Flea treatment - South Africa

[Abigrayl]

Hi, my chickens are infested with sticktight fleas. It's the middle of summer and the fleas had a population boom. I currently have one week old chicks.

The vet asked me throw my Karbadust (https://www.hadeco.co.za/efekto/pet-care/efekto-karbadust-500g/) powder away because he says it's very poisonous to humans and honestly I was inhaling it when I applied it. It contains

• Carbaryl (Carbamate) 50 g/kg

He sold me Medpet Avian Insect Liquidator (https://www.petplus.co.za/products/medpet-avian-insect-liquid-spray) which I liked because you can use it safely on the chicks. It contains

• Permethrin 1.25g/L
• Piperonyl Butoxide 6.25g/L
• Methoprene 20mg/L

However, it does not say its for fleas and it doesn't seem to be effective on them. I am almost finished the bottle and I was trying to spray it everywhere.

I recently purchased Malasol (https://www.hadeco.co.za/efekto/garden-insecticides/efekto-malasol-100ml/) but I am so afraid that it hurts my tiny chicks. They say to mix 20ml per litre of water and spray in the coop and on the chickens.
It contains

• Mercaptothion (Organophosphate) 500 g/ℓ (CAUTION/VERSIGTIG)

What should I do?

I've cleaned out the coop completely so there is just a concrete floor but I want to put the river-sand back.

I'm thinking of:
- Not spraying the river-sand so that the chicks don't come in contact with the Malasol
- Spraying the nest boxes (chicks can't get to them) with Malasol
- Spraying the adult chickens with Malasol (except the 2 mama hens)
- Continue to spray the mama hens & chicks with Medpet Avian Insect Liquidator although it is not effective

My chickens have access to and use dust baths but the outbreak needs some poison I think because the fleas are winning.

I also have 1 % injectable Ivermectin for sheep and cattle. But I am not sure if that would help and if I should give it to them orally or pour it on or quantities.

 

[sourland]

@casportpony can you help here?

 

[Sue Gremlin]

What the vet gave you will be very effective against fleas, but with fleas you have to be a little bit patient. Only 5% of the flea population lives on the host, the rest of them are in the environment. It's great that you have cleaned the environment, but that won't work immediately. Oddly enough, sometimes the flea issue gets a little worse before it gets better. It could take a couple of weeks before you see a real difference.

Keep your hens treated and give it time and treat the environment with the permethrin/PBO/methoprene your vet gave you. It is both quite safe and effective. Fleas breed in sand, and the pupa stage will not be killed by anything you apply, so you need to give them enough time to emerge and come in contact with the insecticide you spray.

Methoprene is an extremely good treatment and will prevent fleas from breeding for a long time as it persists in the environment for months. It will prevent flea eggs from developing.
Ivermectin will not really help so I would not recommend that.

LIke your vet, I would very strongly recommend against using carbaryl or an organophosphate as they are quite unsafe and poisonous to both you and the chickens.

 

[Kiki]

Have you tried something besides sand in your coop?

 

[Abigrayl]

What the vet gave you will be very effective against fleas, but with fleas you have to be a little bit patient. Only 5% of the flea population lives on the host, the rest of them are in the environment. It's great that you have cleaned the environment, but that won't work immediately. Oddly enough, sometimes the flea issue gets a little worse before it gets better. It could take a couple of weeks before you see a real difference.

Keep your hens treated and give it time and treat the environment with the permethrin/PBO/methoprene your vet gave you. It is both quite safe and effective. Fleas breed in sand, and the pupa stage will not be killed by anything you apply, so you need to give them enough time to emerge and come in contact with the insecticide you spray.

Methoprene is an extremely good treatment and will prevent fleas from breeding for a long time as it persists in the environment for months. It will prevent flea eggs from developing.
Ivermectin will not really help so I would not recommend that.

LIke your vet, I would very strongly recommend against using carbaryl or an organophosphate as they are quite unsafe and poisonous to both you and the chickens.

What the vet gave you will be very effective against fleas, but with fleas you have to be a little bit patient. Only 5% of the flea population lives on the host, the rest of them are in the environment. It's great that you have cleaned the environment, but that won't work immediately. Oddly enough, sometimes the flea issue gets a little worse before it gets better. It could take a couple of weeks before you see a real difference.

Keep your hens treated and give it time and treat the environment with the permethrin/PBO/methoprene your vet gave you. It is both quite safe and effective. Fleas breed in sand, and the pupa stage will not be killed by anything you apply, so you need to give them enough time to emerge and come in contact with the insecticide you spray.

Methoprene is an extremely good treatment and will prevent fleas from breeding for a long time as it persists in the environment for months. It will prevent flea eggs from developing.
Ivermectin will not really help so I would not recommend that.

LIke your vet, I would very strongly recommend against using carbaryl or an organophosphate as they are quite unsafe and poisonous to both you and the chickens.

Thank you so much for your thorough answer. I will buy more of that Medpet Avian Insect Liquidator.

I have also put AstroTurf in the layer boxes with only a handful of bedding on top which the hens are loving this morning. Do you think I can spray the nest boxes with the Medpet Avian Insect Liquidator or will it go into the eggs?

Thank you so much again!

 

[Abigrayl]

Have you tried something besides sand in your coop?

I have also tried the deep litter method but I think the humidity here is too low for that. The river sand is actually small stones and not really sand. It makes it easy to clean clean up the poop and its supposed to be healthy for the chickens. Why do you ask? What do you think would be better?

 

[Kiki]

I have also tried the deep litter method but I think the humidity here is too low for that. The river sand is actually small stones and not really sand. It makes it easy to clean clean up the poop and its supposed to be healthy for the chickens. Why do you ask? What do you think would be better?

I was just wondering if the sand was helping the fleas survive. I don't use sand nor have I ever had these fleas. I was wondering if you could try something besides sand to see if it would help rid the fleas.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

I was just wondering if the sand was helping the fleas survive.

Agree. They need some sort of sand to develop properly.
As for your question:

Do you think I can spray the nest boxes with the Medpet Avian Insect Liquidator or will it go into the eggs?

This is a question for the vet who gave it to you, I am not in RSA. But the label says it's for environmental spraying and is not for meat birds, but it does not talk about any egg residue. If your vet gave it to you knowing you have laying hens, I'd say that's ok, but check with them to be sure before eating any eggs.

 

[cmom]

Permethrin works. Here is a BYC members article. Good luck...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...tight-fleas-in-poultry-with-permethrin.74325/

 

[Prop toe]

My dogs I washed them with dawn dish soap and mixed 1/2 pound of table salt with 5 gals of water and rinsed them no more fleas trueful I didn't catch on to this till afther I got rid of fowl but I have put 1/2 cup of dish soap to 5 gals water 1/2 cup of malithion and dipped up to the fowls neck and it rid of lice and feather mites etc spreading table salt on the sand where most fleas love or grounds will help dry and kill them shame I didn't get to try a fowl to see what results would been with salt bath or dip kills on dogs so I think it work for fowl should be a lot safer than chemicals but don't know what effect it have on feathers I say dip one in dish soap and salt and see what happens works miracles for dogsp