5 things to know about lice

They’re small, they’re fast, and they can bug your birds all year round.

Several types of lice infest poultry. The most common are brown lice, small (about the size of a sesame seed) and usually pale brown, but they can vary in colour, including white, yellow or black. Lice spread when birds come in contact with an affected flock mate or wild birds, and are more common in humid climates. They scurry around so fast, you have to be quick to spot them when you part the feathers as they run from light.

It’s easier to spot their egg clusters, glued to the base of feather shafts, most often around the vent and tail area. Lice eat skin flakes and feather dander/fluff.

Symptoms include:

• irritation;

• itching;

• increased preening;

• feather damage/loss;

• pale comb and wattles due to anaemia;

• red patches of skin;

• bacterial infections in the skin.

Egg production may fall, and younger birds won’t grow as fast.