Help! Poultry Lice!

[mcratb]

Hi everyone!

We have been struggling with a poultry lice infestation for a while now. Our flock is mostly free-range and have access to lots of dust baths, but I think they might have picked it up from wild birds. The lice were really bad in the beginning and some of the girls were losing lots of feathers. So, I manually dusted all 12 chickens with DE multiple times and sprayed with a natural pest spray in the coops. It seemed to help for a while... but now they're back. Some of our older chickens are becoming lethargic, and egg production has dropped significantly (Some of my older hens are molting though!). The lice have created little scabs and clumps of nits around feather shafts by the base of the tail and neck and under the wings.
I ordered Martin's Horse and Stable Permethrin Spray because I heard a lot of good things about permethrin. Does permethrin work for the lice eggs or just the adults, and what is the best method of spraying? Also, do you need to dilute it? I would really appreciate some advice on what is the best method to get rid of poultry lice.

Thanks!

 

[RaineyTN]

Yea you need to dilute it, mine got lice this summer and that’s what I used and it worked. I mixed mine up in a sprayer and stuck the nozzle up under there feathers and sprayed them under the wings, back and butt. Idk if that’s the professional way to do it but I can tell you it worked for me.

 

[cmom]

I have posted this before, the best product to get rid of the mites and lice in my opinion is permethrin which is very cost effective. My birds were infested with mites. The first thing I tried was DE. No improvement after treating the birds for a couple of weeks. I researched and came up with permethrin. I used poultry dust in their nest boxes and sprayed inside of the coops, every crack and crevice, on and under the roosts, ceiling, walls, floors, anywhere the pests can hide. It's best to clean out the coop before you spray. I use pine shavings in my coops. Wear special clothing including a mask and gloves. I did a weekly spraying for awhile. Originally I sprayed the birds getting under the wings and worked it through their feathers with gloves which you can also do with the dust. Permethrin only kill live pests, not the pests eggs. TSC and Amazon carries the permethrin powder, premixed spray bottles and the concentrate. I use the concentrate. It did not affect the birds but I did keep them out of the coops while it dried. I spray my coops as needed and when I spray I do weekly spraying for 3 or 4 weeks then stop as I don't want the pests to develop a resistance to the permethrin. Repeated weekly spraying is necessary because again, it does not kill the pests eggs and as an added benefit is there is no egg withdrawal period. There are other products available but much more expensive and in my opinion the permethrin works great. Good luck...

 

[mcratb]

Thank you for the advice! I'm definitely going to do a thorough cleanout and spray of the coops and chickens with diluted permethrin. After the infestation is gone, how often should I be spraying/checking for mites and lice?

 

[cmom]

It's not a preventative and if you spray too often, the pests can acquire a resistance to the spray. My suggestion is 3 or 4 weekly applications then stop. Use the severe insect mixture for at least the first treatment. Check maybe once a month or if you see any excessive preening, which is usually a good sign. Good luck...

 

[cmom]

You can also put some permethrin poultry dust in the nest boxes.

 

[mcratb]

It's not a preventative and if you spray too often, the pests can acquire a resistance to the spray. My suggestion is 3 or 4 weekly applications then stop. Use the severe insect mixture for at least the first treatment. Check maybe once a month or if you see any excessive preening, which is usually a good sign. Good luck...

Ok, thank you for the help!