How do I know if my chickens have mites or lice?

Watch for a sudden drop in laying, pale combs, dirty or scabby skin around the vent, feather loss, restlessness, and birds reluctant to roost. Inspect at night with a flashlight — red roost mites hide in coop cracks by day and feed on birds at night, so the coop can be infested even if you see nothing on the birds during the day.

What kills mites on chickens?

Poultry-approved permethrin dusts or sprays are the most common effective treatment for the birds, alongside a thorough coop clean-out. You must treat both the birds AND the coop, and repeat after about 7–10 days to kill newly hatched eggs. Diatomaceous earth helps as a preventative dust-bath additive but isn't reliable as a sole cure.

How do I prevent mites and lice?

Provide a dry dust-bathing area (chickens self-treat by dusting), keep the coop clean and dry, do regular night checks, and quarantine any new birds for a few weeks before adding them to the flock — new birds are the most common way parasites arrive.

Chicken Mites & Lice: How to Spot, Treat, and Prevent Them

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External parasites are one of the most common backyard chicken problems — and one of the easiest to miss until laying drops and birds look unwell. Caught early, they’re very treatable.

Spotting them early

Run a quick check during your weekly handling:

On the bird: part the feathers around the vent and under the wings. Look for crawling lice (pale, fast-moving) or mites (tiny dark/red specks), clumps of eggs at feather bases, scabbing, or dirty, matted vent feathers.
Behaviour: dropping egg production, pale combs, excessive preening or feather-picking, and birds reluctant to go into the coop at night are red flags.
At night, in the coop: shine a flashlight into cracks, perch ends, and nest boxes. Red roost mites live in the structure and only come out at night to feed — so inspect the coop, not just the birds.

Treating it properly (break the cycle)

Treat the birds with a poultry-approved permethrin mite & lice treatment (dust or spray), following the label.
Strip and clean the coop — remove bedding, scrub, and treat cracks, perches, and nest boxes where mites hide.
Repeat in 7–10 days. Treatments kill adults but not all eggs, so a second round breaks the hatching cycle. Skipping this is the #1 reason infestations return.

Scaly leg mites (raised, crusty leg scales) are a separate type — treat by softening and coating the legs (e.g. with petroleum jelly) to smother them, repeated over weeks.

Prevention

A clean, dry coop plus a dust-bathing area (dry soil, sand, wood ash) does most of the work — chickens instinctively dust-bathe to control parasites. Add a few weeks of quarantine for any new birds, since incoming stock is the most common source. Pair this with the routine in our beginner’s guide and parasites rarely get a foothold.

Common questions

How do I know if my chickens have mites or lice?: Watch for a sudden drop in laying, pale combs, dirty or scabby skin around the vent, feather loss, restlessness, and birds reluctant to roost. Inspect at night with a flashlight — red roost mites hide in coop cracks by day and feed on birds at night, so the coop can be infested even if you see nothing on the birds during the day.
What kills mites on chickens?: Poultry-approved permethrin dusts or sprays are the most common effective treatment for the birds, alongside a thorough coop clean-out. You must treat both the birds AND the coop, and repeat after about 7–10 days to kill newly hatched eggs. Diatomaceous earth helps as a preventative dust-bath additive but isn't reliable as a sole cure.
How do I prevent mites and lice?: Provide a dry dust-bathing area (chickens self-treat by dusting), keep the coop clean and dry, do regular night checks, and quarantine any new birds for a few weeks before adding them to the flock — new birds are the most common way parasites arrive.