Ticks and Chickens

[JoePa]

I was wondering - some people say that chickens will eat ticks and if left to free roam the chickens will reduce the number of ticks around your place - others say that chickens don't eat ticks - so who is right - does anyone know of some kind of study that was done to determine if they do indeed eat ticks - it sure would be good if they did - we have lyme disease all over the place here in Pa -

[highlands]

Private study concluded: Chickens will eat ticks.

1) The tick population is much lower, almost non-existant, in the acres where we have the chickens roaming.

2) I've seen the chickens eat ticks.

There's your answer - I'm right.

If you feed your chickens they won't forage as hard. We don't buy hen food. Their job is to hunt pests and feed themselves from pasture. We get many thousands of eggs, greatly reduces pest numbers and pecked apart poop piles. Works.

Cheers,

-Walter Jeffries
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/

[Taylor R.]

We had a lyme disease scare at our house this week. It pushed my dad over the edge and he decided he needed some chickens (my son picked up the tick at his house and he has quite the population out there). He took off next week to build them some chickie houses.

[o&itw]

Chickens will eat about anything they can get into their beak, and they especially like insects. Of course they will eat a nice cricket or grasshopper before a tick (simply because it is larger) but once they get the "big" insects eaten, the will eat the smaller ones. They would eat rats if they could find a way to kill them.

[Micheal]

So it is writen and mentioned - fowl do eat bugs (crawling insects esp. those with sucking mouths - as per Webster's pocket dictionary) therefore a tick being a bug and a chicken being a fowl.
I'd have to say Yes - chickens do eat ticks......

[BigHenTinyBrain]

Originally Posted by o&itw

Chickens will eat about anything they can get into their beak, and they especially like insects. Of course they will eat a nice cricket or grasshopper before a tick (simply because it is larger) but once they get the "big" insects eaten, the will eat the smaller ones. They would eat rats if they could find a way to kill them.

I've seen my chickens catch and eat mice. It was not for the faint of heart.

We free range and feed very little in the summer. Our tick population (based on how many I find on 2 kids, self, husband, 2 dogs and 2 cats) is very low compared to reports from others in our area who do not have chickens. I've never seen them eat a tick, but I am sure they do.

[Tabitha]

I talked this one over with my father several years ago, because when I was a kid, I never saw a tick. Dad said that is because chickens were free running and gardens had a fence around. We lived closer together, and the chickens from the neighbor might be friends with ours. I guess a tick did not stand a chance.

[JoePa]

Here in Northeastern Pa. lyme disease is really bad - seems like every one is getting it - just in may family - 2 of my daughters had it - they live in different parts of the state - 3 of my nieces had it - same thing they don't live near each other - a DI has had it - and 3 of my grandchildren have had it - oh - and their dog too - sure wound be nice if they came up with vaccine that would keep you from getting it -

[belladulcinea]

We will find a few ticks on occasion, but I let the girls stay out longer when we do! So far we have found 3 which is pretty darn good for Oklahoma.

Plus chickens are awesome rat killers! Mine eat the babies but just kill the bigger ones and then I get to dispose of them!

[RonM]

I am taking an antibiotic now for lymes, just because I have pulled off a few this spring and my Dr says the tests are not reliable , lets give you this just to be on the safe side....Mine comes from my daily walks ina woded are.. My next door neighbor recently had lymes and was treated for it in Central Delaware......

[SpaceCadet12364]

Guinea birds are murder on ticks, and they seem to get along with chickens too. Maybe get a few of those to run with your chickens?

You can also eat them (about the same or a bit smaller than a chicken), its supposedly a darker meat bird......and their eggs can be eaten as well, I think the ratio is like 2-3 guinea eggs is about the equivalent of a large chicken egg.

[o&itw]

Guineas are great for keeping down the ticks. The problems is keeping them around as they are rather "independent" fowl. If you can raise them from chicks under a setting hen, then they tend to think they are chickens and are much better about hanging around.

[Pony]

Originally Posted by o&itw

Guineas are great for keeping down the ticks. The problems is keeping them around as they are rather "independent" fowl. If you can raise them from chicks under a setting hen, then they tend to think they are chickens and are much better about hanging around.

Or not.

We raised guineas once.

Once.

Those noisy, raucus little feathered footballs with the pre-historic heads (look like God ran out of parts and pieced them together) are just incredibly STOOOOPID.

Mean, too.

But they do eat ticks. Too bad the birds die off so quickly due to their STOOOPIDITY!

LOL! Can you tell I'm not fond of guineas?

[BigHenTinyBrain]

Lol Pony! My dad has guineas, he just lets let them "do their thing". They roost in the trees, lay in the weeds and generally raise a ruckus. He has to get a few more every couple of years, but they seem to do pretty well as "wild" birds. He's always trying to convince me to get some... I think I agree with you though.

[Joe.G]

I love my Guineas, They def help with ticks more so then Chickens, when I lost all of my Nesting guineas last year, My Tick population went crazy on us and dog's, I Replaced teh Guineas and no more ticks, I have some on Nests now and I also incubated some of there eggs so I now have keets and should be able to keep replacing any lost to Nesting.

[o&itw]

Originally Posted by Pony

Or not.

We raised guineas once.

Once.

Those noisy, raucus little feathered footballs with the pre-historic heads (look like God ran out of parts and pieced them together) are just incredibly STOOOOPID.

Mean, too.

But they do eat ticks. Too bad the birds die off so quickly due to their STOOOPIDITY!

LOL! Can you tell I'm not fond of guineas?

But... but.....Pony, thinking of that nice singin' they do that you're missing out on.

[Pony]

Originally Posted by o&itw

But... but.....Pony, thinking of that nice singin' they do that you're missing out on.

Thank God I do not have to listen to THAT any more. <shudder>

[bergere]

Last year, when I first moved here.. both DS and I ended up having a lot of ticks on us and it was just around the house.
Ended up having to do 30 days of antibiotics not to long ago.

This year, the chickens are full grown, and so far, not a single tick...

Granted my landscaping leaves much to be desired... as landscaping by chicken isn't fashionable.. LOL

Last year, had hundreds and hundreds of Japanese beetles killing my cherry trees, June bugs and so on.... this year... not a one.

And chickens, are much,much more quiet than Guineas!

[JasoninMN]

Who would buy the hideous ugly annoying birds unless they were marketed as tick eaters? Not many. The only thing I will give guineas credit for is they range farther then chickens will.

[Halfway]

Mine got rocky mountain spotted avian bird flu with a hint of lyme...