[tode]

Good evening all.

It's been quite a while since I last posted here - I hope everyone is getting along OK and still fighting the good fight . . .

My 'problem':  about ten days days ago we bought our first chickens (at last !) - just two, to begin with. Anyway, they seem to be doing fine - perky, laying regularly . . . but today, whilst the black one was sitting on my knee, I noticed quite a few little 'bugs' running about on her head. On closer inspection they look like little black fruitflies. And when she shakes her head, quite a few fly up, only to return after a few seconds.

Should I be worried ?    Never had this with other birds that we've kept.

[spottymint]

Possibly lice or mites. I'm not too into chooks, hope someones advises.

[Beekissed]

Lice and mites don't fly, so it could be gnats, much like the gnats that bother dogs at this time of year.  Don't know that I've ever seen them on chickens but I can't imagine why they wouldn't bother chickens too if there was an opportunity. 

Maybe someone from your area could chime in on it, as I've never seen flying insects bothering any of my chickens before. 

[tode]

Thanks for your thoughts - but they're not gnats !  They're tiny - smaller than a fat greenfly, and they run prety fast.

There seem to be less to-day, so maybe it's just a passing thing.

I'll try to take a photo, but I think they're too small to show up.

[Chickencoo]

Have you tried getting some baby shampoo and washing the chicken in a sink which will make her skin easier to see?  I have had some small gnats fly around my chickens but not aware of any crawling over them.  Maybe even put some louse powder on to see if that helps...  Good luck