chicken lice and the home

[tlck9]

hi all, I received some egg boxes back from someone, unfortunately didn't check them and dumped them under our stairs, anyway got them out and found what looks like a lice in them. little see through bugs which seem to go black as they get bigger

Anyway I found another on something under the stairs, so now I'm really worried

Can they live off chickens? and for how long. I placed total mite powder under there as it said it was safe to use in the home. I found another in my kitchen.....

now I'm worried I'm going to have an infestation

[Nicos]

I've had a quick Gooooogle- and it looks like they can't survive on humans nor on non-bird domestic pets.
Squish and forget I'd say...unless you have pet birds???

[tlck9]

Thanks NIcos, I don't suppose it said how long they can live for....otherwise it could be something else, oh dear

i've had them in the garage as well, I've tried to google to see what else they could be

[Nicos]

Are you able to take a piccie of them???

[Nicos]

Life span of up to a week..2nd paragraph..

http://ucanr.org/freepubs/docs/8162.pdf

[Snadger]

Now I'VE started to scratch!!!!!!!!

[Nicos]

Me too!!!

[tlck9]

your scratching I will try and get a picture but they are just so small.

Just a lesson though to check the eggs boxes you get back, as it doesn't mean they have come from your own stock when people give them to you

[tlck9]

I managed to get this one, its fairly big photo, if I crop it you can't see it that well, bug3 is a smaller file
http://kustominteriors.co.uk/MyPhotos/bug.jpg
http://kustominteriors.co.uk/MyPhotos/bug2.jpg
http://kustominteriors.co.uk/MyPhotos/bug3.jpg

Couldn't get the smaller ones as they are quite see through and a lot smaller, I found some more egg boxes and I've binned the lot as they had more on them

[Nicos]

I found this...

Common External Parasites in Poultry: Lice and Mites, VME-0018-03

worth a read!

[tlck9]

i just with i could id what I'm playing with. from these descriptions it can't be chicken lice, it sounds more like red mite as they are hanging around off the chicken & can live for longer breeding off the chuck

[Nicos]

That piccie looks more like lice from their body shape

[bearded bloke]

Yep,look like a louse to me as well Nicos,OP can you do in camera zoom & crop ? in your picture #1 there is just enough definition to make out a reduction in body size behind the head & looks very much like ........

Illustration of a domestic chicken louse viewed through a microscope and magnified 200 times.

Taken from ..... Image of chicken louse, micrograph, 19th century. by Science & Society Picture Library

[nellie-m]

Here's the cropped picture taken from your second file.

This UCO (unknown crawling object) doesn't look like a mite to me, either. To me it looks like an Unknown Crawling Insect! Mites are not insects.

Louse is my bet, too.

Unfortunately, over the years I had the opportunity to study both


PS: insects: 6 legs / mites and spiders: 8 legs
get your magnifying glass out...

[Hilary B]

It is quite possible that this creature has nothing at all to do with chickens. It may have come from a pet living in the home where the eggs were used.