Alternative Lice/Parasite Removal Questions

[ThornyRidge]

Does anyone have any good suggestionson lice prevention/extermination.. I have tried the dust baths, the dusting of the chickens and coop.. it seems like an endless task that does not get rid of every little pest and is so messy and turns very ugly most of the time.. I nkow with my goats they allg et an oral drenching of injecable ivomec for cattle/swine and that not only kills off some internal parasites but it takes care of the lice on the outside as well.. it isno muss no fuss.. is there a method such as that for chickens.. also that would not interfere or have short withdrawal time for egg layers with eggs being used for human consumption and cooking..

 

[mypicklebird]

ivermectin (ivomec) can also be used for the same thing in chickens. lots of people use it that way, you can search the forum for info on this. as for withdrawal times for eggs- there are no drugs other than the topicals that have a published withdrawal time. ivermectin is off label for chickens period. withdrawal time is for life by default. you can guess on it, or go with other's guesses. revolution works too, but very off label. the pyrethrin powder (poultry dust) or carbaryl powder (sevin) should be effective (and labeled as such)- but you need to treat everyone at the same time, and do it again in 2 weeks, and may need to continue if you have a bad problem. most people just do not do it often enough. or they keep getting re-infected from elsewhere. the powder kills adult lice on contact, but not the eggs, which will hatch in a few weeks and restart the infestation.

 

[powerline]

To prevent infestations of external parasites, try using garlic oil with saoked oats. Give it about 1x per week.

 

[bigredfeather]

I would recommend Food Grade DE Powder. Put it on the coop floor and in the nesting boxes.