Topic of the Week - Lice and Mites - Prevention and Treatments

[chickengr]

I saw huge improvement in my bantam with a bad case of leg mites when I did the following. I filled a 5 gallon bucket with about 4 inches of warm water. To that I added some over the counter antifungal/antibacterial shampoo I had for my dogs. I set the hen in the water and put a towel over the bucket. She stood in there for about 10 minutes. I removed her and held her on my lap while I scrubbed her legs gently with a soft bristle brush. Then I swished her legs and underside that had gotten soapy in another bucket of clean rinse water. I toweled off her legs and then dipped each leg in plain old cooking oil. She seemed much more comfortable and her behavior and mobility improved immediately. Every other night I'd pull her off the roost and dip each leg a couple of times in a jar of the oil that I kept in the coop. It didn't take long at all for there to be marked improvement in her scales and now her legs look really good.

in gardening, mites on plants get killed by oil, any oil.

 

[woods79]

Has anybody tried teatree oil as a natural repellent I know it helps repel head lice

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Has anybody tried teatree oil as a natural repellent I know it helps repel head lice

The concept of using essential oils as a natural insecticide is an appealing thought. (See footnote below).

However, tea tree oil is a known toxin to cats (cumulative effect even in small doses/exposure) and to dogs (higher concentrations). It was also listed as a household toxin for parrots in a poison control parrot site.

As to poultry, I see a lot of colloquial remedies mentioning it for lice and mites in chickens, especially on "natural" pages, but I've not seen much study or articles as regards to safety....nor any indication for concentration or use. (EDITED TO ADD: see below footnote).

Most essential oils are listed as toxic to birds and small pets (numerous sites)

There is a good European study that shows Tea Tree oil in undiluted concentration (100% concentration) is toxic to rabbits and generally an irritant to many species. However it did better in lighter concentrations (1% to at most 25%). In another study chicks were used to test the toxicity of tea tree oil. The chicks did show neural toxin response to all 3 types of tea tree species under experimental conditions.

So until I see something that shows it is safe for direct application on chickens, or the fumes are safe for bird inhalation, I would not rush to use it, not even diluted, as it is of questionable efficacy.

FOOTNOTE:
The study linked below does about the best job of efficacy of essential oils for ectoparasites in veterinary use that I have found.

While the area of essential oils is an exciting avenue for the industry to explore, in search of better means for parasite control in order to avoid the resistance and toxicity problems associated with synthetic insecticides, it is not without its own set of problems.

The article below concludes that: 1) essential oils are generally too volatile, evaporating too quickly to provide any lasting effect especially for parasites that transform (egg, larvae, adult); and 2) oil concentrations varied greatly from one batch to the next in products...quality control and standardization is an issue...making consistent application problematic.

Further, the study found essential oils could be very problematic for poultry. In particular pennyroyal and thyme were toxic for wide spraying of poultry houses...several chickens died and weight and egg production were reduced.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mve.12033/full

@casportpony what is your experience with essential oils for poultry?

LofMc

 

[woods79]

@Lady of McCamley Thank-you for the info, I like natural routes with things around the home and yard so it was just one thing that popped in my head.

 

[poodlechicks]

I saw huge improvement in my bantam with a bad case of leg mites when I did the following. I filled a 5 gallon bucket with about 4 inches of warm water. To that I added some over the counter antifungal/antibacterial shampoo I had for my dogs. I set the hen in the water and put a towel over the bucket. She stood in there for about 10 minutes. I removed her and held her on my lap while I scrubbed her legs gently with a soft bristle brush. Then I swished her legs and underside that had gotten soapy in another bucket of clean rinse water. I toweled off her legs and then dipped each leg in plain old cooking oil. She seemed much more comfortable and her behavior and mobility improved immediately. Every other night I'd pull her off the roost and dip each leg a couple of times in a jar of the oil that I kept in the coop. It didn't take long at all for there to be marked improvement in her scales and now her legs look really good.

Thank you for the suggestions! I
Believe the shampoo helps clean up the scales, thus helping the oil to penetrate the gaps. The fact that it is antibacterial/ anti fungal wouldn't matter, unless there is a secondary infection going on.
I have not tried a natural approach when medicating my chickens, so reading your protocol and the other posts is very helpful for me. Thank you!

 

[Folly's place]

Back to permethrin spray; safe, effective, cheap, and easy to use. Also, 'natural herbal' products have NO tested standards for ingredients, toxic additives, or concentration os product. Have you read any of the studies on this? Consumer Reports has a good one, for example. Mary

 

[poodlechicks]

Back to permethrin spray;  safe, effective, cheap, and easy to use.  Also, 'natural herbal' products have NO tested standards for ingredients, toxic additives, or concentration os product.  Have you read any of the studies on this?  Consumer Reports has a good one, for example.  Mary

For scaly leg mites?

 

[DIYgirl]

Thank you so much!

 

[SillyMissLily]

For what it's worth I find "The Chicken Chick" has good info on her site and she was the first and only that I've found suggesting the use of gasoline and ointment to treat scaly leg mites. I recently added three older laying hens to my flock and when they came home the were pretty badly infested. I treated the legs with gasoline per instructions in her article and, although it does take months for the legs to heal completely, I am seeing sloughing of the old scales and new healthy tissue in it's place. At first I thought using gas seemed a pretty harsh method, but it really worked without having to grab chickens repeatedly and slather them in oils or petroleum jelly. Just thought I'd share!


Here are her articles on external parasites:

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/08/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification.html

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/03/scaly-leg-mites-in-chickens.html

 

[Folly's place]

Gasoline? Good grief! Mary