Lice...AGAIN!

[Pattercorn11]

I feel like I am constantly battling lice. Is that normal?! Whenever I notice them I dust the birds with a wheelbarrow mix of DE, Sevin and Poultry and Garden Dust. Clean coops and repeat a week later. Should I just go back to Sevin straight up? Dust 3 weeks in a row?? Such a frustrating and messy task! I have about 20 adult birds and 19 chicks ranging from 4 days old to 10 weeks...What do I do about the chicks' lice???

 

[chicknmania]

Do you have a dust bath for the adults and chicks to use? This time of year I buy clean topsoil and mix it with wood ash that I save from our fireplace and woodburner all winter, and the flock has two deep dust baths to use, that I add the dirt and ash to. . Wood ash has lye in it and is a natural way to control lice. For the chicks, you can spray them individually with Poultry Protector, as well as their housing, and give them their own dirt and wood ash bath. I don't really use a lot of DE, maybe some to lighten the soil. I occasionally use Insectrin, but never Sevin dust. It's a carcinogen.

 

[Pattercorn11]

Yes, they free range in my large backyard and have made plenty of deep dust baths. I even made "special" dust baths in the runs for them. Mixed dirt and fireplace wood ash and they don't ever use them. Our soil here is pretty sandy too.

 

[StevieBottom]

Treat the yard! This is where the lice is coming from! Much like fleas, they live in the grass!

 

[Pattercorn11]

Thank you. That is something I haven't tried yet. What should I treat it with. I saw where Chicken Chick suggested Elector ESP spray as a coop and bird treatment... wonder if that's my easiest option.

 

[chicknmania]

You are killing everything else too if you treat the yard. That is extremely hard on the environment. They are not in the grass any more than they are anywhere. Lice are naturally on all birds to an extent.

 

[pauleberly]

We throw in some Apple cider vinegar in their water, and spray peppermint oil/water mix in and around the house. We do this with dogs and chickens

We never ever have fleas on our dogs, and our chickens haven't had mites or fleas or lice yet (knock on wood)

I would soak your chickens in an apple cider vinegar bath, put some in the water, and maybe spray some around the yard to deter/kill and mites or lice.

I wouldn't spray the yard with any harsh chemicals since your birds could Injest it

 

[Pattercorn11]

Thanks for all the advice!