Everybody likes clean, healthy birds. Its easy to think that 
you’ve done something wrong if your birds get chicken lice and mites. However, the truth is whether you live in the city or the country, they’re very hard to avoid. In fact, you might as well count them as an inevitability, and prepare in advance to deal with them.
Consider all the ways in which your birds are exposed to carriers for these little parasites, and its no wonder that its difficult to keep your birds completely pest free. Animals in the wild live with a constant state of parasitic infection, and in fact, lice and mites are a way of life for most wild animals.
Wild animals cope by trying to keep numbers down in a variety of ways; bathing, relocation (Which keeps the population from getting too comfy and overpopulating), grooming, eating and spending time around plants that are noxious to parasites, and there are other countless more obscure methods. Wild animals have one distinct advantage over their city cousins; lack of population density. In order for a parasite to thrive, it has to find a host, and the more dense the population of hosts, the easier it is for a minor case to turn into a full-blown infestation.
Such is the case with city birds, where pigeons, doves, sparrows, gulls, etc, live in close quarters in large numbers. The “bird around town” is loaded with parasites, especially while on the nest, where they can’t escape. The important thing to realize here is that many people think that because they don’t live “in the wild” they don’t have much to worry about in terms of their birds getting parasites. In fact, the opposite is true. City chickens have a much harder time defending themselves from parasites than their country cousins. There are more critters in the wilderness that eat these parasites, keeping numbers down. Your typical city flock has much less room to roam than their country cousins, and they share the yard with house sparrows, pigeons, etc, that are not only loaded with parasites, but are attracted to your birds, for either food, water, or shelter. What to do?!
EXCLUSION IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN TREATMENT
In college I had an internship with Vector Control, dealing with all forms of “problem wildlife”. There was one thing I learned that they all had in common; dealing with them was much more challenging after they got in that keeping them out entirely. Most chicken keepers love seeing those first few wild birds show up at the chicken coop. Most of us have chickens partially because we long for some sort of “getting back to nature”, so why wouldn’t we love the sight of sparrows beginning to gather in the yard? However, the more seasoned chicken keeper knows what this sign portends, and is wise enough to know that while these guests might be beautiful and entertaining, its better to keep them out.
I know what you’re thinking… “How am I supposed to keep a flock of 4oz birds away from my chickens?! Its true, short of wrapping your whole chicken enclosure in avian wire (a possibility worth considering, budget allowing), keeping tiny birds like sparrows away seems a formidable task, but it is possible.
Other birds are attracted to your chickens for 3 basic reasons, depending on conditions; 1) Food. 2) water, and 3) Shelter, or Habitat. Obviously A wild animal that has to forage or hunt for its meals loves a free lunch. Deny them. Its better for your birds, its better for your wallet, its better even for the wild birds in many cases. One simple way to do this is to figure out how much your birds eat, and feed them that much, and no more. This is done through experimentation; raising or lowering the amount of food each day appropriately. Gravity feeders are convenient, but the “endless food trough” is quite irresistible to wild birds. If left unchecked, the word gets around, and before long you may find a small army of birds forming a continuous train of food stealers. They’ll take your feed (your money) and might leave you chicken lice and mites or even diseases for a tip. Not to mention.. that open feeder attracts rats. You can also feed later in the day, when the wild birds are headed for shelter, change times of day for feeding the flock, and to some extent, location of the food matters too. Wild birds prefer to avoid going inside a structure for food (though they will!)
If you live somewhere very hot and dry, or alternatively, far below freezing, you might find that birds are drawn to the coop for water. Obviously, in this case in particular, you MUST have a continual supply of fresh water for your birds. Keeping this water inside will reduce its attractiveness to wild birds, and keep it cooler for your birds as well. Also, you can supply water to the wild birds somewhere else. Make a very desirable bird bath outside of the coop, and the wild birds will be less drawn to your chicken waterer. Honestly however.. Water is life. If the wildlife can’t find water, they will die trying for your chickens water. Put yourself in their place. And put a waterer (or three) just outside your coop.
Shelter, or habitat for birds that carry chicken lice and mites can be an issue for your flock. Do you have a nearby barn that has 100 pigeons, each with their own mite filled nest, just 50 feet from your coop? Count on them trying to share the parasites with your chickens. Birds of the prey variety (Sparrows and pigeons, for example), dislike wide open spaces. Where are the perches that the wild birds use as an entry point to the coop? Remove them, or place a deterrent there. Overall, do everything you can to make the wildlife work as hard as possible for that food, water or shelter. And consider offering easier alternatives away from your birds. You can find a variety of pigeon (and other bird) deterrent products here.
The truth is that even if your birds live in a completely enclosed aviary wire (the small hole stuff) box, chicken lice and mites can still get at your birds, being spread through the fence, or can even be introduced to the flock though their keeper adding new birds. However careful you are, your birds might occasionally pick up these parasites anyway. Keep following our blog for the next installment of this article; “Chicken Lice And Mites; Send Them All To Valhalla.”