My Chicken’s Got Fleas! Here’s What to Do…

Good chicken owners stay in tune with their flocks. If you are close with your birds, you will learn to read their moods. You’ll know when they’re anxious, happy, uncertain, or sometimes just a little off. Nothing seems wrong at first, but you notice a decrease in egg production, listlessness, and agitation.

Everything seems fine. Nothing’s threatening them. They have plenty of food, water, and shade. Then you notice you’re seeing them starting to peck and scratch. And scratch and scratch. Soon feathers are coming out, and that’s when you see it: a cluster of nasty blood-sucking fleas!

It’s enough to make your skin crawl, but as repulsive as they are, it’s up to you to take immediate action to bring your birds some relief.

Letting a flea infestation go uneradicated will mean severe health consequences, even death, for your flock. Keep reading, and I’ll tell you everything you need to know about fleas, and how to get rid of them with this guide.

Are Fleas Just an Annoyance?

No! Get that thought out of your head. I know some chicken owners think that a few flea bites here and there are just part of being a chicken. They are outside after all, and so they’ll have to put up with the occasional bite from the critters that they hunt and eat.

What’s the big deal? If you rely on your chickens for food, be it meat or eggs, flea infestations will cause a significant reduction in performance, meaning slower growth and fewer eggs.

Worse, left untreated, it can eventually cause serious illness and then death for your poor birds, but only after a prolonged period of agony and misery.

Fleas aren’t funny, so treat them as you would any other serious ailment or threat to the health of your flock.

Wait, Don’t Chickens Eat Bugs? Can’t They Eat the Fleas?

Yes, they do. And no, they can’t. Or at least, they cannot eat enough of them reliably enough to curb an infestation or take care of themselves.

Chickens eat insects, and they’ll eat pretty much everything they can see and catch. And though chickens could eat fleas, the problem is that they cannot see them, reach them, or zero in on them on most places on their bodies.

That’s because fleas invariably hide under feathers most of the time, and when they don’t do that they’re latching on to chickens’ faces and around their eyes where they can’t be reached.

The rest of the time, fleas are just too small and too nimble to get picked off by chickens. That’s all there is to it, and so it’s up to you to wipe out the little blood suckers.

Chickens Usually Don’t Get the Same Kinds of Fleas as Dogs

A common assumption is that if your dogs or other animals have fleas then your chickens will get the same ones. It’s a possibility, but seldom the case.

It turns out that most flea species are specialized parasites that prey on a few particular animals. In the United States, chickens are routinely victimized by the following flea species.

Knowing this won’t make a big difference in how you treat them, but they have different feeding habits and that can make spotting them challenging if you don’t know what to look for.

Sticktight Flea (Echidnophaga gallinacea)

The sticktight flea is the most common chicken flea in the United States. Dark brown and flat, their sizeable and strong mouthparts allow them to latch on to chickens kind of like ticks.

Hence the name, because they’re difficult to pop off once embedded. You’ll commonly see them on exposed skin all over a chicken’s head.

European Chicken Flea (Ceratophyllus gallinae)

The European chicken flea is the second most common type that regularly attacks chickens and other birds in the US.

They’re more likely to be found beneath the feathers feeding from the skin on the rest of the chicken’s body, particularly on their legs, under their wings, and around the vent.

Interestingly, these fleas breed in their nests and visit their hosts to feed before hopping off again, in essence visiting victims regularly.

Western Chicken Flea (Ceratophyllus niger)

This flea is indigenous to America and is found particularly on the West Coast; the western chicken flea will prey on birds but reproduce inside their droppings.

Compared to the other two fleas above, they are not as persistent and are rarely a problem outside of their native ranges, though infestations must still be taken seriously.

Signs That Your Birds Have Fleas

Fleas are tiny, extraordinarily difficult to spot except at very close range and they tend to stay hidden when breeding and feeding. You won’t see them like you’ll see a fox or coyote after your birds which is what I’m trying to say!

Knowing that, we must be on the lookout for symptoms that indicate our birds are infested and affected. Look for the following, and investigate closely whenever you spot them, and especially if you spot several at the same time.

Lethargy.

Chickens that are currently infested by fleas will often be stressed out and stop eating as much or stop eating entirely.

This, in conjunction with blood loss and subsequent weakness, results in lethargic birds. Eventually, it can cause anemia and death!

If your flock doesn’t seem as peppy as it usually is for no apparent reason, it’s highly likely that fleas or some other parasites are bothering them.

Weight Loss.

As I said above, stress and a loss of appetite are common with significant flea predation. If your chickens aren’t eating, they might start losing weight. Chickens will grow slowly or even visibly stop growing if they’re being eaten up.

Decreased Egg Production.

Fleas are the constant bane of egg producers. The stress, aggravation, and loss of nutrition that fleas cause laying hens will result in a significant decrease in egg output or even a total cessation in severe cases.

Sores.

