Oh My.....lice, mites...with pics! updated

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SassyKat6181

SassyKat6181

Songster
9 Years
Aug 30, 2010
972
15
133
Western Mass
Went to change the bandages with my bumblefoot hen and inspected her thoroughly.......OH LORD!!!!!! Her fluffy area around her vent is covered with tiny reddish/brown bugs and there are tons of eggs on the shafts of her feathers. These bugs are not anywhere else. I sprinkle the coop with DE once a week, but apparently this is not helping. I sprinkled her with DE tonight, but need to go to TSC and buy something ASAP. Please help!!!! I have 28 other chickens and 14 ducks, so this is going to be a major project.
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You will need a very fine tooth comb to remove the lice eggs. I read that coconut oil will soften them for easier removal. I recommend that you use sevin dust on your birds after removing the eggs... dust the coop, nests and roosts as well. Redust your birds and coop again in 10 days to kill nits hatched from eggs that you might have missed since the first combing and dusting. Here's a link to help you identify what type of lice you are dealing with:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig140
 
Quote:
Sevin is used in gardens to control bugs. Check the garden section. You would be looking for 5% Sevin. It could have different names depending on the manufactor. Mine is labeled Sevin-5.

Good luck,
Imp
 
I'm sorry-I can't offer any new info than what the other experts already did but I just wanted to tell you that that ( as sad as it is) is an amazing close up photo-so crystal clear for others to see exactly what you saw! I hope your birds are healthy and back to normal soon!
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Icky photos but very helpful! What kind of camera do you have? Very clear photos!
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We used the dust and also the ashes from our fireplace that we burn wood in. the chickens did/do love rolling in the ashes!

A few posts I looked at are below, perhaps you have thought of all already, but in the event you haven't or are searching for some other ideas---

This post has some info on the lice treatments also -http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=6440814

this one too/ talks of it

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=7765

Hope those creepy bugs go away quickly and your bumblefoot and all of your birds/animals become pest free soon:cd!
 
So that's what lice eggs look like... Thanks for posting, now I know what to look for.

How often should you inspect your chickens for lice? Are there behaviors that indicate there may be a lice problem? As much as I spoil my hens, I don't handle them unless I have to, so I wouldn't know if they had lice unless I was specifically looking for them.
 
I bought Livestock Dust at TSC. The Sevin says "known in the state of CA to cause cancer and reproductive problems in mice"
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Surely not something I want to sprinkle on my birds, breathe, or possibly eat.
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I did one treatment on them so far and will repeat after 10 days. It was quite fun to grab them by the feet and tell them to play dead.....they really do lay upside down and drop their wings, looking dead....lol. The day after I dusted them, I didn't see a single bug.
 

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