Chicken lice!

[ladyblu16]

The last one I treated had lice all over his body, so I sprayed his entire body. That was over a month ago and still no sign of lice. The ones on their heads are *very* small, so you might want to use reading glasses when checking them, that or just assume they have more than one type of louse and spray their entire body.

I will definitely assume it's everywhere. Any tips for getting it on their head easily?

 

[casportpony]

Quote: You could wet a cotton ball and apply it that way. Or maybe use a small syringe and just place a few drops and massage the liquid through the feathers. It might be overkill, but it will treat all the lice.

 

[talelady]

I'm experiencing this as well. Had one chicken that hasn't been looking well for some time and i thought it was internal parasites and was trying to figure out a wormer to give. I went into the coop this morning and she was looking pretty poorly and i went back to check her at lunch today and she was dead. Got to looking at her body closely and i saw tons of lice crawling on her head which i hadn't seen before. She was losing her feathers and i figured she was self mutilating because i didnt see any other chickens or ducks peeking at her. I just couldnt figure out why she was self mutilating but now i know why, because she was itchy and lice infested. So i have started using the lice dust and will be spraying the pymethrin in the coop after cleaning it.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I'm experiencing this as well. Had one chicken that hasn't been looking well for some time and i thought it was internal parasites and was trying to figure out a wormer to give. I went into the coop this morning and she was looking pretty poorly and i went back to check her at lunch today and she was dead. Got to looking at her body closely and i saw tons of lice crawling on her head which i hadn't seen before. She was losing her feathers and i figured she was self mutilating because i didnt see any other chickens or ducks peeking at her. I just couldnt figure out why she was self mutilating but now i know why, because she was itchy and lice infested. So i have started using the lice dust and will be spraying the pymethrin in the coop after cleaning it.

Sorry for your loss.

I personally don't like breathing dust... but if you have it, use it.

The permethrin works well, even on the birds.

 

[talelady]

Sorry for your loss. 

I personally don't like breathing dust... but if you have it, use it.

The permethrin works well, even on the birds.

I made the mistake of using the dust last night without using a mask. Not a mistake i will make again because getting the stuff in my lungs last night hurt and my sinuses have been hating me all day plus im just getting over a bad head cold that is trying to rear its head again. I'm wondering if i can dust 6 week old chicks and ducklings thou, they run with my adults chickens and ducks.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I made the mistake of using the dust last night without using a mask. Not a mistake i will make again because getting the stuff in my lungs last night hurt and my sinuses have been hating me all day plus im just getting over a bad head cold that is trying to rear its head again. I'm wondering if i can dust 6 week old chicks and ducklings thou, they run with my adults chickens and ducks.

Unless the product says not to use on young birds, it should be OK. Or you could give them a little spritz of the permethrin if you are getting it and ditch the dust all together instead of subjecting your birds to that in their lungs as well.

Hope you feel better!

 

[talelady]

Unless the product says not to use on young birds, it should be OK. Or you could give them a little spritz of the permethrin if you are getting it and ditch the dust all together instead of subjecting your birds to that in their lungs as well. 

Hope you feel better! :yiipchick

I planned on using the permethrin to spray the coop after cleaning it. I thought about just praying them with it but it is still to cold here in Montana to spray down my chickens because the only time i can catch them is at night when they are roosting. I dont think im going to dust the young guys yet unless thay start showing signs.
I just have a really bad mouse problem right now and im pretty sure thats why i have lice. I killed about 50 of those guys as of right now.

 

[Kiki]

Mice can be a huge pain in the ask.
Have you figured out where they are getting into your coop?
Are you picking up all food and water at night?

 

[talelady]

Mice can be a huge pain in the ask.
Have you figured out where they are getting into your coop?
Are you picking up all food and water at night?

I live in the country so mice just pretty much get in the coop however they can. They dig under the coop and get in like little gophers. I fed the chickens out in the run and also have their water set up out there. I pick up their food every night put not the water because i have ducks in with my chickens plus my landlord would have a cow if they didnt have water at all times. There is an irrigation ditch not even three feet from the coop so it would make much difference if i put their water up at night anyways because mice would still be able to drink from the ditch.

 

[talelady]

I live in the country so mice just pretty much get in the coop however they can. They dig under the coop and get in like little gophers. I fed the chickens out in the run and also have their water set up out there. I pick up their food every night put not the water because i have ducks in with my chickens plus my landlord would have a cow if they didnt have water at all times. There is an irrigation ditch not even three feet from the coop so it would make much difference if i put their water up at night anyways because mice would still be able to drink from the ditch.

Thinking about adopting some feral cats from my shelter to help with the problem but i also dont want them to go after my birds, especially my 8 week old chicks. So i may wait till they're bigger.