Lice, a losing battle?

[21hens-incharge]

A reminder about ash.... Wood ash is OK as long as it is ash from wood that had not been chemically treated.

It must be just wood ash though. Charcoal briquettes are toxic. Please be sure NOT to let them have access to briquette ash.

I agree about burning the stuff removed from the coop.

Another preventative measure will be closing up the size of mesh that the wild birds are getting in through. They will continue to bring pests and disease as well as eat the food meant for your birds.
Yup them little travelers need to get gone.

 

[LadyRed76]

A reminder about ash.... Wood ash is OK as long as it is ash from wood that had not been chemically treated.

It must be just wood ash though. Charcoal briquettes are toxic. Please be sure NOT to let them have access to briquette ash.

I agree about burning the stuff removed from the coop.

Another preventative measure will be closing up the size of mesh that the wild birds are getting in through. They will continue to bring pests and disease as well as eat the food meant for your birds.
Yup them little travelers need to get gone.

Oooo...yeah.
Thanks for adding Hard Wood Ash ...No Briquettes!

 

[J.D]

The wild birds are a bit of struggle, my hens have their coop and a big pen. So a perimeter fence to keep foxes out but no roof of sorts.



So the ducks have a corner of the pen, and then the ladies have about 4x the size of the duck pen. So I don't really know what I can do about the little birds coming in (any ideas are always welcome though!)

I will start burning the old bedding. I don't know why I haven't thought about that before! I have logs that are just chopped up trees so I can burn a couple of the those for the wood ash too!

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

You should not allow wild birds access to the chicken pen. You can keep them out by using some netting over the top of the chicken pen. However, it looks like it would be a project you may need help with. You want it to be high enough so you can walk in and tend to your chickens. Wild birds poop in the feed and they also introduce external parasites and avian illnesses. If you don't free range your chickens, you can most definitely reduce their risk of infection from wild birds by using netting or even a roofed area over the pen. By the way, I love wild birds. They add beauty to the world and eat so many insects that helps the farmer and gardeners too. However, the chicken area is off limits to them.

 

[RonP]

There has been a lot of good advice already given.

My birds do not have lice. I cannot speak from experience, so take this as my 2 cents worth.

My nesting boxes are lined with paper leaf bags that I change out once per year as they are covered with shredded junk mail and do not get spoiled.

When I replace the bags, I liberally apply Sevin Dust to the surface of the box prior to covering it with the bag, then shredded paper.

I often spray my coop down (walls, ceiling, everything with reason) with a mixture, 70% alcohol 3cups, 1-teaspoon dishwashing liquid, 1/2 ounce Peppermint Essential Oil (not the diluted essence of peppermint used for cooking). I purchase everything at Wal-Mart as they have everything and it is convenient.

The alcohol will kill many insects on contact including bird lice, spiders, and mosquitoes. I do not like spiders (arachnophobia). The dishwashing liquid will also kill on contact many insects, and allow the Peppermint oil to stick on surfaces. Peppermint oil acts a repellent for spiders, flies, assorted insects, and rodents, which unlike me, do not like the peppermint taste or odor.

Should you enter my coop, you will not be greeted by spider webs, spiders, mosquitoes, mice etc … just a lingering scent of peppermint…

Hope this helps.

 

[J.D]

@RonP this is great thankyou! I'm very interested in natural remedies so the peppermint oil will be on my shopping list!

During the summer I tried to incorporate herbs into my
Cleaning schedule so I was putting fresh mint in the coop and lavender in the next box and so on, so I'm excited to try this along with all of the other ideas people have given me!