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Poultry Lice

Poultry lice are chewing lice that feed on feather and skin debris and spend their entire life on the bird. The chicken body louse, Menacanthus stramineus, is the most damaging species; treatment of birds needs a product registered for poultry, while housing measures limit spread.

Species and signs

The chicken body louse lives on the skin, mainly around the vent, breast and under the wings, and lays egg clusters at the base of feathers. The shaft louse, Menopon gallinae, rests along feather shafts. Other species favor the head or wing feathers. Lice are straw-colored, fast-moving and flattened, and do not suck blood, although heavy infestations irritate the skin. Signs include egg clusters at feather bases, dull or damaged plumage and restlessness.

Life cycle and spread

Eggs hatch in about four to seven days and nymphs mature in around two weeks, so a generation takes roughly three weeks. Lice survive only a few days off the bird, so transmission is mainly by bird contact: new stock, mixing flocks, wild birds and shared transport crates. Infestations are often heaviest in late autumn and winter and in older or unwell birds that preen less. Regular inspection finds infestations early.

Control approach

Birds are treated with a product registered for application to poultry, repeated to catch lice hatching from eggs. Housing measures support that: replace litter and nest material, clean perches and crates, and give birds dust-bathing areas. Quarantine new birds for inspection. Vetpure Miticide is used on housing, bedding and surroundings as its label directs and is never applied to birds. Re-inspect birds two weeks after treatment to confirm control, checking the vent and under the wings.

Key facts

Menacanthus stramineus, the chicken body louse, is the most common and damaging louse of adult chickens (Axtell and Arends 1990, Annu Rev Entomol 35:101)
Poultry lice live their whole life on the host, surviving several months there but only about 1 week off the host (Merck Veterinary Manual, Lice of Poultry)
Peppermint oil is a listed minimum-risk active ingredient (40 CFR 152.25(f)(1))

How our delivery technology applies

Lice live on the bird, so premise products work at the margins: nest material, perches and crates where eggs and stray lice sit briefly. The value of a nano-emulsion there is wetting and penetration into porous nest material and wood, with slower evaporation so the treatment is still present when the next birds use it.

Inspect new birds and follow the integrated mite and lice protocol.