dust bath after delousing = ok??

[technodoll]

Hubby and I just deloused the flock

with a commercial livestock powder (in-the-pantyhose-pouffy method), 14 adult birds and 2 chicks, most of them were CRAWLING with lice and I have no idea when they got infected or how - sooo gross and I feel like a bad flock mom for not noticing sooner

Right after they were all done, three of the girls gave themselves deep thorough dust baths in the sandy floor of the old coop as we had opened access for the procedure (the ceiling is taller in there).

My question: would they have shaken out all medicated powder we just put on them by doing this?

Oh please lordy no!

I also dusted the coop as best as I could but it's so big, I'm sure I didn't get everything. I emptied the nesting boxes of the hay that was there, put lots of powder down and then added fresh bedding (wood chips).

I know I have to do this all over again in a week, right?

The hens with denser thicker feathers seemed to have less lice, as did the silkies - or do the bugs just hide better in those birds?

It's my first time with bugs and I am thoroughly disgusted.

But my poor birds, how horrible for them to live with vermin like that!!

PS: I ordered food-grade DE, which should arrive next week. I will sprinkle in the coop, bedding, add to their food and to their new sand box. A friend of mine is bringing me ashes to add to the dry sand and DE. What am I missing?

THANK YOU!

 

[technodoll]

itching for an answer... no pun intended. i really am feeling itchy all over, yuck! i hate bugs!!!

 

[Vanessabuffsnsilkies]

It happens...don't beat yourself up too much. I had some with lice and had NO IDEA I sold some roos to be butchered and the guy who took them told me they had lice. I freaked because I keep up with cleaning out the coop and take pretty good care of my chickens. He says they can get them somehow from wild birds.

 

[shelleyd2008]

You should put some of the dusting powder in the holes that the hens use for dust-bathing, that way they'll be sure to have plenty of it. I don't think it would have made it all come off, but you might want to recheck them in a day or so. I had some chicks in a brooder (in the HOUSE!!

) that were just covered in mites, I had no idea they could even get mites in the house! I dusted them with some poultry/garden dust, and after a day or two they are bug-free

 

[technodoll]

I think it's a new thing, the weather has been sooo wet and muddy the past couple of weeks they haven't been able to dust bathe... or maybe they've been infested for a long time and I just had no clue.

Either way:

Hopefully someone can answer my original question about 3 birds taking a dust bath two minutes after we applied the delousing powder... i really hope they didn't undo what we tried so hard to do

 

[technodoll]

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j129/technodoll/Dante/DSC_0019-2.jpg

Yes, I will recheck as many as I can in a couple of days...

How long does the poison take to kill the lice in general?

And can some birds be clean while others are infected?

Oh man... I am such a novice

 

[Chickie'sMoma]

i had this happen to one of my girls about a month ago. found her in a lump on the floor while everyone else was still looking healthy.

i think she got bumped from the rafters during the night, ended up with a concussion and while out on the floor the little buggers attacked her. i didn't know she had the lice till i was holding and comforting her while i thought she might be dieing with a broken neck or something.

no one else has shown signs of the lice so i am sure it is because they roost in the coop rafters and don't spend much time in the coop during the daytime.

when i found the bugs on her i freaked out and couldn't sleep well that night. i scoured the internet trying to find a pic of the little bugs so i could be sure they wouldn't affect people or other animals. good that they only like to be on chickens. i still start scratching at my skin and scalp at just the thought of the things on me!

just keep the coop dusted on a consistent basis and it should keep the bugs at bay. the dust/dirt baths are just a way for the birds to keep the bugs in check. the store bought dust is just a good measure to make sure the bugs are dead!

 

[shelleyd2008]

I've read on here somewhere that it is possible for only a few to have them when others do not. I believe it said that the weaker ones are more susceptable to them.

 

[technodoll]

i think she got bumped from the rafters during the night, ended up with a concussion and while out on the floor the little buggers attacked her.

OMG! that can happen to chickens?

I learn new things every day here... wow! Hope she was ok in the end, that sounds terrible - poor thing. I want to protect them all from pests, predators, diseases and each other but I just cannot

Can't wait to get my diatomaceous earth so that I can dust the coop and set up a proper bath corner for them to use during the winter - I hate using chemicals (hubby and I breathed in the stuff and have been feeling ill all evening) but it needs to be done.

I hope I don't have nightmares of the creepy-crawlies tonight, it feels like they are all over my skin since I've seen them this morning!!

 

[Chickie'sMoma]

my girls make a huge fuss over their spots in the rafters and shelves and get pushy when you are in 'their' spot. most of them are bantams so the bigger girls push their weight around.

i still have her in the house in a large dog crate on my drafting table in the living room right now! (she's still getting over another issue that happened during her 'brush' with death.) no signs of the bugs anymore on her but now she's been pampered so much she doesn't let me out of her sight without crying for me.

as for you and the hubby feeling ill after dusting, you may want to check the package of the stuff to see if there are any poison control issues you may have to call about. that stuff should not get inhaled! i had to take a shower after to just get the feeling of the bugs and power off of me. but i did the dusting in my basement with the door wide open for ventilation.

the bugs seem to have taken an hour to mostly fall off her. i actually watched and picked through her feathers while she had been preening them off at the same time!

i got something that was ok to use on dogs and cats, but it didn't say it was to be used directly on poultry (i just found the right stuff this week). it worked very well but i think she'll need a bath to get the rest of the chemical out of her feathers.