HELP! Baby chick with chicken lice.

[dani813]

We brought home a two week old baby Silky and she has chicken lice. Is there anything I can do to help the little one out and get her itch free?

 

[purpletree23]

Because she is so small and I'm assuming staying inside in a nice warm brooder you should give her a bath using a flea and tick shampoo or even a lice shampoo made for people. Make sure you rinse the chick very well and dry her. In three days do it again and again in three more days. Using a toothbrush or something similiar dip it into the solution and without getting it into her eyes and ears try to get her head and neck wet because once you dip her the lice are going to try and get away from the poison and that's toward her head. A pair of tweezers can help with that.

You have to dip 3 times is because the shampoo only kills the live lice and not the eggs. You have to wait for them to hatch before you can kill them and 3 cycles seems to be the charm.

Chicks are very social animals and she is going to peep like crazy. I hope you have more chickens. One usually doesn't do well on it's own. Put an old sock rolled into a loose ball or old fabric tied into a ball or even a small stuffed animal in her brooder so she can cuddle up with it. Throw it away and replace it each time you give her a bath in case lice have moved in.


The lice could be making her week so make sure she is getting fed very well.

 

[dawg53]

I recommend that you gently rub a little sevin dust onto her, avoiding the eyes and nostrils. Repeat in 10 days.