How can a hen be terribly itchy and have no parasites?

[pattgal]

I thought we had lice because they came in contact with birds who had lice, they looked very itchy. meaning they stop in their tracks to scratch, whatever they are doing
so I treated with Sevin5% although I saw no eggs. Now 14 days later I see no improvement and still no eggs or sign of any parasite (mites, fleas or lice)
I know they preen themselves but how much preening can a bird do?they scratch everywhere on their body and they keep shaking their heads as if they were trying to shake something off
any help?

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
The first time around before you dusted them with sevin, did you actually see lice on your chickens? Were they losing feathers then and are they losing feathers now? If you actually saw lice the first time, you have to redust them again at about the 14th day to kill any lice that hatched from eggs since the first dusting. The first time you dusted, did you dust their house, nests roosts as well? Redusting their house,roosts and nests has to be repeated too. Is it possible they are in moult? This is the time of year chickens usually moult, they should be losing feathers and chickens will preen and scratch to get rid of old feathers. Just another possibility.

 

[pattgal]

Quote:
The first time around before you dusted them with sevin, did you actually see lice on your chickens? Were they losing feathers then and are they losing feathers now? If you actually saw lice the first time, you have to redust them again at about the 14th day to kill any lice that hatched from eggs since the first dusting. The first time you dusted, did you dust their house, nests roosts as well? Redusting their house,roosts and nests has to be repeated too. Is it possible they are in moult? This is the time of year chickens usually moult, they should be losing feathers and chickens will preen and scratch to get rid of old feathers. Just another possibility.

I didn't see any noticeable amount of feathers on the ground. when i dusted I did not see any lice on them (my hens are white) but thought since they only came in contact with the other birds for a couple of days that it might have just been the beginning a of lice problem. I dusted the entire coop including the roost and nest boxes

 

[dawg53]

Good, glad you dusted their coop. Did you give everything a second dusting, including the chickens?

 

[pattgal]

Quote:
I was wondering if I should. I can't see anything on them. but they are all twitching like mad and my other hens in my other coop are all just fine?

 

[zazouse]

Do they have an area to dust bath in? This helps keep them clean.

 

[pattgal]

Quote:
no raining season has arrived unfortunately. maybe I could use one of the nestboxes as a dust bath?? I have 9 so I could spare one. hey while Im at it can I add the sevin to the dustbath and let them dust themselves???

 

[pattgal]

Forgot to mention no I did not dust a second time yet

 

[pattgal]

Quote:
i was totally serious about that, Can I do that? and will it be as effective as dusting them with sevin by hand?

 

[gryeyes]

I use a cat litter box, just the bottom part, filled with construction sand and I put DE into it periodically. I keep this in a protected area so they have it available when it rains and they can't use their usual dust bathing locations.

It serves two purposes: a place to dust bathe, and the little rocks and bits of rock in the construction sand are useful for grit.