are lice seen at night & kinda off white in color or are they mites?

[McGoo]

My 3 yr old hen is losing vent feathers and I used a magnifying glass and saw little off white bugs on her butt. Are they lice or mites?

Okay, so please tell me if there's a link to find out what to treat them with. Can I still use their eggs?

Thanks all!

 

[jaimslee4u]

ewwwwwww..... I think they are lice! If I remember correctly Lice are the bigger looking ones with the longer bodies and more legs and the mites are almost microscopic little dot looking things that move. & I believe there is a paticular type of lice that hang out at the vent area. Makes you creepy crawly all over. I wanted to dust myself after dusting my hen for it! After a good dusting though they seemed to go away. I think they reccomend a 2nd dusting in a week or so.

 

[looptloop]

Yes, my chickens have had lice like that. I used Poultry Dust (pymethrin ?) to dust the chickens and the coop, roost - everything. I think some people use Seven too, but the Poutlry Dust has taken care of my problem each time.

 

[McGoo]

Thanks. I've been reading about the remedies and it seems that I better clean out the coop really thoroughly too. I want to try organic remedies, but it will be time consuming. I'll need to wash each one and then dry and dust with DE.

And then the coop - complete washing.

Any other ideas - quicker methods that don't include pesticides? Thanks.

 

[jaimslee4u]

Sorry I don't know of any after there is already an infestation. I used DE in the past as a preventative. I used it to Dust on the bird & within the coop as well as mixing it with their food for internal parasites.

 

[McGoo]

Thanks. I've been reading that it works if you wash the birds and after drying you dust them and then 2 weeks later. Also, there is a spray for the coop called orange guard which will kill the lice or whatever.. and it's safe. It's from the skin of an orange. Who knew. I now have to find the stuff in a store... not so easy. They sell it at Whole foods. I am pretty darned determined not to use any pesticides. I am a raiser of honey bees and they are being killed by our use of pesticides...

 

[jaimslee4u]

I totally understand the NO PESTICIDE thing! DE has always prevented anything but my girls got bugs when I got lazy in the winter and did not continue to dust and put it in the coop. Someone told me it wasn't good for humans to breath in for some reason so just make sure you are not taking big wiffs when you are dusting, LOL

 

[McGoo]

And that's a good point cause a couple years ago I think I got a resp infection cause of all the DE I spread around. And yes, I was lazy this coooold winter and didn't dust them, though I am good about the coop. I've got 14 chickens to clean up and will learn my lesson well...ugh

 

[Knittycat]

Just a little FYI. Pyrethrum? It's a daisy. I've got a packet of seeds right here. You can also use tobacco leaves to help keep pests away.

 

[AhBee01]

Pyrethrum is crushed flowers of chrysanthemum, it is toxic to honey bees with direct contact on the bees. I have used it on my chickens and have seen no effect on spiders, flies, or the darn bees that look like big bumble bees that drill holes in the wood of the chicken coop! I have dusted just the chickens and put some on the coop floor, and in the nests, the bees are still there,
so unless the insects walk in it, or get hit with the dust, they should be ok.