Chicken fleas: methods of struggle and prevention

Chicken fleas are small parasites, the habitat of which is the bird's plumage. It is on the body of birds, especially chickens, such insects spend their life cycle, multiplying extensively and feeding on the blood of their victims. Consequences of the destructive activity of chicken fleas, outwardly resembling dark hanging growths, is the spread of various infections (plague, salmonellosis, brucellosis), a decline in egg production, deterioration of health and subsequent death of birds. If chicken fleas are found on poultry , how to get rid of these pests quickly and harmlessly, preserving the health of the birds?

Description of chicken fleas

The bird parasite is characterized by a shiny brown calf, which is about 1-2 mm in length. Unlike flat brothers living on cats and dogs, it has a tall, slightly bent and flattened torso on its sides, so it is almost impossible to crush such a pest. Extra strength to the body of chicken fleas attached to a durable chitinous cover, and sharpness and agility provide strong and elongated hind legs, due to which harmful insects jump very high.

The optimum temperature for the existence of such parasites is 40-41 ° C - an indicator corresponding to the body temperature of poultry. For this reason, the chicken flea never leaves its limits and accumulates in places where plumage is absent: there the skin of birds is the thinnest, just "on teeth" small parasite.

Causes of infection with chicken parasites

The sources of the appearance of chicken fleas in poultry are quite large. Chickens can infect parasites from wild birds: sparrows, tits, crows. If there is a poultry farm nearby, chicken fleas can easily migrate from there. Eggs of pests can be found in straw or hay, used in the chicken coop as litter.

Features of reproduction

Despite the huge "loyalty" to his master, the female of a flea can not breed on the body of a hen. Every day, with the help of a certain group of muscles, she pushes a portion of eggs out of her calf for quite considerable distances. Emerging from them the next day, worm-like larvae begin to eat intensively "by the fodder. After a few weeks, the larvae pupate. In an adult, reincarnation occurs at the same comfortable temperature of +40 ^о С, most often in a nest, where the layer is placed on a prolonged incubation.

Dangers of chicken fleas

Chicken fleas are a huge danger for poultry and, actively multiplying at increasing rates, are able to simply "bite" in a short period of time. The hen is very much tormented, behaves restlessly, stops eating and drinking and can die from exhaustion. In addition, the bites of such parasites infect birds with helminths, which subsequently pass through the meat to humans. Therefore, it is urgent to take measures to remove dangerous parasites. If chicken fleas are found on a bird, how to get rid of these pests? What necessary measures should be applied? Which drug to use for chicken fleas?

How to determine the defeat of chicken fleas?

Determine the presence of parasites on the chicken can be visually: insects very often creep out to feed on exposed skin areas near the eyes, beak, and also on the legs. Swarming in the plumage, they strongly annoy the bird. The latter, trying to scratch irritated places, pecking out feathers, begins to lose weight rapidly. It is easier to have a feather, kept on a free grazing. Having the opportunity to leave a place for spending the night, on the vagina they can clean plumage in dust and anthills, so they are less likely to get infected with such parasites as chicken fleas.

How to get rid of folk remedies?

When getting rid of chicken fleas, well-proven folk methods have proved themselves well. In particular, the effect of tansy and wormwood is effective, the smell of which will quickly expel small parasites from the chicken coop. It is enough just to decompose these plants in the corners of the room or hang around the perimeter. Pleases with a positive result the action of wormwood-pizmenny decoction, filled with boiling water in the ratio of 1 to 3 and infused for 12 hours. It is recommended to treat the chicken coop with its entire contents: walls, floors, corners, feeding troughs, nests.

In times of not so distant chicken coops sprayed with dust, the use of which in small quantities not only eliminated parasites, but also prevented their appearance in the future. The most proven measure is the ash bath. Chickens swim in them with pleasure, along with getting rid of annoying fleas.

How to remove chicken fleas in the henhouse?

Of the chemicals, Beaphar droplets are well established. Made on a natural basis, they are designed to remove fleas from dogs. Such transparent means of buttery consistency can successfully save chickens: carefully rubbed into the skin, preventing it from getting into the mouth and eyes of the bird. The period of protective action is 3 weeks. Then the processing can be repeated.

Hartz drops are also designed to get rid of flea cats and dogs, but are able to help in the treatment of affected poultry. The contents of the tube should be applied to the back of the head and rub well. The insecticide will spread rapidly over the subcutaneous vessels and paralyze the activity of the small pest. The effect occurs after 24 hours from the moment of treatment. It is not recommended to apply this product to chickens due to high toxicity. A wide range of drops against chicken fleas allows you to choose from any of them: "Bars", Frotline, Stronghold, "Advantage", "Dana". With strict adherence to the instructions in the process of applying these medications, the result will please literally immediately.

Anti-block treatment is recommended not only for chickens, but also for the premises where they live. For this procedure, any insecticides used in the fight against cockroaches, fleas, cockroaches in the premises: "Tetriks", "Get", "Tsifox", "Carbophos", "Cucaracha".

Against chicken fleas - drug Butoks

In industrial chicken coops, where the number of livestock counts tens and hundreds of hens, the Butoks treatment is effective, the key advantage of which is the possibility of easy preparation of insecticide solution in significant volumes. The contents of ampoules, whose capacity is 1 ml, must be diluted with 4 liters of water and applied to the back of the head of the chicken, carefully rubbing. By bloody subcutaneous vessels, the drug "Butox" from chicken fleas will spread rapidly throughout the body and will not leave the parasites the slightest chance of survival. It is also recommended that this facility handle chicken coops, from which it is required to remove the entire bird beforehand.

Effective powder "Deltamethrin"

In the fight against dangerous small parasites, many farmers use such a remedy for chicken fleas as the powder of Deltamethrin. The drug should be sprayed on the bird feathers (avoiding getting into the respiratory tract), then carefully rub into the skin. In the presence of a special atomizer, powder treatment can be carried out in large poultry houses. After treatment, it is recommended that the chicken coop be kept for several days without harvesting to ensure that all flea larvae die. It is not always possible to get rid of such dangerous pests as chicken fleas from the first time. Therefore, sometimes in 2-3 weeks it is necessary to repeat the treatment, letting the surviving pupae reincarnate in adult fleas. At the pupal stage, pests are less susceptible to insecticides.

Before the return of the hens, wet cleaning should be done, whitewashing the walls with chlorine and slaked lime, and carefully ventilate the poultry house, remove the litter, and replace the litter in cages. It is impossible to carry out the treatment simply by spraying the means: each bird must undergo individual treatment, which must necessarily be carried out in a respirator and gloves.