Flea Infestation

The most common flea found on chickens is the sticktight flea (Echidnophaga gallinacea), followed by the european chicken flea (Ceratophyllus gallinae). Both fleas are found in tropical, subtropical, and temperate zones worldwide. In the United States, the sticktight flea is most abundant. In a survey conducted on backyard flocks in southern California (between June and September 2015), sticktight fleas were found on 20% of the 20 different properties visited.

Adult sticktight fleas are small (1.4-4 mm long), reddish-brown to black, wingless, blood-sucking insects. They embed their heads into the skin of their host and feed on their blood, where they may remain for up to 19 days. This flea prefers to feed from fleshy areas without thick fur or plumage (feathers). They are most often found on the chicken's face, in the area around the eyes, comb, and wattles. Their bites are painful and irritating, and when large clusters of fleas are present, it can lead to swelling, development of bullous lesions, weight loss, anemia, and death. Young chickens are at a greater risk, and infestations with fleas are often fatal.

Although poultry are the primary host of sticktight fleas, they have become increasingly more common in domestic dogs and cats. On dogs and cats, they are typically found between the toe pads or around their ears. They are often mistaken for ticks. Besides dogs and cats, these fleas have also been reported on horses, pigs, ground squirrels, rabbits, rodents, and even humans.

Sticktight flea Life Cycle

The complete life cycle of the flea takes about 1 to 2 months, varying according to the temperature. The adult female fleas lay their eggs at night, while remaining attached to the bird. Her eggs will drop to the ground, underneath where the chickens are sleeping. In about four days, small wormlike larvae emerge from the eggs. They will feed on organic material and feces from the adult fleas, and hide underneath bedding or the soil. They will molt several times before burrowing down into the soil and cocoon themselves where they will develop into adult fleas. This process takes about two weeks. Once the adult fleas emerge, they will seek one of your chickens to feed on.

How to Treat Chickens with Fleas

Sticktight fleas should be carefully removed by hand using tweezers, to pull each off individually. In order to help prevent the birds from becoming reinfected, both the bird needs to be treated with an pyrethroid insecticide and the environment thoroughly cleaned (since the flea larvae are found in the coop or run environment). All bedding materials (litter, straw, shavings, etc.) should be completely removed and replaced with fresh, uncontaminated materials. The new shavings should be sprayed with an insect growth regulator.

Bedbugs Vs Red Poultry Mites Vs Sticktight Fleas

	Bedbug	Red poultry mite	Sticktight Flea
Adult Appearance
Size	4-12 mm (0.15-0.47 in)	1-1.5 mm (0.04-0.06 in)	1.5-4 mm (0.06-0.16 in)
Color	Reddish brown	Gray to black	Dark brown
Turns red	Yes	Yes	No
Wings	No	No	No
Body type	Oval and flat	Oval	Flat
Speed	Quick-moving	Slow moving	Slow moving
Visible to the naked eye	Yes	Yes	Yes
Feeds on	Blood	Blood	Blood
Where they are found	Hide in crevices, cracks, behind floorboards, in walls, and behind wall outlets during the day, feed on chickens at night	Hide in crevices and cracks during the day, feed on chickens at night	Bare skin on the head - comb, wattles, near eyes
Transmission	Contaminated equipment	Wild birds, rodents, wildlife, dogs, cats, humans, contaminated equipment	Turkeys, wildlife, wild birds, dogs, cats, horses, pigs, people, soil, litter
Where eggs are laid	Tiny, microscopic whitish, sticky eggs that adhere to surfaces in secluded areas	Lays their eggs in their hiding spots	Lay their eggs around the eyes anad wattles of chickens, causing nodules. Once the flea larvae hatch, they drop off the chicken to live in the soil for 2 weeks.
Average Life cycle	4 weeks	2 weeks	1-2 months
How you can tell	Look around the premises for the presence of bugs	Look for them at night on the birds	Visible during the daytime, found in clusters on unfeathered areas, such as the bird's eyes, comb, and wattles.
Temperature	Temperate regions	Warm weather	Warm and humid weather
Clinical signs	Excessive feather loss, vent irritation, lesions on breasts and legs, anemia, reduced egg production	Restlessness at night, dermatitis, anemia, may cause chickens to alter where they roost at night.	dark brown spots face, anemia, restlessness, swollen eyelids, crusted lesions, ulcerations, blindness
Zoonotic	Yes	Yes	Yes
Carry diseases	Yes	Yes	No

Treatment of Fleas on Chickens

Treatment of fleas is two parts. The first part is removal of the adult fleas from the chicken's face, and basic wound care. The second part is removing the flea eggs and developing larvae that are present in the coop or run environment. All bedding and nestbox material should be removed and replaced. All housing components should be thoroughly cleaned and treated with insecticides.