Mites and lice are no fun for any type of pet. These tiny creatures even find their way into the backyard chicken coop, affecting the health of your chickens which can then impact the quantity and quality of eggs they produce.

Where do mites live?

If you've got a timber chicken coop, mites can often be found living in the small cracks and crevices of the walls of your chicken coop. Mites can live within the timber walls for quite a long time, coming out mainly at night-time to feed on the chickens. As unpleasant as it sounds, mites are a blood sucking type of creature that draw blood from your poor chickens! Generally mites are black in colour but will appear to be red after a blood feeding.

How do I know if my chickens have mites or lice?

If you notice sections without feathers on your chickens, you may have a parasite problem in your chicken house. Another sign of mites is the appearance of blackened feathers on your hens due to the accumulation of dried blood and excretions, often under the wings of your hens next to the body.. It's wise to occasionally check your chickens for these very tiny creatures.

How to search for mites in the chicken coop

The quickest way to find the mites, if in fact they are living inside your chicken coop is to wait for night time and using a spot light, go out to your chicken coop. Although your chickens are likely to be surprised by your sudden appearance at night-time, gently pick up one of your hens and shine your torch close to the body of the bird, moving aside the feathers to see near the body of the bird. Mites are tiny and close to invisible without magnification, so you'll need to look up close. If you see dark or red little creatures on your pet, then you unfortunately have a mite problem! The darkened feathers from dried blood left behind by the mites are also a sign that you have a problem.

What is the difference between mites and lice?

If you find tiny creatures on your chickens but they're white in colour, these are likely lice rather than mites. Lice are white in colour and are larger than mites but also feed on the blood of your chickens. Interestingly mites are less 'host' specific compared with lice. Mites will feed on your chickens during the evening and then go back to the cracks and crevices of your chicken coop in the daytime. In comparison, lice will stay on the same hen most of the time.

How to treat your chickens

To treat the chickens there is a range of anti-mite or anti-lice powders that you can dust your chickens with, to discourage the pests. These can be found at fodder stores, vets and some garden centres. Many of these are fairly toxic, so read the label carefully before applying.

How to treat your coop

If you've found mites in your chicken house, the coop itself will need to be cleaned thoroughly with a high pressure chemical spray, that can get into the small cracks in order to really overcome this problem. Ideally get rid of as much wood as possible from your pens. If you haven't already purchased or made a chicken coop, you'll have fewer parasite problems if you chose one made from steel or aluminium. While mites can still appear in these coops, it's not as common and these types of coops are much easier to clean to remove these pests.

Chicken dust baths

If you have enough room in your coop, your chickens will likely create a dust bath for themselves. This is where they roll around in the dust and dirt. Chickens use a dust bath to help to deal with pest problems.