Ah...chicken lice...again!

[LCARTER87]

Today I am checking one of my birds butt because she is always having dirty butt! So I go and look and notice, she has bugs around her vent, We have had birds with chicken lice before and they look pretty much the same! Around her vent, flat little bugs, light colored and they do not like the sunlight, last time we gave our birds an oatmeal bath, and dusted them with seven. My question is, we had no idea any of our birds had this, we havent gotten any new birds and the bantams had them but were completely cured. I checked the bantams and they dont have any either (they are seperated from the big girls) Is there another way they can catch lice? And is there anything we should be doing besides the seven?

 

[artsyrobin]

bathe her in adams flea shampoo, then get some ivomectrin pour on for cattle, the generic version is about half the cost, and for large birds put 5 drops between their wings on the skin- it also kills some internal parasites, its like using frontline - wild birds carry them- so its really hard to pinpoint - its a constant battle...

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have to treat my chickens every four months or they get mites year round from the wild birds like artsyrobin said. If your lice are not the sucking kind, then you have to use dust to kill them (the pour ons won't work unless they eat blood).

I have never dealt with lice. Here is a good website:
http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

 

[JP101010]

TSC sells poultry Lice and mite treatment -$6.99 a can and its enough to treat once and again in 10 days as reccomended because of the lice life cycle. This is the only chicken lice/mite treatment that my vet reccommends. I used it on a two day old chick and all my adults and it worked great!

I just checked my can its called Gardstar Poultry Lice and Mite treatment.

 

[artsyrobin]

i didn't know that....

so how can you tell what kind?

 

[artsyrobin]

Quote:
gonna check around here- wonder, can dogs get poultry mites??

 

[dawg53]

You've got to dust the inside of their house, roosts, and nests as well as your birds with the sevin. Then redust everything again including your chickens in 10 days. You do this to kill nits hatched from eggs since the initial dusting, ending their lifecycle. Ivermectin will not kill lice in chickens, eprinex neither.
You can put the chicken in an old pillowcase with her neck sticking out at the top, alot of sevin dust in the pillowcase, grab the area where her neck is at...then shake and bake. Then with your fingers, gently rub some of the sevin dust on her head and neck avoiding the eyes and nostrils. Then release her. She will shake herself off and go about her business. Wear a disposable mask and chicken clothing, chicken shoes too. An easy way to dust their house is to first clean it out, nests included. Put a pile of sevin dust at the entrance and hit it full blast with a leaf blower. I guarantee you the dust will get into every nook and cranie. Dont forget to wear your mask.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
"There are several species of lice that affect poultry, and multiple species can affect a bird at any given time. Some species can be localized on specific locations like the quill lice; or others can be found over most of the body surface like the chicken body lice. The lice found on poultry do not suck blood as the lice found in other species of animals; rather they feed on dry skin scales, feathers, and scabs. However, they will ingest blood extruding from irritated skin. The entire life cycle of the lice occurs on the host bird, primarily in the feathers. Poultry lice are host specific and cannot be transferred to humans. "

This quote is from the ohioline website (see my above post for the link).

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
"There are several species of lice that affect poultry, and multiple species can affect a bird at any given time. Some species can be localized on specific locations like the quill lice; or others can be found over most of the body surface like the chicken body lice. The lice found on poultry do not suck blood as the lice found in other species of animals; rather they feed on dry skin scales, feathers, and scabs. However, they will ingest blood extruding from irritated skin. The entire life cycle of the lice occurs on the host bird, primarily in the feathers. Poultry lice are host specific and cannot be transferred to humans. "

This quote is from the ohioline website (see my above post for the link).

x2 Here's a link to help you identify the lice you're dealing with:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ig140

 

[LCARTER87]

Good news then, we are just about to finish their new coop, hopefully it will keep some wild birds out and we can dust everything. I gave the one with the worst lice a bath tonight, luckily it seemed like a lot of them fell off when we did so.