Darned freaking LICE!

[BantyChooks]

Thanks! You don't worry about getting the powder on yourself as you poof it with the pantyhose?
When using the spray, do you only need to apply it to selected areas because its effect spreads?

Protective clothing... Respiratory mask, long sleeves, pants, & gloves are my chosen getup. I'm a bit more cautious than most.

I think so, yes. That covers most of the body area, so there isn't much left unsprayed,

 

[BantyChooks]

Another option is to give each of your girls a bath in a strong salt water solution with a bit of dishwasher liquid added, just enough to mess up the surface tension of the water so the lice drown. Then rinse in fresh water. Or you can do a salt water dip followed by a soapy dip, then a plain water dip to rinse it all off. Then repeat in two weeks to get any that hatched from any eggs that survived. If it's a nice hot day they should be fine drying off outside. If it's a bit cool you can blow dry them.

That worked for me too on an individual case, but I'm NOT giving 40 panicked chooks a bath.

 

[User395221]

That worked for me too on an individual case, but I'm NOT giving 40 panicked chooks a bath.

It seems to me that the bugs don't jump on everyone, or everyone to the same extent. I have one girl with a bare bum and I now think it's down to bugs, but none of her "sisters" is affected. I also had a budgie (who later died) who had beak mites (or whatever they call them) and all of the others in the same aviary were perfectly fine. Also, the other day, I saw lice on my 2 young silkies. Again, the other girls didn't seem to have the bugs (at all, or to the same extent).

My general attitude to poisons/chemicals/sprays/nuking bugs (and weeds) is to keep out of it. In the garden, other bugs and birds eat the nuisance bugs. It's only if they are going crazy and actually killing something that you need to intervene. I have the same attitude with the chooks. If there's an obvious big problem/infestation, then it's bring out the 'nuking' equipment, otherwise I'll leave it to my pet spiders and the chooks themselves to keep the bugs from going nuts.
As somebody said on the topic of the week bug thread, when you nuke the baddies, you nuke everything. Sometimes other baddies step in when you've nuked others. IMO/experience.

tl:dr save the nuking baths for those badly affected, not just because of the effort involved.

 

[Folly's place]

Stressing a severely infected anemic bird might push her over the edge! I've had chickens become very anemic and die of mite or lice infestations, before I knew what was going on. Learn from my mistakes! Permethrin spray concentrate is cheap, easy to apply, and effective. Safer than the dust, or any dust, because nobody is inhaling it. Much. I always wear a N95 face mask and long sleeves when handling any insecticide, it's just good practice. There's no reason to use ineffective products that are bad to inhale, when you can use something that really works, is approved for poultry, and is inexpensive. Mary

 

[Folly's place]

No way am I bathing fifty chickens!!! Mary

 

[JaeG]

I have a mental image of a production line of helpers bathing chickens! I'd be a chicken spa day!

 

[TinyBirds]

Lice are much easier than mites, just add a few drops of pure neem oil above the vent and behind the neck. Recheck after 4 days and reapply if needed until all are gone. Usually one treatment is all thats needed even for a bad infestation, if you get the good quality thick pure neem oil. Here is where I get it:
www.mountainroseherbs.com/products/neem-oil/profile

 

[Folly's place]

Have you ever seen film or photos of cattle or sheep run through a chute to a dipping tank? Look it up! It's done with insecticide to kill screw worms at the Mexican border, for example. Maybe not any more, but I don't think it would be very good for chickens... Mary

 

[User395221]

Much. I always wear a N95 face mask and long sleeves when handling any insecticide, it's just good practice.

And then clothes straight in the wash, and me in the shower afterwards.