• giveaway ENDS SOON! Cutest Baby Fowl Photo Contest: Win a Brinsea Maxi 24 EX Connect CLICK HERE!

should i cut off the feathers with nits?

Date sort Score sort
technodoll

technodoll

Songster
10 Years
Aug 25, 2009
2,265
34
191
Quebec, Canada
I deloused the flock yesterday as most chickens were crawling with them
sickbyc.gif


This morning I checked one of the most infested birds and didn't see any moving critters (although it was a quick check), her vent is red and irritated - could this be caused by the chemical powder we puffed on her?

She also has about a dozen feathers that have big clusters of nits (eggs) on them, close to the skin. Should I trim these off with scissors to avoid the eggs hatching and her getting lice all over again? If yes should I do this for the whole flock?

thank you!
 
Last edited:
As far as i have read, you shouldn't cut feathers off that close.They bleed. If you have to get rid of them you have to pull them. But with that said, I think you just have to re-treat with the dusting powder in a few days or a week. I hope someone who knows the regimin will post their answer soon, as I have to dust mine too. I think they may have feather mites. Going to do the close inspection this morning. I will have to watch this thread.
 
Last edited:
OK thanks, I really hope to get advice on what to do... IMO if these eggs hatch the cycle starts all over again, new lice = new egg clusters on the feathers, how does the cycle ever end, really?
sad.png


The treatment stressed the girls out so much, egg production was down this morning.
 
if they are old feathers you can actually pluck them out, its like pulling out 1 strand of hair, but do it one at a time, it does help for a badly infested bird, if they are new feathers don't pull or cut. also a bath in dog shampoo will help if you wish to go that far it will get most of the moveable ones off, my birds love baths, but I show.
 
if they are old feathers you can actually pluck them out

sorry again for the stupid question but how do I know if it's an old feather or a new one? Obviously these are around her vent and abdomen and the feathers are quite sparse there...

I had read that very informative site before delousing, thanks! but it doesn't say what to do with nits though. I really don't want these horrid egg clusters on my babies, knowing they will turn to thousands of lice soon
sad.png
 
is you bird molting, if not you should have old feathers, new feather are short , pointy, and have a line of blood in them normally you do not see nits on new feathers because they will fall off when the dander that protects the feather falls off, when you run you hand over the bird new feathers fell spiky.
 
ok thank you for the explanation (it helps!!)

the nits are on old feathers that don't look too healthy anyways, so I guess it's ok to pull them out... will this hurt my girl? is there a method to the madness?

hide.gif
 
OK so I went ahead and did it...

Couldn't pull the feathers out on my girl as there were a good dozen badly infected and it hurt her too much, so we just snipped them off as close to the skin as possible (that's where the clumps of eggs were) and hopefully the roots will fall out by themselves eventually... her poor rump was looking so sore, too.

We checked half the flock and didn't see any lice so the powder worked
ya.gif


That one girl was the main carrier, didn't see too many nits on the others we checked so we'll de-louse again in a week and HOPE the problem doesn't come back!

Why do we care so much about a bunch of silly birds?

hu.gif
yippiechickie.gif
love.gif
 

Similar threads

F
Looking for Guidance on Restoring My Chickens’ Feathers
Replies
3
Views
470
Seaslug
S
FirstTimeChikens
Getting those nits off!
Replies
6
Views
1K
FirstTimeChikens
FirstTimeChikens
Ashley & Donna Dame
Silkie chicken 2/3rds feathered
Replies
6
Views
700
Ashley & Donna Dame
Ashley & Donna Dame
V
Mystery black mass/scab on hen around tail feathers
Replies
3
Views
877
Loving my girls
Loving my girls
Clucking happy
Moult questions
Replies
6
Views
633
Clucking happy
Clucking happy

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom