Fleas Problems

[chick_magnet]

What is the best way to get rid of fleas. I have chickens and a dog in my yard. Ive noticed that our fleas problem is getting worse. What is the best way to get kill all the flea from my yard. I read that chickens don't eat fleas and the they also have life cycle. Kill one life cycle will just control the problem temporarily

 

[nivtup]

We treat the dogs with Advantage and it seems to do the trick for us.

I HATE FLEAS

 

[carolinagirl58]

I have been using Comfortis on my dogs for a couple of years now and just love it! It's an oral dosage you get from the vet. I treat them about every 6 to 8 weeks and they all stay flea free. It does not kill ticks though.

 

[mikensara]

if your dog is severely infested i recomend and this will take loads of time and patience. first a flea bath depending on whatever shampoo or dip that you buy read the directions. best to start at the neck and work down. after bathing the dog and this is what worked best for me our lab/husky mix has thick fur. while the fur is still wet is the optimal time to comb the fleas out since they are wet and stuck to the fur. I think the shampoo is about 50% effective in killing the fleas but thats my opinion. a metal flea comb is hard to come by but even a metal lice comb works great. after all this i sugest you get some flea bombs and do your house as well. If you can arrange for your family and other pets to spend the day out of the house it makes it so much more simplified. good luck. I waited about 2 weeks before applying the frontline to the dog. I do it year round with her once a month it makes a great investment if you never want to deal with being flea infested again.

 

[briteday]

If your dog has fleas, so does your house. Depending on your location (warm humid South, or an area that gets reliably freezing temps in the winter) the treatment of your house will be different. But first treat the dog. I would get something like Advantix (covers ticks too) or Advantage. Do not use the same products on cats if you have any in the family. Cats need their own specific products. Advantage should kill all forms of fleas within 24-48 hours. And it lasts for 30 days. Any shampoo you can buy over the counter will not be potent enough and you will have to repeat the baths several times to get rid of the entire life cycle. Only a prescription shampoo from the vet will work if you choose to go that route. But for the cost of a couple of those bottles of shampoo you will be at the same price as a box of Advantage with 3 months worth of treatment.

Once you have the dog under control then you have to treat your house. We live in an area that has really hot, dry summers and very cold, freezing temps during part of the winter. So my treatment may be different than a humid, non-freezing place. In the case of a warmer climate I would contact a reputable pest control company for treatment options.

In my area (mountain West), my vet suggested the following. First keep the dog crated to sleep, never on furniture or on a bed, never. Keep the crate wiped out (I leave a container of wet wipes on top of the crate) every day so that if there is a flea that comes off the dog alive it does not re-infest everything. If your dog has bedding in the crate it must be washed in hot water every day in the beginning (so I just skip bedding anytime we have fleas) or at least weekly, in hot water, the rest of the year. Then go to the grocery store and buy a box of borax found in the laundry aisle...in fact buy 3-4 boxes if you have carpeting and lots of upholstered furniture. Also buy about 6 cheap flea collars, not for your animals, but to put in the vacuum bag/collection cup of your vacuum cleaner. Also be sure you have 6-10 vacuum cleaner bags if you need them.

Take the kids to grandma's for the day if you can when you start the borax. It makes a mess and kids love to play in it since it resembles white sand. It's not toxic but it can cause skin irritation if they touch it too much. And try not to breathe too much f the dust. But it is pretty safe stuff. OK, sprinkle the borax liberally on all carpeting, upholstered furniture, strip all bedding (wash in hot water) and sprinkle borax on the mattresses. Get into every nook and cranny where fleas and their eggs can be. Anything that can be washed in hot water should be washed. Wait 1-2 hours and vacuum up with a flea collar in the vacuum. Immediately deposit the bag or contents of collection cup in a sealed plastic garbage bag, tied at the top, and taken to a garbage can outside immediately. Replace the bag/cup with another flea collar right away. Now go back in the house and repeat the liberal borax sprinkling. This time leave it set overnight before repeating the vacuuming/disposal procedure. Keep replacing the flea collar in your vacuum right after you empty it so that if there are any fleas in the vacuum itself they will DIE! Also be sure to always put the vacuumed contents in sealed bags outside the house. After the overnight borax you can go to a once/day treatment for the next two days, then go to every 3 days once, then once per week. At that point you may have been lucky enough to have gotten a handle on the fleas. However, when we have had the flea problem, I keep a flea collar in my vacuum for a few months. And I keep borax in the cabinet to sprinkle around the spots where the dogs spend most of their time in the house. Sprinkle about an hour before vacuuming and it seems to keep things down to a manageable level.

 

[chick_magnet]

thank you for everyone's advice. comfortis has worked great