevent mites, lice, ticks, here's an article that covers those.

For coop protection year-round, we've monthly sprinkled diatomaceous earth to keep the mites and lice our chickens get exposed to out of the coop and off of them. I just boot the chickens from the coop, put on a mask, and sprinkle it everywhere on the floor, in the nests, and on roosts, even outside of the coop. This will take forever to remove an infestation though, as it's only a prevention. For an infestation, most use Permethrin powder on the chickens and everywhere in the coop. Repeat that a week to 10 days later.

 

[ArraAchicksMama]

Hi,

For the majority of types of wood ticks, like deer ticks, the chickens and guineas will eat them. We live next to a forest and since they free range, we rarely get a tick, but go to the part of the woods where they can't go and we'll come out with some hitchhiker ticks for sure.

Even if a tick were to crawl onto a bird, another bird would see it and nab it. If they do attach themselves, it's usually the face area but I have never seen it.

If you live in the South, there are poultry ticks, and this article might be helpful.

If you were looking to what herbs you could feed them to possibly help prevent mites, lice, ticks, here's an article that covers those.

For coop protection year-round, we've monthly sprinkled diatomaceous earth to keep the mites and lice our chickens get exposed to out of the coop and off of them. I just boot the chickens from the coop, put on a mask, and sprinkle it everywhere on the floor, in the nests, and on roosts, even outside of the coop. This will take forever to remove an infestation though, as it's only a prevention. For an infestation, most use Permethrin powder on the chickens and everywhere in the coop. Repeat that a week to 10 days later.

Is there an alternative to DE in terms of tick prevention. Iv decided to stay away from it since it is harmful to chickens.

 

[Flixflaxnoob]

What did you ultimately decide to do about tick prevention, if anything? My property is heavily infested with deer ticks and other ticks. I found 4 attached to the comb of my chickens today.

 

[ArraAchicksMama]

What did you ultimately decide to do about tick prevention, if anything? My property is heavily infested with deer ticks and other ticks. I found 4 attached to the comb of my chickens today.

Everyone says the chicken themselves eat them. I never got anything for them for tick. I also heard barn lime helps.

 

[Flixflaxnoob]

Everyone says the chicken themselves eat them. I never got anything for them for tick. I also heard barn lime helps.

I sprinkle lime down pretty regularly. I just have the 4 chickens right now and they probably don't make enough of a dent in the tick population on my property.

 

[ArraAchicksMama]

I sprinkle lime down pretty regularly. I just have the 4 chickens right now and they probably don't make enough of a dent in the tick population on my property.

Guinea fowl would eat all of it. But they are a bit noisy. Read about them.