AAAARgh. Lice AGAIN...or maybe still

[Tacampbell1973]

I use either sevin or poultry dust. They both work but in my neck of the woods you can find either or, not both at the same time. Any wild birds in the area can bring them in your yard and that makes it frustrating when you thought you got them all. Hay and straw can have mites in it when you get it as well as hold louse very well. I suggest changing the bedding to something else. I use sand myself, but both pine shavings and sand are cheap to use. I use the dust as a preventive now, about every 2 months I will toss a little on their dust bath area and the bottom of the coop. Since I have done this I haven't had them back. Remember that you do have to retreat 7 days after the first treatment just incase of new hatchings (the eggs are protected and some may still hatch).

Something else I have found out... Bleach does not kill them. The last time I had them I put a girl in an empty dog create and when some of the louse dropped off I took her out and poured bleach all over them. They were swimming in it for 30 min before I got fed up and dusted it with a little poultry dust... They all stopped moving then! I redid this experiment with water and then sevin, same results. I cleaned my coop with liquid sevin (let it dry before the chickens get to it, in liquid form it is harmful, dry it is not), dusted all the birds with poultry dust (ran out of sevin at this point), put some poultry dust in their bathing area, and retreated in 7 days. My problem was solved.

You may think I went a little overboard, but I never want to have to deal with that again. Just thinking about it makes me itch. I hope this helps.

That reminds me, Walmarts Poultry Protector, well not Walmart brand but the stuff they carry, ALSO does not kill the bugs, at least not instantly, when I treated Begawky last time, I was combing bugs out of her after soaking her inpoultry protector. I had a white towel under her to see what success i was having, and they were wiggling still. Also I too tried dropping a little bugger in water to see if a bath might help, and nope they swim too. Ick, Ick, Ick. What manner of horrible creature hath invaded my sanctuary. I hope they all die,