lice eggs not going away...what next???

[slg]

These lice are driving me crazy...about 3 weeks ago, found lice. Had been dusting them with DE prior but either not enough or not working so decided to use Sevin. Dusted them twice -- 8 days apart (couldn't do exactly 10.) Cleaned coops and dusted in there with DE. All the creepy crawlies are gone but I still see eggs stuck to the base of the feathers. Are they just waiting to hatch? Did I dust too early??? Go back to a weekly DE dusting? Bath?

and just read that someone has used coconut oil to kill lice/mites...anyone else have feedback on using that method?

I'm itchy just thinking about it...

 

[MotherJean]

Lice attach their eggs to feathers (and human hair) with a glue-like substance. Even if the eggs are killed, they do not drop off. In humans, lice eggs are removed from the hair shaft with an extremely fine-toothed comb and in extreme cases, the hair is cut off. I don't know of any easy, effective way of removing lice eggs from chicken feathers. I could be wrong, but am assuming you just have to wait for the chicken to molt to see the last of those eggs. You do need to be vigilant about checking your birds for lice. It's my understanding that DE and Sevin are not effective in killing the eggs and that's why it is suggested that you dust your chickens at 10-14 day intervals. You're trying to kill any newly hatched lice before they have a chance to mature and lay more eggs. Re-dusting your chickens prematurely at 8 days may not have been entirely effective so keep checking and dusting on the recommended schedule until you see no more live ones.