Ick! Bugs on my birds!

[mychookschick]

Ok, I have owned chickens for almost 4 years, and I have NEVER found bugs on them before! In the last couple of days, I have seen 2 birds with bugs on them! The first one, I kind of blew off and just thought it was nothing. Today, another of my birds has it, and BAD. There is little white bugs all over him, and what appears to be bundles of bug eggs under his vent. Gross. So what could it be, and how do I get rid of it? I assume that it is on all of my birds, but haven't looked at them all. Any way, at last count there was over 40 birds of all ages and shapes. And a couple of Guineas. So, whatever I treat with has to work, but be relatively cheap... Thanks in advance for all the help you can give me!

 

[mychookschick]

Looking at pics on google, it looks like mites are black and lice are white? Is this right? If so, I think it is lice.

Questions:

1) Will they get on us humans?
2) How do I get rid of it?


I will think of more later, right now, I am disgusted!

 

[raygirl4386]

Thank you for this mine also have white bugs on them and now im grossed out since I was holding her I hope they are not human lice. Anyone that can h Iyelp that would be great

 

[mychookschick]

Anyone have any suggestions? I need to get this resolved ASAP.

 

[downsm75]

Dust them with DE and seven dust make sure both are food safe. Keep putting it down where they dust bathe

 

[dawg53]

You're dealing with lice. Purchase sevin dust and dust your birds. Redust them again in 7-10 days to kill nits hatched from eggs. You'll have to dust your coops/nests as well, then repeat again in 7-10 days. Sevin dust will kill lice right away.

 

[Lacy Blues]

You can also pluck the feathers which have egg clusters on them. Put them into a trash bag and tie the thing shut.

 

[mychookschick]

Thank you for the suggestions! How exactly, do you dust chickens? Do you just dump some powder on them or what? Dusting other stuff is easy, but I figured that you have to get it IN their feathers...


ETA: When I use this can we still eat the eggs? And again, is it contagious to us or the horses?

Edited again: Is this the right stuff? http://www.tractorsupply.com/sevin-reg-5-dust-1-lb-shaker-bottle-6853508

 

[Lacy Blues]

To dust them you can go out in the evening when they've gone to roost. Take each one off the roost and gently lower their body while you hold the feet. They will be upside down and you can sprinkle the dust all over them and get it under their feathers. Then put them back on the roost. If its dark they probably won't shake the powder out until morning.

You can also add some to their favorite dust bathing holes... just stir it into the dirt.

 

[mychookschick]

Ok... Thank you very much!