Chicken fleas: ways of occurrence, control and prevention

Chicken fleas are harmful insects that parasitize birds.

Any bird from large turkeys to miniature canaries and budgies will suffer from them.

Consider chicken fleas "under the microscope"!

Appearance

Chicken flea is elongated, somewhat hunched. torso dark color and shiny chitin coatings. She has no wings, but she has 3 pairs of strong legs. She jumps with the help of the rear, the front keeps, so as not to fall, and the middle serves to move through the body of the victim. Leaping hind limbs are distinguished by thick "thighs" and elongated "legs."

IMPORTANT! Chitin that protects the body of the parasite is so strong that it withstands blows with its beak and claws of birds.

Photos of chicken fleas are presented below:

What is different from other parasites?

If you look with the naked eye, to find differences from related species of fleas is simply impossible! But with a strong increase they are immediately noticeable.

The chicken flea has a torso that is very flattened from the sides, which makes it impossible to crush it.. In addition, it looks more slender, thanks to a tucked belly.
In bird parasites, eyes are much better developed than in other flea species..
There are long antennae.

From the red tick, which is another common parasite of birds, chicken fleas are very easy to distinguish.

Ticks are colored red, fleas are chestnut colored.
In fleas, it is very difficult to see the paws, while in ticks, they are strongly spaced apart and perfectly visible..
The body of ticks is flattened above and below, in fleas - from the sides.

Harmfulness and danger

Birds infected with parasites constantly itch and pull out their own feathers. This leads to increased irritability, scratching the skin before the sores. Subsequently, severe anemia may occur.

ATTENTION! The unfortunate victims of bloodsucking parasites gradually lose their appetite and sleep, die from hunger.

But this is not the worst! Chicken fleas can carry serious diseases such as salmonellosis, brucellosis, trypanosomiasis, and encephalitis and the plague. Not only all the inhabitants of the coop can become infected, but also people. After all, fleas often bite them.

but cases of infection with infectious diseases still occur quite rarely. Not every parasite is a peddler of the most dangerous microorganisms.But the eggs of worms tolerate absolutely all fleas, therefore in case of a bite, anthelmintic therapy will be necessary.

Lifestyle

Parasites very rarely jump from the body of a bird, constantly living under feathers. In this they differ from their relatives, who visit the owner only to “have lunch”. Chicken fleas can only live in heat, at a temperature of 35-45 °. Therefore, they live on birds, hiding in the heat of feathers.

Fleas can only be penetrated by thin skin, so they often accumulate around the victim's eyes or on the scallop. For the same reason, pests rarely attack people and animals. Chicken fleas are very difficult to damage the thicker human skin and reach deep blood vessels.

Chicken fleas are quite prolific. The female can lay about a dozen eggs per day.. For her not too long life, she manages to produce hundreds of similar parasites.

Laying chicken flea eggs has its own unique features. By straining certain muscles of the body, the female "shoots" the egg at a distance of several meters. It falls into a chicken nest or on the floor.

After a day from the eggs of the larvae. They look like little worms with white transparent covers. The larvae do not drink blood, being content with organic garbage, adult feces, bird droppings. They enter the pupal stage in a few weeks..

In this state, they are able to wait a long time for their victim. Pupae “wake up” only if the bird has been near them for a long time, for example, hatching eggs.

REFERENCE! In the pupal stage, the fleas calmly wait out the cold and lack of food.

Indoor poultry suffer from fleas the most. They almost never leave home, therefore can't get rid of pests on their ownfor example, bathing in ashes, dirt and dust.

REFERENCE! If the chickens walk freely "in the wild", they eliminate some of the parasites by running through the grass and shrubs, wiping themselves in anthills.

Fighting Chicken Fleas

To get rid of pests in poultry and small household farms, you can use drops for dogs or cats. They do an excellent job with their task, destroying all bird parasites.

Dana and Leopard. Drops of domestic manufacturers, work fine and have a low price.
Frontline, Advantage, Stronghold. Imported preparations containing chemical compounds. They should not get inside the body of the bird, so as not to cause serious poisoning.
Hartz. It contains a very strong insecticide, so drops are not recommended for chickens.
Beaphar. Absolutely safe for birds to drop on the basis of Neem tree seed oil.
Ivermectin. Universal sterile solution, which is used for injection. It contains a whole range of substances, eliminating any parasites.

Drops are applied to the skin of birds in places where they can not reach the beak.

Processing small chicken coops

To eliminate the parasites from the premises, you can use any drugs that kill household pests such as bedbugs, cockroaches and ants. Will fit Executioner, Geth, Tetrix, Cucaracha, Digox.

ATTENTION! Before processing nests, litter and bird droppings cannot be removed. The parasites inside them will remain intact and breed throughout the county. Before surgery, you only need to transfer chickens to another room.

Fighting in large farms

For the treatment of industrial poultry houses and factories are suitable drugs such as Butoks and Deltamethrin.

Deltamethrin It is produced in the form of powder. It contains an insecticide at a concentration of 50%. The powder can be sprayed directly onto infected birds or indoors.

Butox contains all the same deltamethrin, but comes in the form of a concentrated aqueous solution. One ampoule with a capacity of 1 ml is sufficient for dilution in 4 liters of water. Working fluid is sprayed with bird plumage and hens are treated.

How to properly handle the premises and birds?

Drops must be applied to the back of the head.. The feathers are moved apart before this, and the insecticide is rubbed into the skin. The powder is sprayed over the entire surface of the feathers, as well as the solution..

Thereafter chickens are transferred to a clean room and proceed to the processing of the chicken coop. We remind you that no cleaning is necessary before this! Selected Insecticide carefully processed nests, walls, ceiling, the floors, feeders, perches and cells. If the garbage is on the floor is very thick, scatter and drag it.

Several hours after processing (the exact time is indicated in the instructions for the preparation), you can start cleaning the room. Rubbish should be removed and the floors should be cleaned with a soap solution with the addition of soda.

If there were too many fleas, the procedure will have to be repeated in 2-4 weeks. During this time, the pupae, poorly amenable to the action of insecticides, will emerge from the cocoon and turn into imago.

Infection prevention

The most effective preventive measure is regular cleaning in the hen house. Pupae and larvae will be removed along with the garbage, which will help to avoid an epidemic of parasitosis.

It is very useful to spread out or hang out bundles of herbs that repel chick fleas. Can be used juniper, sagebrush, peppermint, tansy.

Chicken fleas are malicious and dangerous pests that can bring birds to death. Therefore, it is necessary to fight with them!