Lice and mites help!

[Casper101Popcor]

Excuse me barging in, but what is DE?

 

[Poultry parent]

I am just sticking my nose in here. I just dont get how chickens think dirt "cleans" them? I get they are controlling mites and lice. But for the cleaning part, why dont they choose water like other burds?

Because chickens are not water animals, they hate water, the dirt gets under their feathers, and absorbs excess body oils,and smothers the parasites

 

[ChickNanny13]

Excuse me barging in, but what is DE?

Diatomaceous Earth (food grade think it's 5%).

My question, I read about "wood ash", I get it's from the fireplace burnt wood but here in Hawaii we don't have many fireplaces so wondering what kind of wood? Any type of wood? I basically dust my chickens with DE monthly, sprinkle it in their shavings in the run & nest box, around the area they like to dust & in their dust bath (top soil) in the Run/Coop.

Years ago my house got mites/lice cause I allowed my chickens to roost at night in the patio with the cat. That taught me they need to go in a coop away from the house at night. Also the dirt area under the tree they loved to dust bath in & hung out with my kids got infested, major cleaning. Got so bad I took a break from chickens for years, started again in 2013 but very careful with maintenance & cleaning.

 

[Pharr-Out-Farms]

Has any one ever used Permectrin ll in treating for lice? Is there a better option? (We have 27 birds and gave each one a bath w/ shampoo and herbs. That helped, sort of. but we need a better option, it was A LOT of work) Can it be applied directly to the birds? Where on the bird? can still eat he eggs? If not how long until we can? Also, does lice make the eggs really small?
TYIA!!

 

[Ponydriver]

I wish someone would answer your question, I would like to know, too.

 

[ambergds]

When my birds had lice I dusted them with sevin. It worked instantly. I retreated 10 days later to get any nits that hatched. I haven't seen a bug since. It's the only product I have any experience with.

 

[Ponydriver]

I wish someone would answer your question, I would like to know, too.

 

[Folly's place]

Carbaryl (Sevin) is no longer approved for use in chickens, so I wouldn't use it. Permethrin is approved, and works fine for mites and lice. It comes as a dust or as liquid spray, and can be applied to each bird individually (wear a N95 dust mask!!!) which is a pain to do. Also clean out the bedding in the coop, and apply some permethrin dust to the floor and roosts, then add the new bedding. Birds get reinfected from the wild birds when they free range, and when the wild birds enter the coop or run. It's very annoying! I generally have to treat two or three times each year. I also will use Ivermectin on each bird, to kill intestinal parasites and mites. It's NOT approved for use in chickens, but is so easy to use, and effective, it's something that I will do occasionally. DE might help some, but it's also very bad to inhale, so I won't have it here. Mary

 

[Lisa Wood]

I just did a search and reposted under thread with "tiny black mites and bedbugs". The post is from 2009, but I will be using this treatment if I need to, and using DE as preventative for now. I have disposable masks for using DE, but I need to replace them. They keep falling off.

 

[Lisa Wood]

I use and old tire filled with dirt and wood ash in my chickens run for them to dust bathe in. The chickens love it!

They look like that old challenge I think in the 60's? How many people can fit into a phone booth? How many chickens fit in a tire dust bath? Thet are so funny, they fit in there like sardines!