Do you cut out egg sacs in silkie's beard?

[vpeterson]

I dusted all of my birds last night and I noticed that the mite (or lice) eggs were in sacs concentrated in the birds beard. Do I cut these out? I looked at some under the magnifing glass and they looked dead. Are they really alive? Should they all be cut out if I am dusting tthe birds. Will they come off with flea and tick shampoo?

 

[CMV]

You will have to re-treat all birds in 7-10 days anyways. I wouldn't bother cutting out the nits. You won't get them all, some will hatch after treatment, and you will be back to square one. That's why it is essential to treat birds twice after an infestation.

Good luck. Bugs are a nuisance.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

I would get some permethrin 10 livestock and premise spray, I get mine at tractor supply. Mix it up in a pump sprayer and go in and spray all the birds down. Repeat in 7-12 days. Mites are hard to get rid of. I would also suggest spraying down the whole coop, run area.

 

[australorpchick]

Try rubbing some poultry trust right into the area with a finger. I've had this with one of my silkies before and it cleared it up. You'll also need to treat the rest of the bird and your entire flock and coop, as well as, repeating the whole thing after a week or two.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Depending on the concentration of egg sacs, you may want to cut them out. Just realize that the feathers will not regrow until the next molt. Plucked feathers start regrowing immediately, but you don't want to pluck out hte entire beard (*OUCH*).

There are products that kill lice eggs, and others that prevent them or nits from developing into adult bugs. But I do agree that 2 or even 3 treatments covers all bases.

 

[vpeterson]

After the eggs hatch, will the egg sacs disappear? If they die in the eggs,are those sacs there forever until the next molt? The egg sacs look like a matt on a cat. I am afraid that it is so sticky, it won't come off.

 

[CMV]

If your bird will tolerate it I'd use a fine tooth comb to comb them out if they offend. The nits will remain for a good long time even if they are dead.