Lice and those *$#% doves

[cluckydog]

Okay, so I did some hardcore research on curing my poor flock of their lice and the best product i could find was sevin dust 5%. My dad is going to purchase some today BUT i don't know how to use it, so advice will be appreciated. Will there be instructions on the packaging? Do I apply it to the chickens or the coop? Thanx

Also I know that this was all caused by those dannoying pigeons/doves, sure i luv em but they just won't leave em alone! It's probably been at least 50 times one has got in the coop and died at the paws of my cat to be pecked at by a flock of frantic chooks, nothing, not my dog or cat will stop them. How can I stop this? During the day there is a small door with leads to the chooks roosts and nesting boxes, and from there a ramp down into the actual cage where i put the feed. The pigeons used to be cautious of going in there and stil are, but they're gaining courage and some just waltz straight in! How can I stop em from entering without denying my own poultry access?

I also leave the feeder on the ground, so my chooks spread it everywhere. Will hanging it up at and appropriate height solve this?

Thanks for all advice
Cluckydog out

 

[silkiechicken]

Resolving access to the feed, and reducing spillage will likly reduce the wild bird problem. As for the lice powder. It goes on the birds. Shake it throughout their feathers.Don't breathe it though and avoid contact.

 

[aggiemae]

I have read that you can put Sevin in a pillow case of paper, drop you hen in with her head out and shake it but usually I just spread the Sevin down when my chickens are currently dusting and into the sand we use on the coop floor. Also, if you know where the doves dust put out some out there as well. If you have some wood ash put in a few cups of that as well.

The doves are going in because there is food. We have the same problem with wild birds. I have seen feeders that the chicken has to step on a lever to open that most wild birds being much lighter than chickens can't open them. I am pretty sure that you can find directions in the arcives here on BYC.

The other option is to net the top of your chicken yard. A friend of ours just did that with a bunch of 8X8 cotton net (faux fishnets?) that are sold for ocean themed party decorations. She got them at the Dollar Store. She wove them together and draped then on wires. I just got some to keep my chicks out of my neighbors yard and just planted climbing sweetpeas on one. These probably won't hold up like nylon bird netting but it was much easier to work with.

 

[LoneOak]

If you do decide to cover the top of your outdoor area don't do it with 1" chicken wire as junk like leave and sticks will gather on top and make a mess. Use at least 2" chicken wire and most all that stuff will fall through and it will still keep out the wild birds and many other critters that want to come in and get a taste of chick feed or even whole chicken. 2" wire is much less expensive as well, I just bought a 6ft x 50ft roll of 2" wire at my feed store for less than $30. The 1" stuff was nearly 50.

There's all kinds of ways to stretch it across your area so use your best common sense an figure out what works best for your particular setup. Here's an old picture of what I have.


This pic is the very first outside run I built and has the 1" wire, it kind of gives you an idea how I put up the wire and in this pic it is still brand new and already has leaves gathering on top. Everything from here out has had the 2" wire and I can't find a pic of it right now. The wood is pressure treated fence pickets that cost only $1.25 each and aren't used for any structurial support just as an attachment point for the wire.

 

[cluckydog]

Thanks for the advice everyone, I'm working on reducing spillage of the food as it tends to spill down and underneath the wire mesh in areas the ground is slightly uneven and the small birds try and get under there sometimes. I tried to put the chicken feeder on a stool sort of thing (which was pretty much just a pot plant minus the plant part) and wedged it between the lower bit of their feeding area of the coop where their sleeping and nesting box area is above, but somehow my chooks still manage a way to move it. Does hanging it help reduce spills? however I don't have a latch in the feeder that allows it to be hanged, and likewise nothing to hag it from. I'll see the cost of the food thats activated by a leaver (thanks aggiemay) although it depends whether or not my dad is willing to pay for it depends if we get it or not.

As for covering the run, we couldn't possibly do it since It's at least a 6m by 3m large area, with 3 fruit trees growing above the fence line and one side is a mesh wire fence my dad put up which is shorter than the other fence which is our back fence. Thanks for all the ideas though.

Can any one give me more advice on reducing spillages? My chooks are messy eaters and it's causing a lot of the problem....

Thanks again

 

[LoneOak]

Thanks for the advice everyone, ---------

Can any one give me more advice on reducing spillages? My chooks are messy eaters and it's causing a lot of the problem....

Thanks again

You are going to have to figure ot a way to hang your feeder. It needs to be hung high enough that all the birds can get in is their neck and head in other words it needs to be neck high. Build you a little 3 pole teepee frame out of any kind of stick or board you can find, tie you a piece of rope in the center and use it to hang your feeder. Raise it as they grow so it always stays about neck high. For a long time I was hanging mine too low and my birds were making a mess with the feed, the day after I started raising it up they still eat all they want and don't scratch any out into the coop. I think that the reason they call most large feeders hanging feeders is because they are supposed to be hung up.

 

[Island Chick]

We had a horrible lice infestation and pigeon problem. Checked local laws and dealt with pigeons and doves with a pellet gun and a .17 rifle. For lice, got a livestock dust with permethrin and I would grab their legs (weren't the most tame chickens) and hold them upside down, and liberally sprinkle along belly, down the back, under wings, around vent and then take a pinch or two and rub it in around their head so I didn't have to worry about getting any into their nose/eyes. Make sure to fluff the feathers so the dust settles to the skin.

With a more tame chicken I would put them a table and usually they would quickly just hold still while I would take pinchs of dust and sort of preen it into their feathers and rub it in all over. The feral ones would struggle to much and start flapping so doing it this way I just got a nice dust cloud going, hence only letting the calm ones not be held upside down.

I used roughly a tablespoon or two of dust per bird? Our horse mineral has a 5oz scoop and I used about half of that on big birds, less on smaller ones. Just made sure they were very thoroughly coated. I rubbed a bit into their legs as well. Not sure how many birds you have, but if not too many sometimes helpful to put them somewhere separate so the dead/dying bugs all fall off in one spot and not all over.

Oh and redust in 7 days then again in 7 days. Some say wait 10 but I'm a slight lice-phobe so went a little crazy.

You can also use frontline flea and tick spray or use the frontline plus medium dog drops and put ONE drop under each wing and above the vent on the tip of the tail. More exspensive but less work since only need to reapply in 30 days, then every couple months after that.

 

[cluckydog]

I found a way to keep the feeder high up, I think it might need to be higher as they still fling some feed out with their beaks but the mess has reduced the slippages a bit. Thanks for the idea LoneOak, I'll see if we can put something like that together.

In our area we aren't allowed to kill off the pigeons and we don't have a gun anyway, so I'll have to deal with them other ways. as for the lice issue, we bought a mite and lice spray suitable for all birds and I've sprayed them on the back and under the wings to deal with the lice as well as around their coop. My chooks aren't all that tame but their better than most so I could get away with keeping their both feet on the ground and restraining them by holding my hand gently on their breast so they can't walk forward and spraying accordingly/ Hopefully I won't be seeing those little blood suckers again.

Thanks everyone I'll report back when it seems the lice have been fully treated.