Lice? On a broody with chicks hatching...What do I do?

[TXmom]

I have a Silkie hen who has been sitting on 7 eggs, today is Day 20 and they are hatching

I went in the little Broody House to get pics of the babies, and I noticed a little bug crawling on her. Then I saw more...I'm pretty sure they are feather lice because we've had them before. I already put Sevin Dust around the outside of the Broody House last week and DE inside because there were ants all around. I didn't want the ants bothering her or the eggs or chicks. Now there's Lice...yuck!

Can I put Sevin dust on her, even though there are tiny just hatched chicks under her? Or should I wait a few days until the babies are older? I don't want her to suffer but I don't want to hurt the babies either.

 

[Elite Silkies]

Put the Poultry Dust on her that you can get from TSC. It isn't as harsh as Sevin.

 

[TXmom]

OK, for now, I put some DE directly on her and in the bedding around her. I tried to make it a light coating so the chicks don't eat much of it. I plan on going to my local feed store in a little while, and hopefully they have the Poultry Dust. If not, I'll have to make a trip to TSC which is about 25 miles away.

 

[Yessur Ebob]

i think DE will work and it shouldn't hurt the chicks to eat it. we feed it to our birds to get rid of internal parasites.