Look closely for mysterious sores on any exposed skin. These will look like red patches, inflamed broken areas, or even full-blown ulcers. Chickens that are driven mad with scratching and pecking will often lose feathers and the bald patches will typically show sores.

Rancid Odor.

If you notice that any chicken has a strange, tangy rancid odor, that might be a sign of flea infestation. That’s because of their waste products that they release constantly before, during, and after feeding.

Also, be alert for this odor inside and immediately around the coop where fleas tend to breed and continue the cycle. Once you know what this smells like, you won’t forget it.

Visible Fleas.

Of course, if you look closely you might just spot the fleas directly. This is especially likely with sticktight fleas which are larger and typically congregate on exposed skin around a chicken’s face and elsewhere on the head.

If your birds have lost feathers, look closely around these areas… Otherwise, spread the feathers and look closely all along the legs, under the wings, around the neck, and vent for the presence of fleas.

Once you’ve confirmed the infestation, it is time to act.

How Should You Handle a Flea Infestation?

Handling a flea infestation on your chickens, in the coop, and around the run and other spaces that they inhabit is pretty straightforward, but must be done methodically to ensure total eradication or at least effective control.

Do the following, in order…

Clean Out Old Bedding

If your chickens have fleas, you simply need to bank on the fact that they’re currently reproducing in and around the coop. Fleas will hide, lay eggs, and mate in deep litter, in cracks and crevices around floorboards, in the walls, and even directly in chicken poop and other refuse.

The first thing you need to do is clear out your chickens and then get all of the bedding out. Clean up any mulch or other surface clutter around the coop, including grass clippings, leaves, and the like.

Dispose of the garbage far away from the coop or, even better, burn it.

Wash, Scrub and Sanitize Coop

After the cleanout, the next thing you have to do is give the coop a thorough, deep cleaning. You can use a chicken-safe cleaning solution, warm water, and a stiff brush for this purpose, or mix up a strong solution of water and vinegar.

Scrub everything hard and thoroughly, and pay particular attention to cracks, crevices, seams, and other nooks and crannies where fleas are bound to hide.

Scrub until you can scrub no more, then once that is done give everything a rinse with clean water and leave the coop to dry completely. You might have to come up with alternate, temporary accommodation for your birds during this time.

Treat Coop and Surrounds with Insecticide

With everything cleaned, rinsed, and dried, it’s time to treat the entirety of the coop inside and out and the surrounding area with a chicken-safe insecticide.

Most good products contain carbaryl or something similar, and though safe for birds, must be administered with strict adherence to instructions for safety, so read and heed what’s on the package. These products will be either a dust or a liquid.

A natural alternative that is also highly effective against fleas and other parasites is diatomaceous earth, or DE.

This stuff kills insects like fleas mechanically by lacerating their exoskeletons, and though it does not kill quickly, it does kill quickly enough to break their life cycle and it keeps on killing, needing only periodic reapplication.

If you’re going this route, make sure you get the food-grade type, never the stuff used in pools because it contains harmful elements.

Whichever one you choose, be as thorough as you can, getting it all over every surface and into every crack and crevice.

Start the Treatment

With the coop and surrounding area treated, it’s time to treat the chickens themselves. Get yourself a medicated poultry spray that is effective against fleas, mites, ticks, and other little biting insects.

The stuff will be gentle enough to use liberally without hurting your chickens, but take care to keep it from getting in their eyes, and always follow the instructions on the bottle.

Make sure you administer it according to the manufacturer’s schedule and do so religiously; many of them take multiple applications to be effective.

Change Bedding

With the coop cleaned up and the chickens treated, it’s time to replace the bedding in the coop with fresh stuff that you are certain is not infested with fleas. Buy new if you have to.

This is a great opportunity to mix in some DE with the new bedding to provide additional ongoing flea protection. Don’t worry, as long as it’s food grade and you don’t go crazy with it; it won’t hurt your chickens at all…

Follow Up and Repeat as Needed

Don’t get discouraged if your birds still suffer from fleas over the following days or even the following week. It takes time for them to die off and continual treatment to be effective until all the adults are dead and the eggs are no longer viable.

Continually follow up by inspecting your chickens for healing and the presence of any adult fleas, treating them with the chicken spray as indicated above. Make sure you stay on top of changing out their bedding as it gets too soiled, because this is one of the primary facilitators of flea infestation.

Prevention is Always the Best Defense

Nobody likes to hear it, but it’s true: the very best thing you can do to get rid of a severe flea outbreak is to keep it from happening in the first place. You can do this by practicing good hygiene and maintenance in and around the coop and run, and inspecting your birds regularly.

At the first sign of fleas, if you take action to get rid of them at once before the situation gets out of control your chickens won’t suffer and you won’t have to work as hard.

Also make it a point to keep ground clutter at bay around the coop and run, and stay on top of picking up poop because fleas like the western chicken flea actually reproduce directly in chicken poop.