Ailing wee Pea

[casportpony]

FWIW, I am 100% sure that the bug pictured in this thread is a louse.


-Kathy

Thanks, Kathy... isn't that any amazing photo?  Cell phone technology has really improved.  I never would have seen the little bugger.

Edited to add -- the most fascinating part was I had her eye on the cell screen, zoomed in, watching for her to open the eye, and the lousy louse came out and started wandering around, so I was seeing this nasty little yellow bug zipping around on the skin around her eye and eye lid.  Aside from being creepy, there was a certain morbid fascination.  So cool that the phone could display it so clearly.

Much better than my phone, lol. Take a look in her ears, I bet you'll see some really small lice there!

-Kathy

 

[Garden Peas]

Yea! Thank you!

The hardest part is keeping up with their growth. Every week I notice that they consume more food. The more they eat the more they grow, the more they grow, the more I have to mix up for them, X 2 every day. I am currently mixing up a full five gallon bucket twice a day, and in the evenings, after they clean up the mash they get scratch or crimped corn for a little extra warmth on those cold nights.

I have 50 adults and 40 yearlings, pea math is not so simple.

And you got the part about that's only gonna work on mites, not on this awful little louse thing?

Kathy, is there any other option besides some version of Sevin dust that you know of? Will an ivermectin pour-on, sprayed onto the bird somehow, or wetted onto the bird, kill lice? Does anyone know?

 

[Garden Peas]

Well, I have heard of putting the powder in a feed sack and the bird with its head out......

Not to be facetious, but the big boys have these long train thingies... I suppose I could sew about three pillow cases end to end... or maybe not

 

[thndrdancr]

Agreed, 100 percent it's a louse/lice.

Mine were mites at the time tho, and ivermec pour on did not work. We all all agreed ivermec will not work in this situation.

 

[thndrdancr]

Be sure to take pictures of that, garden peas!!!

 

[zazouse]

And you got the part about that's only gonna work on mites, not on this awful little louse thing?

Kathy, is there any other option besides some version of Sevin dust that you know of? Will an ivermectin pour-on, sprayed onto the bird somehow, or wetted onto the bird, kill lice? Does anyone know?

The ivermec is placed on the skin, once it is absorbed and the mites bit it kills them, spraying the feathers is not going to do much good IMO I plae 1/2 to 1 cc at the base of the neck and the same amount on the base of the tail

 

[casportpony]

Vectra 3D topical works on lice, but it's prescription only and very expensive. Call your vet and ask what they recommend.

The amount of ivermectin needed to kill lice topically would be lethal to the bird. They'd have to practically swim in it. I did an experiment with lice and ivermectin where I soaked a paper towel in it and tossed a bunch of lice on it. The lice that got really wet died, but many lived.

Some will say that it will kill poultry lice, but everything I have read, including the label on the bottle, says that it won't kill lice that don't bite. I also did a few experiments with the 1% and it had zero effect given topically, orally and by injection. The only experiment I haven't tried is the 0.05% pour on topically.

-Kathy

 

[Garden Peas]

If you can carry them, you can dust them.

Maybe you could hold them and have someone else dust them? Once they realize that they can't get away they will relax.

-Kathy

I'm managing to medicate the little peahen by wrapping her in a towel, but she still fights to get away when she thinks there's even a remote chance. The towel helps keep her wings in, which is the part I am most worried about, since I am really worried about her injuring a wing when she's struggling, and as soon as the towel comes off the wings, she starts flapping them loose. I will say that turning her upside down helps some.

So I'm extrapolating to the big boys... how am I going to dust under the wings (i.e., have wings loose) without somebody frantically flapping a wing and getting hurt? The big ones haven't been handled at all since they were tiny chicks.

BTW, I'm also wondering if the lice could be part of the reason the hen chick was lighter than maybe she should be?

 

[casportpony]

I have a big wild boy that I have to catch, dust and worm today, so I'll try to get some pictures of that.

-Kathy

 

[Garden Peas]

I have a big wild boy that I have to catch, dust and worm today, so I'll try to get some pictures of that.

-Kathy

Pictures would be great. Video would be even better

We'll be waiting....

Would offer to send you bandages, but I'm guessing you are better stocked than I am.

Seriously, I think it would be fabulous to have video of somebody safely netting a big bird, flipping him over and dusting him for lice & worming. Anybody wanna volunteer?

Around here, I barely have enough unskilled helpers to contemplate catching and flipping, and I don't think recording my ineptitude is gonna help anybody in anything other than the extreme humor department.