Elector PSP premise spray--not for lice?

After having just ordered some of the Elector PSP premise spray to treat a recently discovered lice outbreak, I'm finding that lice are not one of the parasites this product treats. It is apparently for treating mites within/on coops, barns, etc. since those critters move on and off the chickens; lice remain on the chickens when causing their havoc.

According to the product label, the Elector PSP can be sprayed directly onto the chickens, but, again, looks like it is directed at mites, not lice.

I'll definitely use the PSP on my coop interiors, and might attempt to use it on my hens, but looks like Sevin or other poultry dust needs to be my "go to" for nuking the lice. As far as I can tell, I (thankfully) do not have mites right now.

Anyone with experience using Elector PSP care to comment on the lice vs mite effects? Thanks.

If it's labeled for spraying on the birds, it will kill lice as well as mites. In order to get lice on the product label, the company has to document testing, which is $$$. If you can't spray the birds, with it, the lice will still be there. Don't use carbaryl, as it's no longer approved for chickens. Permethrin spray works and is approved for use in poultry, and is less expensive than the Elector. Mary

Thanks for the reply. I suspected it might be either a testing or marketing situation, rather than the product's inability to actually nuke a specific pest.

I've already ordered the PSP, scheduled to arrive today. One more (expensive) tool in the toolbox, I guess!

I recently bought a bottle of Elector after reading a post from Azygous who treated her flock with it for lice with great success. I have been using poultry dust on my 2 roosters (they do not dust bathe as often as the hens do so they get lice in the Fall). I had already dusted the roosters and 2 of my hens when I got the Elector bottle so I just treated the roosting boxes and areas where they hang out during the day. The bottle will last a long time since you only dilute 9 cc per gallon of water. I read that there are some other products that contain spinosad but in much lower doses, they are less expensive but do not work as well as Elector which has 40% spinosad.
I also read that it is a good idea to rotate the insecticides to avoid resistance to a particular one. I am planning to use them both (poultry dust and Elector) alternately.

I live in a very humid area and get lots of ants everywhere around the chicken yard. I sprayed some Elector on the ant hills around the run and coops and it worked great. I had used the ant baits with spinosad before with absolutely no good results, the ants just laughed at it but Elector worked very well.

I also read a paper written by a research team of vets at the UNAM (University of Mexico) where they used elemental sulfur in the dusting boxes to get rid of mites and lice. It worked better for mites but it also helped with lice. It is recommended as a preventative so now I added some to my dusting boxes.

aldarita said:

I am planning to use them both (poultry dust and Elector) alternately.

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What dust....brand and active ingredient?

Thank you aart, I should be more specific in my posts, I use GardStar Garden & Poultry Dust. It has permethrin 0.25%

Howdy, Aldarita,
I'm west of Fredericksburg. Thanks for your post and for the feedback. About to go back to the barn and begin cleaning coops, then applying the Elector PSP. Rather than spraying, my plan is to apply with a slightly damp sponge to all surfaces within the coops, then lightly spray external surfaces. Then treat all birds I am able to today. We are receiving much-needed rains right now--would much rather have a sunny, dry day to undertake this task.

I've been using the permethrin dust sold by Tractor Supply for use on poultry (can't remember the commercial name), and had also read about alternating the use of Elector with other pesticide products. And I also read the paper which mentioned sulfur for some of the ectoparasites; I'm surprised I have not read about sulfur anywhere else, since it is commonly dusted on boots/socks in efforts to repel chiggers.

Fingers crossed that the Elector makes a big difference.....

texsuze said:

Howdy, Aldarita,
I'm west of Fredericksburg. Thanks for your post and for the feedback. About to go back to the barn and begin cleaning coops, then applying the Elector PSP. Rather than spraying, my plan is to apply with a slightly damp sponge to all surfaces within the coops, then lightly spray external surfaces. Then treat all birds I am able to today. We are receiving much-needed rains right now--would much rather have a sunny, dry day to undertake this task.

I've been using the permethrin dust sold by Tractor Supply for use on poultry (can't remember the commercial name), and had also read about alternating the use of Elector with other pesticide products. And I also read the paper which mentioned sulfur for some of the ectoparasites; I'm surprised I have not read about sulfur anywhere else, since it is commonly dusted on boots/socks in efforts to repel chiggers.

Fingers crossed that the Elector makes a big difference.....

Click to expand...

Heavily spray all cracks and crevices.

I'm looking at ordering the Elector stuff, it sounds like a nuclear bomb for the hen house, lol.... we'll see! It should be, for the amount of $$$..... I just can't stand to see animals scratching. I was considering other pet products with spinosad, but I like "easy" and "effective." I don't like "time consuming" and "treat again in 7 days."

Why is everyone wanting to spend $140 on Spinosad before trying the much less expensive permethrin? I noticed that the "chicken chick" raves about it, and then I notice that she gets kickbacks if people order it by clicking on the links on her website.