I think I am going to lose my head!!!!...Anyone have this problem?...

[chubbydog811]

Let me just say...GROSS!!!....

I went out to bath chickens...The 7 hens I have in the barn, all had them bad, but 2 hens (who sepatate themselves from everyone else). Out of the last 5, only 2 had a lot of egg clusters...One hen had egg clusters the size of a small bantam egg!!! EWWW!!! I scraped off most of the eggs.

Anyway, I plan on bathing every week until it is under control.

I realized something when I was bathing though - I bet, the reason 2 of my coops are lacking lice - they both have clear plastic roofs, in direct sun almost all day. The barn and the coop that did get it, have solid metal roofs, and are dark and damp ish...
Could be the reason!! Also the birds dont bother the outside chickens in the lighted coops quite as much...

Anyway, Next step is spraying the barn!

Thanks

Edited because I cant spell..

 

[purpletree23]

Right now I would not use DE. It is a preventative and will not work on something this severe. You have to use Sevin for the coops and stalls and everywhere else. Poultry dust also kills lice. You have a lot of areas to cover. I would clean out the bedding from each area and use a pump sprayer with Sevin liquid and water. Spray heavily and let dry. Don't put down new bedding for a day or 2. Put the used bedding in a field so the sun can do its job. Can you treat each chicken and confine them to an uninfested coop and let the lice in the other areas die because they don't have a food source?

You don't have to bathe each bird. I would dip them and let them run around on a sunny day to dry and then dip them 7 days later to kill anything that is left. Your farm store should be able to help you with a good product for lice. Big tub of warm water ( just leave it in the sun) and the solution you need and then dip away. If the water gets too dirty just dump and start again. Do this in the sun away from the house and barn. If any lice survive the chemicals and try to escape the sun will finish them off. Good luck.

 

[purpletree23]

After you treat the chickens you should give them vitamins so they can build themselves up and not be sick anymore. Lice can cause anemia in chickens and sometimes death. Extra green veggies with help also.

 

[chubbydog811]

I used the Rotenone dust...When I asked on here, people said Seven was possibly on the way out - I didnt especially want to use it if it was potentially dangerous...

Bathing included - warm water with dish soap, then warm water rinse. (though I really want to try that tea tree oil!!)
Just took 2 buckets and used those. The dish soap suffocates them, and kills them (can use this on your plants also for aphids). It killed all the lice that was on them...The eggs didnt come off, but they are going to be bathed again in another week to get rid of freshly hatched bugs.

I use the DE and lime to dry out the areas. Helped alot...I dusted all the stalls with it, and as far as I can see, they havent come back in those areas(I dont especially want to use harmful chemicals around the horses...They arent smart, and will eat things they shouldn't be eating...Or lick the shelves in this case). I have already stripped and dusted the chicken stalls and boxes (with DE/Lime/Rotenone dust).

The coop the chickens in the barn are supposed to be going to isn't finished yet. The affected birds were in quarentine (got them about 3 weeks ago). And the chicks weren't old enough. They should be able to go out there by the end of the week.

As for letting them die off from no food source - that wont happen. The barn birds are the carriers. I need to put netting up around the barn and get rid of the barn birds before the lice will really be gone (hopefully)...I'm going to go up in the loft and spray the rafters tomorrow...Going to start cleaning out nests/babies, and picking off birds tomorrow also.

As for them being sick...I didnt even notice any difference in behavior...Only reason I found the lice in the first place was because the rooster came after me, so I picked him up and was petting him...Found them that way...
Lice arent blood suckers, just an annoyance that are crawly and eat their dead skin ect. If they were mites, than yes, I would be worried about them dying on me..But I'm assuming the only reason they will die on me is because of chemicals that I used on them to treat for lice.

Anyway...Thanks for all the help everyone!

...
I'm not going as crazy as I was yesterday!

 

[purpletree23]

Wow! Keep up the good work. You've been working your butt off.