Can’t get rid of lice infestation on chickens

[kperki]

I just saw this.

If you used the "drop" method you probably didn't give enough. I use 0.5 ml (1/2 cc) per five pounds and that should treat lice and large roundworms.

Note that none of these drugs are "labeled" or "approved" for use in laying hens so there is an egg withdrawal time if that sort of thing concerns you.

I did not do the drop method. I did the .5ml per 5 pounds. I found that info on here and followed it. I fed eggs back to the chickens when we treated them with it. Thanks for the info.

 

[kperki]

How much are you planning on giving them?

I saw everywhere pea size so I put what I thought was a pea size in the syringe to get an idea and just did like .3ml. I hope that was right. I usedmore on bigger birds.

 

[kperki]

By painting the interior wood joints, splits, knots. cracks, and roost poles with used motor oil to which Permethrin has been added. While this won't control lice I will do wonders for roost mites. Also you won't need to use as much insecticide in the future.

Thank you. Our entire coop interior is painted and I thought that was a preventative for them..I will do the cracks etcwith motoroil. It’s so frustrating seeing my babies suffering!

 

[kperki]

x2 with the permethrin 10% liquid concentrate. Two years ago my birds had a minor case of lice and I used sevin dust on them. I was shocked that it failed to kill the lice. I went and bought poultry dust containing permethrin and dusted my birds, It killed the lice.
I also cleaned out the coop and mixed a liquid solution of the 10% permethrin and sprayed inside the coop, nests and roosts included. No more lice.

I went through this again last week. I saw a few lice on a roost and went after them with permethrin dust on my birds and liquid sprayed in the coop. The liquid concentrate when sprayed according to directions will keep the coop parasite free for up to 30 days. I usually redust the birds in 10 days.

Thank you for the info. Did you find the dust easier to use and to work better than the spray? We just sprayed them and I kept feeling like it wasn’t as good as I didn’t feel I should soak them and I feel maybe dust getsin more books and crannies on them. What was your experience?
Thanks

 

[kperki]

I have not used this (it's expensive) but have read various threads where it's supposed to be very effective for lice/mites, so am passing it on. https://www.amazon.com/Elanco-Elect...hi-20&linkId=80c4b765d9f92666e0ff984dded1f765
Here is a link that talks about it, scroll down about 3/4 of the page: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

Wow that is e pensive! I saw it on that website before but never knew how much

I have not used this (it's expensive) but have read various threads where it's supposed to be very effective for lice/mites, so am passing it on. https://www.amazon.com/Elanco-Elect...hi-20&linkId=80c4b765d9f92666e0ff984dded1f765
Here is a link that talks about it, scroll down about 3/4 of the page: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

 

[kperki]

Wow that is e pensive! I saw it on that website before but never knew how much

Oops sorry I’m tired! I wonder how long that would last? I like the idea of not repeating it but it is still a lot of $$$!

 

[kperki]

We have been trying to treat a lice infestation for quite some time. We have been treating with Sevin dust on the chickens and then again in 10 days. We also took everything out of the coop sprayed the coop with Gordon’s spray but we did not repeat the spray in thecoop 10 days later, were we supposed to? Also we put on the chickens when dusting the ivermectin pour on for cattle and followed dosing directions we found on here. We repeated in 10 days. We still didn’t get rid of them so we did the same process again.

I just read we can spray Gordon’s on the chickens and I didn’t know that. Also said to use oil as it sticks better on tractor supplies q and a section on it. What oil do you use?

I also just saw round worms on the dropping board. I have some safeguard paste I was going to use for that.

Can anyone help me out here as to my steps and best to use as I thought I was doing it right. I have about 40 chickens.

Thank you!

So we treated the inside of coop, and cleaned all nesting boxes etc, some hang out areas were wild birds frequent too.

We saw some nits but not as many as I expected. We saw a lot of featherless areas on them with very red inflamed skin. I am not sure if that is caused by mites or lice. It looked painful. It was also kind of hard spraying them as I was not quite sure if I was using too much or too little. I will put vitamins in their water tomorrow.

Also we have 3 7wk old chicks. Do we spray them as well?

Thanks!

 

[dawg53]

So we treated the inside of coop, and cleaned all nesting boxes etc, some hang out areas were wild birds frequent too.

We saw some nits but not as many as I expected. We saw a lot of featherless areas on them with very red inflamed skin. I am not sure if that is caused by mites or lice. It looked painful. It was also kind of hard spraying them as I was not quite sure if I was using too much or too little. I will put vitamins in their water tomorrow.

Also we have 3 7wk old chicks. Do we spray them as well?

Thanks!

I prefer dusting birds, then spraying the coop. I put an old towel in a plastic container with a pile of permethrin dust on top of the towel. The container I have is the perfect size to lay down an adult Barred Rock and the towel is to prevent the bird from slipping around in the container when I dust. I lay the bird on its side and use one hand to scoop up the dust and apply it. Then I flip the hen over on the other side and dust. All the while her head is just hanging over the lip on of the container, that way the dust doesnt get in her eyes. As far as the neck goes, I put abit of dust on my fingers and gently rub it in so that the dust gets onto the skin. I dust the head in the same manner with a little less dust.
My BR's are somewhat tame and they dont struggle when I dust them or when I worm them.
It's a different story when I dust my young pullets. I use a shoestring to tie the legs together, not too tight, just enough so I can get the youngun quickly dusted and move on to the next pullet.

The featherless red inflamed skin is caused by your birds scratching and picking out feathers to relieve the irritation that lice cause. Once you eliminate your external parasite problem, apply Nu-Stock to the red inflamed areas. It will heal the effected areas in no time. Feathers may or may not regrow, but will definitely regrow after the next molt.
Inspect your 7 week old chicks for lice/mites first. If they dont have any, no need to treat them. Then just inspect them periodically.

 

[casportpony]

I saw everywhere pea size so I put what I thought was a pea size in the syringe to get an idea and just did like .3ml. I hope that was right. I usedmore on bigger birds.

If you gave 0.3 ml of paste you gave 30 mg, which might not be enough. You will need to repeat this in 10-14 days at which time you might want to collect a bunch of poop and have a fecal test done.

 

[getaclue]

Hello dawg53. Haven't run into you on a thread in awhile. You're still giving sound advice. I too prefer to spray the coop, but dust my chickens. Doing the follow up treatments is important too.