lice!!!

[ecojoe69]

Lots of posts about Sevin and permethrin powders. Arent both of those toxic and of concern to anyone trying to be doing this nontoxically?

 

[A HappyHenLover]

Yes. Both of them are toxic to plants as well as animals and also people! Use DE or diatomaceous earth, put it into their bathing spots and rub it gently into their feathers, also you can find natural lice/mite poultry protectors at some stores. Clean their house weekly and sprinkle the DE lightly on the bedding. You can also use garlic extract in water and spray it around the coop to help get rid of the lice. Hope this helps.

 

[ecojoe69]

As much as I would love to take your advice, I have like 20 birds and lots of bedding and nesting boxes. I simply cannot spray the nontoxic stuff, poultry protector, everywhere regularly. Read DE isn't effective and Can cause respiratory problems. still better than the toxic stuff I am using but is There any evidence de works?

 

[A HappyHenLover]

I have over 60 hens and after awhile of doing the DE and other natural products, their lice has gone down and is close to gone. If you use SEVEN it isn't very good for the hens or for the people eating their eggs. Also the amount of sunlight that they get affects the lice. The more sun the bugs don't like it and the hen is healthier to fight the lice.

 

[A HappyHenLover]

DE is alright for animals to breathe as long as they get fresh air afterwards, people cannot breathe in DE safely. If you do it won't kill you or anything, but just make you sneeze a lot, wear a face mask or bandana while using DE. Try the natural way, it's worth the time and it means a lot to the health of your chickens. If you don't want to anymore, try another way but just don't eat their eggs if you use SEVEN or something like that, keep children away from the chickens while using that, they can take in things alot easy than adults can.

 

[dawg53]

DE is alright for animals to breathe as long as they get fresh air afterwards, people cannot breathe in DE safely. If you do it won't kill you or anything, but just make you sneeze a lot, wear a face mask or bandana while using DE. Try the natural way, it's worth the time and it means a lot to the health of your chickens. If you don't want to anymore, try another way but just don't eat their eggs if you use SEVEN or something like that, keep children away from the chickens while using that, they can take in things alot easy than adults can.

What is the withdrawal time for sevin? If people cant breathe DE safely, how do you know it'll make you sneeze or not kill you? Then, what makes it ok for animals to breathe if people cant? Please explain......

 

[spatulagirl]

I treat lice on my birds with coconut oil. It works. I buy it in huge tubs anyway for the family so i melted it down and sprayed their vents and under the wings. I also rubbed it on any eggs I saw.

I shared this with a friend and she treated cattle lice on her goats with coconut oil as well.

 

[A HappyHenLover]

The withdrawal time is probably a month or more for it to get out of their systems, an insecticide like that may stay even longer. A large amount of the dust will just cause a lot of sneezing, animals respitory systems can handle it easy because theirs are different than ours. I'm not quite sure myself exactly why, a friend explained what to do with the hens when they got lice. People can breathe it in but it may not actually do anything, it depends on how much DE was in the air. DE is just crushed up diatoms (fossilized algae with hard shells). It isn't bad to breathe in but our lungs just don't like the irritation it causes, chickens for example are closer to the ground so the DE just doesn't cause them any problems, (i really don't know the answer of why) but trust me, you won't die from it or anything, wear a mask/bandana, air out the chicken coop if felt needed afterwards. DE is a natural insecticide. If taken internally, it can actually help rid the body of parasites. Sorry to confusing anyone.

 

[spatulagirl]

Btw I have 40 birds and took the time to treat them. It is my responsibility to keep them healthy.

 

[A HappyHenLover]

I've heard of coconut oil for lice but I've never tried it before. We use it in our family for health and stuff. I'll try it.