Permethrin spray

[aart]

Thank you! I will add "treat the flock" to tonight's chores.

Am I supposed to repeat treatment when I use the spray? I sprayed them about a month ago. When I checked a couple days later, I didn't see any lice or mites, but they are back now. I am wondering if I didn't get enough on the birds, or what might have gone wrong.

Mite and lice eggs could have hatched.....or they got re-infested from wild birds.

 

[BlueShadow]

I examined the birds more closely tonight - I am not sure that they have mites, I think the little ones I see are just younger lice. Not that lice alone aren't a problem...

I sprayed the birds tonight, hoping for the best. I noticed the spray really runs off the feathers, so I am not sure how much gets to the lice to kill them off. If this doesn't seem to work, I think I will try the dust. Its annoying to catch each bird, but at least then the dust is going where it needs to be. Chasing the birds around the coop at night trying to spray their vents isn't a lot of fun either when you need to repeat it.

I noticed that last time I sprayed the birds, about a week later egg production went up. Egg production was good for about two weeks and then started to decline this past week. That's why I checked them again for lice, sure enough they were back. This time I intend to repeat the spraying - not sure if I will wait 7 days because that fits better with the louse life cycle, or wait 14 days as per the permethrin label instructions.

 

[Folly's place]

When we sprayed our birds, we applied it lightly on their backs, and sprayed the roosts and the underside of each bird while roosting, all at one time. They were all roosting when we went out to treat, so no chasing happened, nobody left their roost, all very peaceful. Mary

 

[aart]

I noticed that last time I sprayed the birds, about a week later egg production went up. Egg production was good for about two weeks and then started to decline this past week. That's why I checked them again for lice, sure enough they were back. This time I intend to repeat the spraying - not sure if I will wait 7 days because that fits better with the louse life cycle, or wait 14 days as per the permethrin label instructions.

When we sprayed our birds, we applied it lightly on their backs, and sprayed the roosts and the underside of each bird while roosting, all at one time. They were all roosting when we went out to treat, so no chasing happened, nobody left their roost, all very peaceful. Mary

I just sprayed a few days ago for lice.
Wanted to get it on their skin around vent,
so stuck nozzle(set on fine spray) into feathers in several spots as best I could.

Sprayed 6 that were being moved to another enclosure on a work table,
that was a clustertangle....won't try that again, got the spray everywhere and on me.

Next I sprayed the rest of the flock on their roosts.
Many were not facing the 'right' way on the roost, so it was a bit of a rumble.
Ended up grabbing tails and quickly spraying...haha!
Definitely had drips running off feathers onto poop boards.
Sprayed feet that showed scaly leg mite too.
Will inspect and spray again after 10 days.

So kinda messy but WAY better than dusting.
Here's the sprayer I used....pretty nice but maybe wish the nozzle was a tad bit longer.

 

[BlueShadow]

I just sprayed a few days ago for lice.
Wanted to get it on their skin around vent,
so stuck nozzle(set on fine spray) into feathers in several spots as best I could.

Sprayed 6 that were being moved to another enclosure on a work table,
that was a clustertangle....won't try that again, got the spray everywhere and on me.

Next I sprayed the rest of the flock on their roosts.
Many were not facing the 'right' way on the roost, so it was a bit of a rumble.
Ended up grabbing tails and quickly spraying...haha!
Definitely had drips running off feathers onto poop boards.
Sprayed feet that showed scaly leg mite too.
Will inspect and spray again after 10 days.

So kinda messy but WAY better than dusting.
Here's the sprayer I used....pretty nice but maybe wish the nozzle was a tad bit longer.

Yes, this is how it was for me too. I wanted to get skin contact. The spray won't kill the lice if they don't contact it, and they live on the skin of the chicken. The label does specify to direct the spray toward the vent of the chicken. It was not total chaos in the coop, but I did have to follow some birds around until I was able to be close enough and the right angle to get the shot I needed.

 

[aart]

Having poop boards really helped, waist high so easy access,
a place to set down sprayer if I had to grab one and re-position them,
and kept the birds from going to the floor.
They are pretty used to me as I often touch them on the roost each night when I do a head count,
(I'll cup some crops, part some butt feathers to look for bugs, or just touch their backs briefly),
precisely for the reason to get them used to me messing with them on the roost at night.

 

[BlueShadow]

Having poop boards really helped, waist high so easy access,
a place to set down sprayer if I had to grab one and re-position them,
and kept the birds from going to the floor.
They are pretty used to me as I often touch them on the roost each night when I do a head count,
(I'll cup some crops, part some butt feathers to look for bugs, or just touch their backs briefly),
precisely for the reason to get them used to me messing with them on the roost at night.

Good idea! My roost design does not allow me to easily catch/touch the birds. I have been wanting to re-design the coop for various reasons, and those roosts have always been top of my list. Now I have another reason to do it.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I examined the birds more closely tonight - I am not sure that they have mites, I think the little ones I see are just younger lice. Not that lice alone aren't a problem...

I sprayed the birds tonight, hoping for the best. I noticed the spray really runs off the feathers, so I am not sure how much gets to the lice to kill them off. If this doesn't seem to work, I think I will try the dust. Its annoying to catch each bird, but at least then the dust is going where it needs to be. Chasing the birds around the coop at night trying to spray their vents isn't a lot of fun either when you need to repeat it.

I noticed that last time I sprayed the birds, about a week later egg production went up. Egg production was good for about two weeks and then started to decline this past week. That's why I checked them again for lice, sure enough they were back. This time I intend to repeat the spraying - not sure if I will wait 7 days because that fits better with the louse life cycle, or wait 14 days as per the permethrin label instructions.

I haven't got to read the posts after yours yet...

But NEVER chase your birds for treatment again! Simply wait until they go to roost and settle down. Then take yourself a flashlight and a helper, keep it dim so the other birds don't get up and start messing around... and simply take the birds off roost one at a time, treat, and return to roost!

Seriously it works, and I hope you share with others.

Also... I spray under the feathers on the skin.

And if others haven't already stated it... I believe their is enough residual effect that you might wait the 14 days per directions.

 

[BlueShadow]

I haven't got to read the posts after yours yet...

But NEVER chase your birds for treatment again! Simply wait until they go to roost and settle down. Then take yourself a flashlight and a helper, keep it dim so the other birds don't get up and start messing around... and simply take the birds off roost one at a time, treat, and return to roost!

Seriously it works, and I hope you share with others.

Also... I spray under the feathers on the skin.

And if others haven't already stated it... I believe their is enough residual effect that you might wait the 14 days per directions.

That's how I started, but after the first 2 birds, the rest decided that they didn't care if it was dark, they were leaving. Doesn't help that most of them "roost" on the floor, and the roost is so big that I can't reach the birds that go to the farthest back corner (and they know it).

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Alas, after many years we've finally got lice. Finishing up hatching egg collection, butchering male breeders this weekend and will put the flock back together for Monday morning treatment. Happy I found this thread for dosage but can't say we're happy for the reason. Oh well, wood ash was only preventative measure and oddly only the hens use it for bathing. Breeder males have shown signs of infestation for a while now and recently the lice have moved to the girls. Figure I'll spray each one in turn taking out of coop in morning then clean all the liter and nests out for coop spraying. Shouldn't take too long to air out with back access door propped open. Course I'll be doing it alone with pump sprayer so thinking I'll sport goggles as I can already see myself fumbling with a bird one hand and long wand spray handle other. Yup, going to be a fun time...