We use DE as both a treatment and preventive. They had lots of mites when we got them (no lice, thank goodness) but were extremely difficult to catch, so we just put the DE into their dust bath box and sprinkled a little in the bedding in the coop. Took about 10 days but since then, haven't seen a bug on them of any kind.
Exactly how do you dust a chicken for lice?
- Thread starter miss_thenorth
- Start date
BTW - after 3 days I was still seeing bugs after thoroughly dusting all chickens in the coop. Coop was cleaned, floors and nest dusted heavily with DE too. I went searching other threads here and on the net and found this advice given in several places:
1 cc Noromectin [must be injectable type wormer solution] per 1 quart fresh drinking water in freshly washed waterer. Remove all other sources of water. Don't offer wet foods.
Repeat every day for 3 days.
Noromectin is broad spectrum wormer and will also kill lice and mites.
Hold all eggs for 1 week after treatment ends - scramble [cook] for chickens to help boost their nutrition being robbed by parasites. I put a few of the eggs shell and all into the blender so the girls got a nice dose of calcium in their scrambled eggs too.
Well, I followed that suggestion and my heavens, it sure did the trick. Not a bug is apparent and everyone is finally happy and eating. My one girl who was so thick with critters is eating more and clearly gaining weight. Her feathers are starting to look nicer too.
I've got this calendared to regularly worm my girls with Noromectin so I don't have to worry about lice or mites ever again.
1 cc Noromectin [must be injectable type wormer solution] per 1 quart fresh drinking water in freshly washed waterer. Remove all other sources of water. Don't offer wet foods.
Repeat every day for 3 days.
Noromectin is broad spectrum wormer and will also kill lice and mites.
Hold all eggs for 1 week after treatment ends - scramble [cook] for chickens to help boost their nutrition being robbed by parasites. I put a few of the eggs shell and all into the blender so the girls got a nice dose of calcium in their scrambled eggs too.
Well, I followed that suggestion and my heavens, it sure did the trick. Not a bug is apparent and everyone is finally happy and eating. My one girl who was so thick with critters is eating more and clearly gaining weight. Her feathers are starting to look nicer too.
I've got this calendared to regularly worm my girls with Noromectin so I don't have to worry about lice or mites ever again.
I've found DE works well, but it's not a "quick fix" 
It's a "mechanical" action...the tiny, ultra sharp granules get into the joints of the bugs and as they move, it cuts holes in the carapace and they eventually die from dehydration. I used it on mites for our girls and it took about a week or so. The infestation wasn't horrible, so we were very pleased not to have to use any sort of chemicals. We continue to use it as a preventive and it works extremely well. When we change the bedding, we sprinkle a little (maybe 1/2 C for a 4 x 5 coop) into the litter and work it in. We also sprinkle a little into their dust bath. Haven't seen a bug since!
It's a "mechanical" action...the tiny, ultra sharp granules get into the joints of the bugs and as they move, it cuts holes in the carapace and they eventually die from dehydration. I used it on mites for our girls and it took about a week or so. The infestation wasn't horrible, so we were very pleased not to have to use any sort of chemicals. We continue to use it as a preventive and it works extremely well. When we change the bedding, we sprinkle a little (maybe 1/2 C for a 4 x 5 coop) into the litter and work it in. We also sprinkle a little into their dust bath. Haven't seen a bug since!
I recently discovered raccoon poo in my yard, and when doing some research about the risks of raccoon poo, the CDC states that they are notorious carriers of dangerous round worms [Baylisascaris procyonis] that can infect chickens AND people. While there haven't been a lot of human cases, those who do contract these worms often don't survive. :-(
DE doesn't do anything for internal parasites, so the Noromectin is going to remain my wormer of choice. One of the articles said that it's important to worm chickens frequently because it only takes the parasite 3 months to travel to the brain of the chicken causing irreversible damage and/or death. http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/8/4/01-0273_article.htm
DE doesn't do anything for internal parasites, so the Noromectin is going to remain my wormer of choice. One of the articles said that it's important to worm chickens frequently because it only takes the parasite 3 months to travel to the brain of the chicken causing irreversible damage and/or death. http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/8/4/01-0273_article.htm
I also bought permithrin to spray their coop. How long should I wait until I let them "go back home"? I have bantams, and 3 banty chicks. I'm tempted to put a little dust on the chicks however. poor things are so infested with mites/lice. I've already had 3 die this week, and trying to save the other 3. so that's why i'm tempted to put a little dust on them...but then, it doesn't seem necessary since mama hen will dust them when they crawl under her. Ack! Anyway, how long should I wait until I let them get into their coop after spraying?
I've found waiting until they're all perched up for the night and going in with the dust filled nylon sock works great. (think powder puff). - My hens respond like its a spa treatment and I can give them a thorough dusting. Coop & pen get dusted when they aren't in there.
- Aug 26, 2011
- 85
- 7
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Sevin dust is not approved for use in poultry. I would use permethrin which is as suggested by Jenski.
Where can I get this? And can I treat them for this is I only suspect mites/lice or do you have to see? I have been seeing reduced eggs, some feather loss etc. so wonder if mites/lice can be my issue? I keep the coop and run fairly clean and I spray with poultry spray but wondered if I should just dust them anyway? But I want to use the correct stuff and still be able to eat the eggs? I think I have Sevin but haven't used anything yet.
- Aug 26, 2011
- 85
- 7
- 31
Hello
I got mine at Tractor Supply, its in a blue canister called Garden Dust but the ingredient is permethrin, check the label... at the store I was at they had it over with the medicines. People on this site use Sevin like its baby powder, it kills the honey bees along with everything else, I am not interested in any of that. I would dust them if you suspect because you may not see them and I think that the directions will tell you in so many days to do it again. There is no with drawl for eggs. Hope this helps.
I got mine at Tractor Supply, its in a blue canister called Garden Dust but the ingredient is permethrin, check the label... at the store I was at they had it over with the medicines. People on this site use Sevin like its baby powder, it kills the honey bees along with everything else, I am not interested in any of that. I would dust them if you suspect because you may not see them and I think that the directions will tell you in so many days to do it again. There is no with drawl for eggs. Hope this helps.
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