Head lice?

Our chickens appear to have head lice...all of the instructions say to apply the pesticide dust to the chicken's head and neck area, but warns against getting it into eyes and nostrils. How do you do this to a squirmy bantam chicken without it going into the eyes and nostrils? I'm afraid to even try DE for this same reason. Chrys

Poultry lice go everywhere on the chicken from what I have read, although I have dealt with mites not lice. Here is a link for you:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig140

What I do is to put some poultry dust in a tied off sock, then turn the chicken on its back on the ground. I dust under each wing and abdomen, vent area, and then flip the chicken over to do the back and neck area. The facial area shouldn't be dusted.

Repeat every 7 days until bugs gone. Spray coop also with permethrin liquid spray or poultry protector (something!) to kill mites that can hide in the crevices and come out just at night. Toss bedding in coop every treatment (this is for mite infestations). Lice tend to live on the bird I have read but hey you might as well make sure that there isn't anything living in your coop too.

Lice have a longer life cycle than mites but if you treat every 7 days you can break the life cycle before they lay more eggs I have read. Lice eggs (after the bugs have been killed and the egg sacs are empty) can be dissolved with unrefined coconut oil I have read.

Here is an older link (with an outdated sevin dust recommendation- not approved for poultry anymore but it worked very well):
http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

Thanks---I will try the sock trick! Has anybody ever tried to treat lice with Ivermectin? It would be great to knock out any other little biting things I haven't discovered yet all at the same time. These birds came from very bad conditions, who knows what else is lurking around...

chrys64moore said:

Thanks---I will try the sock trick! Has anybody ever tried to treat lice with Ivermectin? It would be great to knock out any other little biting things I haven't discovered yet all at the same time. These birds came from very bad conditions, who knows what else is lurking around...

Click to expand...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/599812/ivermectin-some-questions
see post #3- this guy Pine Grove is a professional and expert from what folks say- THE expert.

Thank you, again---looks like I'll stick with the dusting powder!