EEEEEWW!!!! Vent lice!!!!!!!!

[awesomefowl]

All of my 10 chickens look perfectly healthy, shiny, and great, but underneath their vents is disgusting poopy fluff. Turns out that they all have lice/mites!!!! I dusted them all with some poultry/livestock powder, but this is a bad situation. What else can I do to stop the lice? I thought I read somewhere that old farmers use to use chewing tobacco on their roosts--anyone tried this? I suspect the lice are living in the wood of the coop, so I dusted their roosts too. (Getting covered with the nasty dust in the process, of course)
Anyone????? Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. My polish, Alice, went missing tonight. Please say a prayer that she can show up in the morning safe.

 

[Judy]

You'll need to clean out the coop and replace the litter. Good idea to dust with poultry dust or Sevin when you do. You're right that they can hide in every little crack in the wood and will probably need a spray like Adam's flea and tick spray for this. You'll also have to retreat in 10-14 days as the eggs won't be killed by the dust and will hatch then.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=425486

Good luck!

 

[awesomefowl]

Well, I did clean out the litter very recently. I think I'll try to dust the whole coop today as well...my coop has all these "little cracks" and crevices where those icky things could be hiding. Where can I get the flea and tick spray? TSC? Thanks!!