How exactly does Ivermectin work?

[QuailMan6666]

I am going to be applying one drop of Ivermectin to my chicken's back neck in order to eliminate feather lice, but I want to know how only a drop of it can eliminate feather lice? Does the Ivermectin get absorbed into the skin somehow and does it spread everywhere on the bird?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I am going to be applying one drop of Ivermectin to my chicken's back neck in order to eliminate feather lice, but I want to know how only a drop of it can eliminate feather lice? Does the Ivermectin get absorbed into the skin somehow and does it spread everywhere on the bird?

How old is the chick? Is this a chicken chick, Quail chick or??

Do you mean lice/louse, feather lice/mites (depluming mite) or mites (Red or Northern Fowl)?

If your chick has Lice, then I'd suggest using a Permethrin based poultry dust to dust the chick instead of using Ivermectin. Clean out housing and spray/treat it with a Permethrin based poultry spray.

Ivermectin is absorbed into the skin to the bloodstream, so the parasite needs to consume the bird's blood in order for the medication to work. If you are dealing with lice that feed off skin/tissue/debris, then Ivermectin will not be very effective. Depluming Mites (feather mites) burrow into the shaft of feathers and feed on blood, so Ivermectin would be effective, but it would be rare for a small chick to have Depluming Mites. Northern Fowl and Red Mites feed off blood, so the Ivermectin would be effective.

Ivermectin is not what I'd use on a young chick.

 

[Susan Skylark]

Injectable ivermectin won’t absorb through the skin it must be given orally or injected. The cattle topical ivermectin should not be used on birds of any stripe as there is a good chance it will do more harm than good!

 

[AGeese]

Going to need to know the size of the bird. One drop won't do anything for a 6 lb hen. I've given the injectable as topical to treat what I believe were mites and it worked or was an incredible coincidence.

 

[Loving my girls]

When my girls got feather mite I used Xeno 450 which did the job. It is pipette form for between the wings. From what I can tell it appears to kill anything parasitic.
I don’t know how it works