get rid of lice?

[Silattahoe]

I am sure there have been threads on this but I couldn't find one...
I have a broody hen (been on the nest for 3 weeks - eagerly waiting for hatchlings!). Today, when my hen was out and I handled the eggs, I saw a yellowish crawly on an egg! My guess is that it's a louse. My hen takes daily dust baths but I am sure that lice will still populate with her sitting 23.5 hours a day in the nest. What else can I do to stop the lice from populating? Will they start being a problem for my other 7 chickens that roost separately but in the same coop?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If it was me I'd dust the nests and everything (including the hen) with food grade diatomaceous earth(DE).
Normally I'd use 5% Sevin and it would probably be OK but with chicks on the way I'd try the DE first.
Act fast or they could take a toll on the chicks.

 

[rikithemonk]

I believe that the cure is a plastic bag with 7 dust powder in it. How this works is that you stick the chicken in the bag with her head sticking out. Grip the bag tight around her neck and shake her, the bag, and the dust. this coats the bird in the dust. Repeat every few days because lice eggs will hatch. Don't forget to treat the flock, and area.

Riki

 

[rikithemonk]

If it was me I'd dust the nests and everything (including the hen) with food grade diatomaceous earth(DE).
Normally I'd use 5% Sevin and it would probably be OK but with chicks on the way I'd try the DE first.
Act fast or they could take a toll on the chicks.

I don't trust DE because of how it works. DE is a small powder covered with barbed spines. The insect crawls on the DE and the spines work their way between the plates of its exoskeleton. the barbs keep the spines from falling out and the struggling bug works the spines deeper and deeper till it dies.

OK, pop quiz. What else has microscopic spines that are barbed, can be a dust, and was pulled from all the shelves due to lung cancer? Asbestos. Asbestos is frighteningly similar to DE. How asbestos causes cancer is, that it is a series of fine microscopic fibers covered in barbs like a fish hook, arrow, or rose stem. It works its way into the lungs and becomes lodged in the tissue. The barbs keep it in place and the irritation over the years causes lung damage and eventually cancer.

I don't trust DE. Its way to similar.

Riki