Chicken with lice

[Rocky200]

You can get permethrin here but the one I found is sold as a house product not for livestock, I couldn’t find anything with permethrin for chickens themselves. I am not sure I will probably only use it in the coop since I don’t know if it’s able to be sprayed on the chickens. I also found a product with pyrethrin as a dust but again it just says for Home/garden use but. I literally went to every store and nobody had anything Like that, I don’t know what else to do. I have DE as well. So it’s either use a product not intended for chickens or do nothing. Which is worse?

 

[Rocky200]

These are the two I could find. My only other option is to call the vet and see what he recommends

 

[BarredRockMom]

You can get permethrin here but the one I found is sold as a house product not for livestock, I couldn’t find anything with permethrin for chickens themselves. I am not sure I will probably only use it in the coop since I don’t know if it’s able to be sprayed on the chickens. I also found a product with pyrethrin as a dust but again it just says for Home/garden use but. I literally went to every store and nobody had anything Like that, I don’t know what else to do. I have DE as well. So it’s either use a product not intended for chickens or do nothing. Which is worse?

It's worse to do nothing, in my opinion. If you can dust the chickens, do so. And if you saw 5, you missed the rest of the colony that's likely set up house in your bird's feathers. They're bad news so I wish your hen a good recovery. Keep after it & you'll get them all!!

 

[aart]

I also found a product with pyrethrin as a dust but again it just says for Home/garden use but.

That's what I use in a dust form.
Paying attention to the other chemicals is key...
...that one has piperonyl butoxide, which made me cautious but:

 

[dawg53]

Will lice cause the hunching and sleepiness? My hen is doing the same thing and she has lice. She has good color and is healthy physically.

Severe lice infestation will cause irritation. Birds will scratch themselves alot, expect feather loss and they dust bathe alot. Scratching can cause breaks in skin, possibly causing infection. Also lice are opportunistic, they cant suck blood but will feed on it if there's an open wound from a scratch.
You'll also see lice eggs on feather shafts with infestations. Use coconut oil to remove them.

 

[Eggcessive]

The dust has pyrethrins while the spray has permethrin. One is natural while the second is man-made. Either of those should work on lice. Lice eggs at the base of feathers hatch every 10 days, so the chickens should be treated at least twice, but the bedding should be emptied and the coop and nests treated, before replacing with new bedding.

 

[Rocky200]

...that one has piperonyl butoxide, which made me cautious but:
View attachment 1985527

yes I was concerned about that as well. The other spray also has some other ingredients I am not so sure of to put on birds. I decided to dust them with the pyrethrin dust and cleaned the coop well, what a fun Christmas project de-loucing birds thank you for the info

 

[Rocky200]

The dust has pyrethrins while the spray has permethrin. One is natural while the second is man-made. Either of those should work on lice. Lice eggs at the base of feathers hatch every 10 days, so the chickens should be treated at least twice, but the bedding should be emptied and the coop and nests treated, before replacing with new bedding.

Yes I will do! Thanks for the info

 

[aart]

yes I was concerned about that as well. The other spray also has some other ingredients I am not so sure of to put on birds.

Can always google the unknown ingredients, could be benign(like what I found about the piperonyl butoxide), or not.

 

[Folly's place]

If you have a pyrethrin product without the additional insecticide, use it, not the combo product. Pyrethrin will work, but needs more frequent applications, as probably weekly. Do treat the coop too! Ideally, remove the bedding, apply spray or dust, and rebed.
Lice will drain blood from your birds, when feather shafts are broken, or scratches on skin. They are not harmless!
Mary